Springs Inventory

This inventory of the occurrence of mineral springs in Victoria draws on files and archival material of the Mines, Lands Departments and other Department of Natural Resources and Environment antecedents. The format follows the numbering system introduced by the Geological Survey in 1910 and documented in the Geological Survey Annual Report.

A number of earlier compilations have been assembled, but vary in detail. The current document has the advantage of earlier compilations and the involvement of the author with the Victorian Mineral Water Committee which has stimulated and encouraged the compilation and the writing of a history document and masterplan for the management of the springs.

Extracts from or the reproduction of the text from a number of Geological Survey unpublished reports and memoranda have been included in the current compilation. In particular the text from a report by Dunn et al. 1912 (Geological Survey Unpublished Report1 1912/4) that discusses the controversial impact of the mining on the Hepburn Mineral Springs. It is surprising even perplexing that this report has not been drawn on in discussions on the mineral springs in the past 85 years. The report provides clear and incisive information on the flow systems of the springs and illuminates the conflicts within the Mines Department. The director of the Geological Survey and the geologists advocated preservation of the springs and while the dewatering and dislocation of the springs by mining operations was supported by some of the mines inspectors.

The compilation draws on and follows on from several earlier compilations of differing detail including: Langtree (1889), Rulikowska (1961 manuscript, 1969), Esplan (1969), Laing (1981), Shugg (1996), Laing, Shugg, and Elder (1997). The compilation also gathers together in a number of data bases information on the spring flow, temperature and chemistry. The oldest quantitative analysis of the mineral waters extant appears to be that of Dr Maunds (1855), however Newbery (1867) inferred that a body of information already existed and that a number of qualitative analyses had been performed by the Geological Survey field geologists in the early 1850s

The search for early the analyses and important archival material is a ongoing process.

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