Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1872-12-19
ARTEsIAN WELLS.

Appropos of the subject of Arte-
sian wells, suggested by our correspon-
dent Aqua yesterday, we copy the
following from late number of the
Inter Ocean, in relation to boring that
sort of wells in Chicago:
The borings, which have now be-
come as numerous in Chicago or vicin-
ity as in London or Paris, have been
attended with remarkable success. In
no instance has failure occurred to
find water in good quantities. Sever
al OF the wells now flowing here have
a larger yield than the well of Grenelle,
i'll the outskirts of Paris, which is the
most famous of the kind in Europe.
The Grenelle will yield GIG gallons a.
minute. while the new well of Ken,
wood, just South of Chicago, yields
600 gallons o minute, and that at Hale
q Emerson's building. southeast corr
ners of State and Washington strrets, is
flowing at the rate Of 625 gallons.
There are now in Chicago and vicinity
twenty-one artesian wells completed
in the course of drilling. The Ken
wood well which is l,225 feet deep and
. Is inches in diameter at the bottom, is
the largest yet completed. 1t cost
$4,000. Hale & En-. erson's is l,6O0 feet
deep and cost about $1,000. The drill
ing of the latter below 1900 feet in
depth was new experiment, and did
not materially increase the supply
With the exception of the Lincoln
Park wells where no flow was obtained
until the drills reached 1850 feet, the
! usual depth of the wells is 1000 to
1900 feet. The average cost is 5000
for five and half inch boring, 1900
feet. and 5000 for the same depth for
four and half inch hole. The sur
face pressure of the water varies, rang
ing from twenty-five to thirty-five
pounds to the square inch. The latter
pressure is sufficient to propel water
to the height of one hundred feet. The
South Park well, which is down 1,64O
feet, is the deepest in the city and vi
cinity, is but three and half inches in
diameter, and the comparative small
ness OF the flow seems an argument in
favor of the larger borings. At Hale
~ Emerson's well record was kept of
the progress of the drilling which fur
nisbes some facts ofinterest. The dis
lance to the bed rock is lO2 #. so feet
of which is clay, and IS slate shale. In
four days drilling white limestone
was reached at depth of218 feet, and
thence down to 845, where small
flow was found, the alterations were !:
Gray lime, 189 feet; shale, %; soap
stone, 40; slate, los; lime, ia hard
lime, l60. Brown sandstone was
struck at the depth of 9O5 feet, white
sand at $50, slate again at l,OO5, lime at
l,Ol5, shale at 1,O35, lime and sand ct
Lbs when water flowed ct the rate Of
2OO gallons a minute. The porous wa
ter logged limestone, the stratum
whence the main supply comes, was
struck at a depth of ], 1875 feet, and the
flow increased to 400 gallons minute.
The 500 feet additional to which this
was drilled, as before stated, did not
materially increase the flow. Briefly
summarized, the facts and conclusions
in reference to these wells as estab-
lished by the drilling made here are !:
l. That a supply of water, ranging
from 100 to 100 gallons a minute, can
be obtained anywhere in this limestone
region by drilling to depth of 1000
to | 800 feet.
:. The large diameter wells. e.,
to 81 inches-are preferable. Their
cost, l,200 feet deep, averages IS q
foot.