Penang Botanic Gardens - Waterfall

Waterfall

The waterfall and reservoir are private property although they can be visited by arrangement with the Penang Water Authority (Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang). The Friends of the Penang Botanic Gardens, a non-governmental organisation, organises monthly visits to the waterfall. The Penang waterfall was closed off to the public as a safety measure during the confrontation between the newly independent Malaysia and Indonesia in the 1960s.

Early visitors to Penang Island described it as one of the key attractions of the island, including Ibrahim Munshi, son of Munshi Abdullah, who described it in his journal, the "Kisah Pelayaran". The waterfall was an important source of water for ships calling at Penang port in the early part of the 19th century. In 1804, the first water treatment plant in Malaysia was set up here, to supply the needs of 10,000 people in Penang. In 1805, an aqueduct was constructed to channel water from the fall via Pulau Tikus to a reservoir near the port. The quality of the water, filtered through the aged rocks of Penang Hill, was very high, and was described by the early sailors as "sweet".

The oval-shaped reservoir of the Penang Waterfall was constructed in the gardens in 1892 by British engineer James MacRitchie, who was also responsible for the MacRitchie Reservoir in Singapore, built in 1894. The Penang reservoir was reconstructed in 1950.

Today, only a small proportion of the Penang water supply comes from the waterfall reservoir — approximately 10–15% of the population obtain their water from here, while most of the island's water supply comes from Sungai Muda, on the border of Penang and Kedah.