The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-09-10
-
w,'e 'er supply.
ptcuvoyD soptcmber s, 1869

PTcUNOXD CcptclhncA q, 1oV0'
To the E7jtors Of the Ri., +mond Dispatch;
In my letter to you of the T. u instant the
second question which proposed 70 uiscuSs
is "Our inadequate head OF water - sup
ply the higher portions Of the city" L. U.s.
since our late great fire on the night of the
9Th instant, has, if possible, come more
home to us than ever, for we see that with
our present very imperfect water system
and fire department one night, with @ high
wind, might lay the city again in as gene
raj ruin as in April, 1865. The Water
Committee, as an inducement to their reser-
voir scheme, tell us it will be located twen-
ty-eight feet higher than the site Of the pre-
sent reservoir. In q former letter / have
shown to you how inadequate an addition
of twenty eight feet Of head would be TO
supply sufficient water, even for domestic
uses, to large number Of houses even on
Shockoe Hill, and still more On Church Hill.
On the 7th instant l pointed out to you
how much more efficient, expeditions, and
at less cost, our supply Of water could be
made by steam machinery than by large
reservoir and how, by the most expe-
rienced and able engineers, reserve engines
were preferred to the reservoir. 1t is un-
doubted, believe, that the New York Water
Works are the most noble monument Of en-
gineering skill in America, and yet, in
speaking of them last year, General Z. L.
Viele says of that aqueduct: " 1t is On ad-
mirable copy Of the splendid aqueducts Of;
ancient Rome, which supplied that city
with water in the days of the Caesars; yet
il has failed to meet the object of its con-
struction. To get the water we require it
should be elevated by the force of steam to
q sufficient height and in sufficient quanti-
ties to supply the necessary demands
MIR. John B. Jervis, whose engineering
skill in the construction of the Croton Wa
ter Works in New York and the Cochituate:
in Boston, have given him q wide
world reputation, Notwithstanding those,
great monuments to his name, speaks in the
| highest terms Of the water works at Au-
burn, in New York, where the water is
taken directly from the Owasco lake, and.
where no reservoir is used. Mr.. Thomas;
C. Keefer, under whose direction the rC:-
servoir water works of Montreal, Toron4 %,
and Hamilton, were constructed, aft er-
wards, on examining the water works at
Ogdensburg and Lockport, is of the anne
opinion, and says, moreover, that :" in sra'
vitation plans it is necessary either tt, pro
vide a supply for future generation s, en-
failing heavy interest charges on ne pre-
sent one, or else to duplicate the W. ,rks, q
great extra cost, when an additionr i ouan
tity is required; and in this respe st pump
ing systems have generally the advantage
over others, additional pumps bel sg added
only as required, and at compara,
lively trifing cost. Gravitation sup
plies must also be assumed for a
fixed level, and with the increase OF
consumption and waste, an annually in
creasing loss of head sets in, for which
there is no remedy save higher head,
which the fixed level cannot supply; but
with the pumping system the water can be
kept up to any required level by the appli
cation of more power" These and othe