Wraysbury Reservoir

Wraysbury Reservoir
Wraysbury Reservoir from the air, looking south
Location	Surrey
Coordinates
Type	reservoir
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Surface area	2.05 square kilometres (0.79 sq mi)
Water volume

The Wraysbury Reservoir is a water supply reservoir for London lying just west of the M25 near the village of Wraysbury. The reservoir was begun in 1967 and completed by W. & C. French in 1970 with a capacity of 34,000 million litres.

The reservoir is owned and operated by Thames Water and 400 million litres of water are pumped daily from an inlet at Datchet on the River Thames. A neighbouring reservoir is the King George VI Reservoir, opened in 1947, which is supplied from Hythe End. To keep grass on the reservoir short and make inspections easier, Thames Water maintains a flock of sheep on the earthen banks.

Wraysbury Reservoir, excluding its embankment, 2.05 square kilometres (0.79 sq mi) has been designated since 1999 as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Its citation reads:

[It] regularly supports nationally important numbers of wintering cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus and shoveler Anas clypeata...[It] is an artificially embanked reservoir constructed around 1970. The reservoir also support notable numbers of wintering gadwall Anas strepera.

The SSSI is close to another in Berkshire resultant from gravel extractions at Wraysbury.

See also

• London water supply infrastructure