Godley Reservoir

The Godley Reservoir is a reservoir in Godley, Hyde, Greater Manchester. It was completed in 1851, as a critical part of the Longdendale Chain project that brings fresh water to Manchester.

Godley Reservoir
Godley Reservoir. Trig on a dam. Looking towards Werneth Low.
Godley Reservoir
Location	Godley, Greater Manchester, England
Coordinates	53°27′17″N 2°03′12″W
Type	Service reservoir
Primary inflows	Mottram Tunnel, Arnfield Reservoir, Rhodeswood Reservoir
Primary outflows	Audenshaw Service Reservoirs, 30" trunk water main.
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Surface area	15 acres (6.1 ha)
Average depth	21 ft (6.4 m)
Water volume	280 million litres (62 million gallons)
Surface elevation	478 ft (146 m)

The Manchester Corporation Waterworks Act 1847 gave permission for the construction of the Woodhead, Hollingworth and Arnfield reservoirs, and the construction of a masonry aqueduct to convey drinking water from Arnfield and Hollingworth to a service reservoir at Godley.

Water was captured from the River Etherow and stored in the great reservoirs and then flowed through the 6-foot bore Mottram Tunnel to Godley. At Godley the water was filtered by passing it through straining frames made of oak and fine wires. It was chlorinated to remove bacteria and then entered Manchester's water distribution network. This method was successfully used until the early 1960s, when additional treatment works were built at Arnfield and Godley.[1]

In 2016 United Utilities completed the construction of a 3 MW 45,500-square-metre (11.2-acre) floating solar farm, the second and largest of its type in the UK, on the reservoir.[2][3]