The Goulburn Historic Waterworks is steeped with history, boasting an iconic pump station on the banks of the Wollondilly River.
While pump technology was far different in the late 1800s than it is today, many pump stations served the same purpose: providing water supply for local communities.
As Australia’s population grew, inland cities were established, and with that came the proliferation of pump stations.
The inland NSW city of Goulburn holds two distinctions in this regard, not only hosting one of Australia’s first pump houses, but also the Southern Hemisphere’s only complete, steam-powered municipal water supply still in its original location.
These idiosyncrasies have been immortalised in the Goulburn Historic Waterworks Museum, located on the banks of the Wollondilly River.
Pump Industry sat down with long-term volunteer and staff member Bryan Mulquiney to learn more about this iconic site.
“Goulburn was one of four regional NSW areas in the 1880s that had a pump station the same as this,” he said.
“The NSW Government at the time brought in the Country Water and Sewerage Act (the Act), because there were growing regional areas that didn’t have clean drinking water connected to their towns.
“This was a health issue, as having no reticulated water or sewerage system meant the town faced a higher risk of cholera outbreaks from residents drinking polluted groundwater.”
Mulquiney said many Goulburn residents had a drop toilet in one corner of the yard and a well in the other, which is “not a good situation to have”.
To get the Act up and running, the NSW Government selected Goulburn alongside Albury, Wagga Wagga and Bathurst as four towns to host a pump station in regional NSW, with a tender put out for the supply of four boilers and four steam-powered pumping engines for these assets.
This business went offshore.
“Appleby Brothers in the UK won the tender to supply the engines and boilers,” Mulquiney said. “These machines were built in the UK and shipped out to Australia.
“Each of the engines were identical, while the buildings that housed them were inspired by UK design and the Victorian era.”
Once the pump house was completed in 1886, it became the local council’s responsibility, with engineer Edward Woodard and fireman Robert Gagan employed to oversee the boilers.
“The water was pumped from this site up about 34–35 metres of elevation through eight-inch cast iron pipes to a 12-megalitre settling pond about two kilometres away,” Mulquiney said.
“The working speed of the engine was approximately 18 revolutions per minute (RPM), which meant it could pump 30,000 imperial gallons of water per hour, or 130,000 litres per hour, up to the settling pond.
“Once the water settled there, it then ran through two standard gravel filters to a clarifying tank, before being fed into town by gravity.”
Mulquiney said pumping would occur mainly throughout the day, with volumes varying based on demand.
“Naturally, there was higher demand in the summer and less in the winter,” he said. “If it was raining a lot, people needed less water, but in the middle of a drought, demand was higher.
“The pump house could be pumping anywhere between 30 hours a week up to 80 hours a week depending on the demand at the time. The engineer got paid about 200 pounds a year plus accommodation.”
The pump station was in service from 1886 until 1977, with its first electric motors installed in 1918.
“The problem with installing electric motors was the electricity supply wasn’t reliable and there were some days where there was no power,” Mulquiney said. “The Appleby beam engine was kept on standby in situations when there was no electricity.”
Reliable electricity supply was sorted in 1918, with the Appleby beam engine decommissioned.
Fast-forward to 1956 and after decades of service, much-needed work was required to restore the facility.
“Bruce Macdonald – who was known in the rail industry for restoring steam-powered trams – took an interest in the ageing engine,” Mulquiney said. “This came after the council engineer explained to him that this was the only surviving engine from the four original pump stations in regional NSW.
“Macdonald was afraid that if nothing was done, the engine would soon be sold off for scrap metal.”
Macdonald would commute from Sydney to Goulburn on weekends to fix the engine, and in October 1958, the Appleby beam engine was demonstrated under steam for the first time in 40 years.
“The restored engine had a new lease on life, and to this day, it remains in remarkable condition for an engine that’s 140 years old,” Mulquiney said.
Macdonald moved to Goulburn with his family, and after accruing a large collection of steam machinery, the site’s first museum, The Museum of Historic Engines, was opened in 1970.
The Museum of Historic Engines became the Goulburn Steam Museum in 1974, which opened and closed on numerous occasions until the 1990s.
It wasn’t until 2000 that the site became the Goulburn Historic Waterworks it is today, backed by sustained input from Macdonald and his wife Dorothy (41 years after they first came to site to restore the Appleby engine).
The museum has been open and steaming regularly since 2000, with five steaming days occurring in 2026 – in March, April, May, September and November.
The 19th century steam-powered pump station, including the Appleby beam engine, 1866 Hicks Hargreaves engine and Galloway boilers, are all turned on to make this happen.
“When we run it as a demonstration, the engine does about 12–14RPM (compared to its 18RPM working capacity), and the pump station only recirculates water as it’s disconnected,” Mulquiney said.
Mulquiney said the Goulburn Historic Waterworks attracts people from across Australia and beyond.
“We get international visitors from the UK, Canada, US, Europe, Asia and beyond, while many people travel from interstate for our steaming days,” he said. “The pump house tells a thousand stories, so I’m sure the museum will remain a key tourist attraction for years to come.”
To learn more, visit goulburnwaterworks.com.au
