Hello,

I am doing some research on a number of European sites occupied from the
1890s along the transport and settlement corridor between Perth and
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Water was scarce in this region, and a
number of water condensers were built to condense the water that was
available to remove the salt.

At one site, occupied from c.1895-1903, there were several condensers. Each
was characterised by a low stone wall surrounding a square water tank
(c.1.2m x 1.2m x 1.2m) on three sides. Normally, but not always, adjacent
to the structure was a shallow pit up to 0.5m deep, and c. 2m in diameter.
Also associated with each structure was an ash pile. Most contained only
one tank, but there was one that had 9 tanks in a line.

Elsewhere on the site is a 200m long series of 38 pits. They varied in
depth from 0.5-2m. Banks of varying height divided each pit off from the
other.  The average size of each pit was c.5 x 10m. Next to one pit was the
remains of a granite structure, water tank and ash pile, but none of the
others had any evidence of a condenser placed next to them.

I am not sure what the pits were used for, but based on plans of another
condenser, I am currently working on the theory that they are "blow-off
troughs", possibly to store the salt once the water had been condensed.
They are not lined and the soil is very sandy, so they would not have been
very effective for water storage.

I was wondering if anyone knew of references about the structure of water
condensers and how they worked. I would be grateful for any ideas or
suggestions as to what the pits - both the ones adjacent to the water
tanks, and the line of pits - were used for.

Thank you very much,

Sam Bolton.

Samantha Bolton
PhD student
Archaeology M405
University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Highway
Crawley WA 6009
AUSTRALIA
Ph.: +61 08 6488 4298
Mobile: +61 0414 907 567
Fax: +61 08 6488 1023