On its completion 11 years later, the lake was the largest reservoir in Europe and water was drawn from it into the straining tower and carried to Liverpool on a 110-kilometre ([convert: unknown unit]) aqueduct.

The tower is constructed in a Gothic Revival style, influenced by Chillon Castle in Switzerland as well as the contemporaneous work of William Burges.

The Lake Vyrnwy dam project was part of a national endeavour to supply water for drinking and sanitation to the expanding Victorian cities of the Industrial Revolution.

[3] Another commemorative stone celebrates the official commencement of the reservoir's construction on 14 July 1881 by Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis.

Designed by George Frederick Deacon and completed in 1892,[6] the tower extracts water from the lake by hydraulic pressure.