It was not until 1826 that Parliament granted powers constituting the Company of Proprietors of the Birmingham Waterworks for the purpose of providing a sufficient and constant supply of good and wholesome water for domestic, manufacturing and other purposesThe area to be supplied used only the River Tame.

There is no connection to the nearby Edgbaston Reservoir, built to feed local canals, a hundred years previously.

The transaction was supervised by the Mayor of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain, and completed on 1 January 1876 for the sum of £1,350,000 (equivalent to £160,405,360 in 2023)[2].

Chamberlain declared to a House of Commons committeeWe have not the slightest intention of making profit... We shall get our profit indirectly in the comfort of the town and in the health of the inhabitantsThe rivers Bourne and Blythe, Plant's Brook and Perry Stream were used as sources.

The Birmingham Corporation Water Act 1892 authorised the purchase of land in Mid Wales on the upper portion of the Rivers Elan and Claerwen.

[4] King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra performed the official opening on 21 July 1904 although building works were not completed until near the end of 1906.