Ballure Reservoir - Maughold, Isle of Man
Posted by: 
Mike_bjm
N 54° 18.570 W 004° 22.633
30U E 410397 N 6018832
The Ballure Reservoir is just south of Ramsey.
Waymark Code: WMZ157
Location: Isle of Man
Date Posted: 08/24/2018
Views: 1
Originally the public water supply for Ramsey was provided by a private company known as the Ramsey Water Works Company, 1859. The first two reservoirs for Ramsey were built of concrete and captured water from Ballure Stream. Visitors can see these early reservoirs as one is alongside the access road and the other has been turned into a treated water storage reservoir and is roofed over. The Water Works Company found that demand during the summer season was too high and so around 1870 they decided to form a new reservoir, which when completed in 1884 would in the end hold around 18 million gallons.
The dam is an earth embankment dam with a height of 17 metres. A bye wash channel was constructed on the west side of the reservoir. so that poor quality water could be turned away. There is a single draw off pipe 18 inches in diameter is connected beneath the dam which allows the reservoir to be emptied. Normal draw off for the reservoir basin is on the west side.
The Isle of Man Water board was established in 1948 and so ended the life of the Water Works Company.
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The construction of the present dam was commenced in the summer of 1881 and was completed in December 1884. Originally the reservoir supplied drinking water to Ramsey and there was an associated treatment works below the dam. The ruins of the treatment works can still be seen. The treatment works was closed in 2005 and since that time the reservoir has been solely used for recreational purposes.
Reservoir Statstics:
Year completed: 1884
Catchement area: 1.82 square kilometres
Capacity: 70,000 cubic metres
Depth: 11.5 metres
Embankment height: 17 metres
Surface water area: 0.0142 square kilometres
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Surface area of the reservoir is 3.5 acres.
The reservoir offers both fly and spin-fishing. More information on fishing can be found fromm the Visit Isle of Man website -
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