Decades of proposals for sewage disposal and water supply systems followed, coupled with disagreement between the Town Councils and the Colony Government about responsibility for this area.

An extensive water supply scheme was eventually compiled by the civil engineers Henry John Saunders and James Barratt in June 1887.

In July and August 1887, a Legislative Council Select Committee appointed to examine the proposal passed the issue back to local government.

[2] The site of the proposed reservoir is some 17 miles from Perth, and lies in a hollow of the hills, apparently intended by Nature for some such purpose, surrounded by the jarrah forest.

The scheme, which included pipelines to Kings Park and a reservoir there on Mount Eliza, was constructed and operated by the private City of Perth Waterworks Company.

As soon after completion as 1892, concerns were raised that this new water source was getting polluted by raw sewage from the timber mills as well as excrement from the livestock.

However, a 1988 review of the dam's design concluded that it lacked sufficient safety margins in the event of floods or earthquakes, and its concrete had degraded to such a level that it could not be repaired, and needed replacement.

Also, instead of using cement in the RCC, fly ash from the Muja Coal Power Station was used, which reduced costs and minimised the heat produced during the hardening of the concrete.