fall meant supplemental supplies by rail and rationing was still needed.
In 1952, Broken Hill's demands for a permanent water supply were met with the completion of a 24 in (61 cm) pipeline from Menindee. The pipeline can supply 1.6 megalitres of water per hour. Water storage facilities that are part of the Menindee Lakes Scheme on the Darling River, have secured water supply to Broken Hill, making it a relative oasis amid the harsh climate of the Australian outback. High evaporation rates have resulted in the policy of using the local storages for supply before using the pipeline.
Electric power
By the 1920s most of the nine mines on the Line of Lode had their own steam powered electrical generators to power the surface and underground workings. As Broken Hill is in a desert with little water and virtually no fuel, steam generation was an expensive option. In 1927 a plan for a central power generating facility was proposed by F. J. Mars, consulting electrical engineer with the Central Mine. The proposed powerhouse would provide electricity and compressed air. The mines agreed and formed Western New South Wales Electric Power Pty. Ltd. to construct and operate the plant. The diesel powered plant was completed in 1931. This was one of the earliest examples of the use of diesel power generation in Australia. The plant was enlarged in 1950 to cope with increased demand from the North Mine. At the same time, a new power station run by the Southern Power Corporation (owned by Consolidated Zinc) was erected near the new Broken Hill Consolidated Mine to provide power to the southern end of the Line of Lode. Both stations were connected as a grid.
A HVDC back-to-back station with a maximum transmission rate of 40 megawatts was built at Broken Hill in 1986. It consists of 2 static inverters working with a voltage of 8.33 kV. After this station was operational the two other power stations closed and their equipment was gradually removed
