Fernilee Reservoir is located in the Peak District National Park, within the county of Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

 and very close to the boundary with Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

. The reservoir was the first of two reservoirs built in the Goyt Valley; the other one being Errwood Reservoir

Errwood Reservoir

Errwood Reservoir is located in the Peak District National Park, within the county of Derbyshire and very close to the boundary with Cheshire. The reservoir was the second of two reservoirs built in the Goyt Valley, the other one being Fernilee Reservoir...

. It was constructed by the Stockport Water Corporation at a cost of £480,000, with work being completed in 1938. It is currently owned and operated by United Utilities

United Utilities

United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...

. The reservoir provides drinking water for the town of Stockport

Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

and its surrounding areas, and it holds 4,940 million litres of water.