FILM AUSTRALIA COLLECTION

Title Details

Water Our Problem

A survey of Australia's water resources.
Series : Australia Today | Episode : 11 | Year : 1962 | Total Duration : 26.5 Minutes | Producer : John Martin-Jones, Maslyn Williams (Series Producer), Lee Robinson (Series Producer)
Director : Joe Scully |
Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park. High angle shot of pedestrians crossing busy Sydney street, double decker buses in traffic, Criterion Hotel, William Street, aerial of expressway. CU on water gushing from street cleaning truck, a train going through a wash. CU on washing a car using hand held hose. Children drinking from water bubblers, Scenes of water usage in the city.
Access No. 129622 | 1 min 20 secs | 1960s | Sydney, NSW, Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Water usage in industry, water spray, scenes of baking bread, filling milk bottles on a conveyor belt as part of production line
Access No. 130529 | 25 secs | 1960s | Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Man fixing windmill, pull back to WS of sheep grazing around windmill. Shorn sheep walking in barren land and sheep at feeding trough. Dry cracked earth with dry water spout, dry water trough. Open jeep crosses dry river bed. Flock of sheep being moved to other pastures in drought. Aboriginal stockman on horseback. Shorn sheep drinking from water trough. CU of sheep drinking and horses drinking. Aboriginal stockman wetting his head in water trough.
Access No. 130530 | 1 min 21 secs | 1960s | Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Woman in kitchen recycling water from under kitchen sink to water trees outside. Good drought shots, sand against wire fence in outback, top soil blowing away. Eroded gullies, derelict farm buildings, rusting farm machinery, MS of farmer sitting on ground outside homestead.
Access No. 130531 | 1 min 2 secs | 1960s | Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Storm clouds, wind blowing, heavy rain falling on policeman in raincoat, pedestrians on street in rainwear and using umbrellas. Smiths & Stetson hat shop sign on building in b/g. Cars at intersection in rain. Flooded streets, double decker bus negotiating a flooded street. Flooded township. Water gushing through shopfront onto street. Civil Defence Organisations helping people in evacuations, putting children into back of truck. Men rowing boat along flooded street. Submerged houses. Lizard on fence. Sandbagging shops and building levee on river bank. Dropping supplies to flooded outback and submerged garden or park with palm trees.
Access No. 130532 | 1 min 56 secs | 1960s | Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Professor Crawford Munro, Foundation Professor of Civil Engineering at University of NSW and Director of Research at Water Research Foundation of Australia talks to camera about the building of models to test effectiveness of flood mitigation schemes. He also explains why Australia is such a land of contrasts and why the inland is so arid. Diagrams comparing the size of the Murray River System to other rivers in the world.
Access No. 130533 | 5 mins 34 secs | 1960s | Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Stockman droving cattle, spray irrigation of crop, CU of oranges on tree, people picking beans from vines and potatoes from ground. Pan from valley to mountain of Great Dividing Range. WS of mountain range. Cattle dog rounding up sheep and sheep into pens. CU of merino sheep. Harvester over wheat crop. WS of wheat field with harvesters at work. CU of wheat pouring from funnel or chute in back of truck. Grain pour from back of truck.
Access No. 130534 | 1 min 17 secs | 1960s | Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Froth bubbling around spillway of dam, fast flowing water, dethridge water wheel, water in irrigation canals, rice crop, spray irrigation system, CU of picking grapes and picking apples. Aerials over patchwork farmland and country town. Man checking monitoring system in a farmed field. River and homestead, VS of different pipelines. Ship building at Whyalla.
Access No. 130535 | 3 mins 3 secs | 1960s | Whyalla, SA, Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Artesian Basin bore, drilling for water, cattle in dam, windmill, CSIRO reducing evaporation by spreading a thin film of cetyl alcohol on water surface. VS of rippling water. Men working on CSIRO research project of converting sea water to fresh, piping water from ocean on wharf. CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation) buildings. Vapour compression distillation system being developed. Sign Òdesalination of sea water spray evaporation pilot plantÓ. Laboratory dials.
Access No. 130536 | 2 mins 21 secs | 1960s | Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Scientist in laboratory checking monitors, cloud chamber in laboratory, experiment creating ice crystals in cloud, or artificial production of rain. CU of pilot, small aircraft flying amongst clouds to release chemicals to produce rain. Flying over Mount Kosciuszko and measuring water resources in the Snowy Mountains area. Scientists or hydrographers, collecting scientific data. Icicles hanging from branches of trees and stream of water rushing over rocks in snow, gushing water.
Access No. 130537 | 3 mins 37 secs | 1960s | Snowy Mountains, Australia | © NFSA | B&W |
Snowy Mountains catchment and power stations. Pan of reservoir, underground explosion detonated. Miners underground digging out rock, train of carriages bringing rock from underground. Construction of dam and spillways. Cranes in use. Bulldozer moving rock and rubble. Rollers compacting soil. Aerials over dams and VS of different dams, weirs and spillways. Good water over spillway shot.
Access No. 130538 | 3 mins 44 secs | 1960s | Snowy Mountains, Australia | © NFSA | B&W |