The Godley Reservoir is a reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 in Hyde

Hyde, Greater Manchester

Hyde is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2001 census, the town had a population of 31,253. Historically part of Cheshire, it is northeast of Stockport, west of Glossop and east of Manchester....

, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

 in England. It was completed in 1851, as a critical part of the Longdendale Chain

Longdendale Chain

The Longdendale Chain is a sequence of six reservoirs on the River Etherow in the valley of Longdendale, in northern Derbyshire. They were constructed between 1848 and 1884 to a design by John Frederick Bateman to supply the growing population of Manchester and Salford with fresh water.The top...

 project that brought fresh water to Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

.

The Manchester Corporation Waterworks Act 1847 gave permission for the construction of the Woodhead

Woodhead Reservoir

Woodhead reservoir is a man-made lake near the hamlet of Woodhead in Longdendale in north Derbyshire. It was constructed by John Frederick Bateman between 1847 and June 1877 as part of the Longdendale chain to supply water from the River Etherow to the urban areas of Greater Manchester...

, Hollingworth

Hollingworth Reservoir

Hollingworth Reservoir is a former reservoir near Hollingworth, north Derbyshire. It was constructed in 1854 as part of the Longdendale Chain, but was abandoned in 1987 and now forms part of the Swallows Wood nature reserve.- See also :...

 and Arnfield

Arnfield Reservoir

Arnfield Reservoir is a man-made lake in Longdendale in north Derbyshire. It was constructed in 1854 as part of the Longdendale chain to supply water from the River Etherow to the urban areas of Greater Manchester. Unlike the other reservoirs in the chain, Arnfield and Hollingworth Reservoir are...

 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

River Etherow

The River Etherow is a river in northern England, and a tributary of the River Goyt. Although now passing through South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, it historically formed the ancient county boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire. The upper valley is known as Longdendale...

 and stored in the great reservoirs and then flowed through the 6-foot bore Mottram Tunnel

Mottram Tunnel

The Mottram Tunnel is a tunnel carrying drinking water by gravity from Arnfield Reservoir, Tintwistle, Derbyshire in the valley of the River Etherow, to Godley, Greater Manchester in the valley of the River Tame. It was essential to the construction of the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs...

 to Godley. At Godley the water was filtered by passing it through straining frames made of oak and fine wires. It was chlorinated

Chlorination

Chlorination is the process of adding the element chlorine to water as a method of water purification to make it fit for human consumption as drinking water...

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.