Spotswood Pumping Station
The Spotswood Pumping Station formed a key part of the Melbourne sewerage system as originally designed in the 1890s. Three main trunk sewers all lead under the Yarra to Spotswood, the lowest point in the system. The sewerage was then pumped up a rising main to join the main sewer outfall near Millers Road at Brooklyn. The outfall sewer then carried the sewerage to the Werribee Treatment Farm, where it was purified and discharged into the sea.
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works purchased the land in 1892, with the first steam engine being put into operation in 1897. To power the pumps a constant supply of coal was required for the boilers, being conveyed along a railway siding from Spotswood station. This continued until 1921 when the pumps were converted to use electricity, it is assumed the siding was removed at this time, no further use being required for it. Part of the siding was retained to serve the AGM Glassworks.
With the population of Melbourne increasing the pumping station was becoming inadequate, in 1965 it was replaced by the newly opened Brooklyn Pumping Station. The pumping station building was restored in the 1990s and now forms part of Museum Victoria's Scienceworks complex.
Events
| January 1, 1890 | Opened |
| Early 1920s | Closed |
Line Opened
| October 3, 1857 | Temporary Greenwich terminal and stub line closed. Geelong line now connected to the partially completed Williamstown line. A ferry complete the journey from Williamstown to Melbourne |
| January 17, 1859 | Williamstown line finally completed to Melbourne. Geelong trains can now operate direct to Spencer Street Station |
Track Amplified
| (January 19, 1887) | Line duplicated Yarraville to Spotswood |
Aerial Photos
Morgan's Street Directory, circa 1940s:
