Aberdeen Reservoirs

The Aberdeen Reservoirs are a group of two reservoirs, consisting of the Upper Aberdeen Reservoir (香港仔上水塘) and the Lower Aberdeen Reservoir (香港仔下水塘), in Aberdeen, Hong Kong.

Aberdeen Reservoirs
Dam of Upper Aberdeen Reservoir
Chinese	香港仔水塘
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiānggǎng zǎi shuǐtáng Wade–Giles Hsiangkang tsai shuit'ang Yale Romanization Syānggǎng dzǎi shwěitáng IPA [ɕjáŋkàŋ tsàɪ ʂwèɪtʰâŋ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Heūng góng jái seuítòhng Jyutping Hoeng1 gong2 zai2 seoi2tong4 IPA [hœ́ːŋkɔ̌ːŋ tsɐ̌i sɵ̌ytʰɔ̏ːŋ]
Upper Aberdeen Reservoir
Chinese	香港仔上水塘
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiānggǎng zǎi shàng shuǐtáng Wade–Giles Hsiangkang tsai shang shuit'ang Yale Romanization Syānggǎng dzǎi shàng shwěitáng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Heūng góng jái seúhng seuítòhng Jyutping Hoeng1 gong2 zai2 seong5 seoi2tong4 IPA [hœ́ːŋkɔ̌ːŋ tsɐ̌i sɵ̬ŋ sɵ̌ytʰɔ̏ːŋ]
Second alternative Chinese name
Chinese	香港仔下水塘
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiānggǎng zǎi xià shuǐtáng Wade–Giles Hsiangkang tsai hsia shuit'ang Yale Romanization Syānggǎng dzǎi syà shwěitáng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Heūng góng jái háh seuítòhng Jyutping Hoeng1 gong2 zai2 haa5 seoi2 tong4 IPA [hœ́ːŋkɔ̌ːŋ tsɐ̌i ha̬ː sɵ̌ytʰɔ̏ːŋ]

History

The Aberdeen Reservoirs were built to augment Pok Fu Lam Reservoir in providing water supply to the west of Hong Kong Island. The Lower Aberdeen Reservoir, with a capacity of 44.2 million imperial gallons (201,000 m³), was originally a private reservoir owned by Tai Shing Paper Factory, built in 1890, which also provided water to nearby residents. The Government bought the reservoir at a price of HK$460,000 and expanded it to a capacity of 486,000 cu m. At the same time, the Government built a new reservoir with a capacity of 773,000 cu m above the original one, increasing the total capacity to 1,259,000 cu m. The reservoirs were officially opened on 15 December 1931 by Governor of Hong Kong William Peel, becoming the fourth and last reservoir group ever built on Hong Kong Island, after Pok Fu Lam, Tai Tam and Wong Nai Chung.

In 1977, a 4.23 square kilometre area around the reservoir was designated as Aberdeen Country Park, one of the earliest country parks in Hong Kong.

A total of 41 pre-World War II waterworks structures located in six reservoir areas, namely Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, Tai Tam Group of Reservoirs, Wong Nai Chung Reservoir, Kowloon Reservoir, Shing Mun (Jubilee) Reservoir and Aberdeen Reservoir, were declared as monuments in September 2009; the dam, a valve house and a bridge of the Aberdeen Upper Reservoir and a dam of the Aberdeen Lower Reservoir were declared as monuments in 2009.