 Water was abstracted from the river Thames through an open intake channel (139 m long, 6.7 m wide, with a water depth of 2.4 m) and pumped into the reservoirs.There were four lift pumps which were originally driven by triple-expansion steam engines each rated at 373 kW at 135 rpm.Each engine was coupled to a two stage centrifugal pump capable of delivering 114 million litres/day.