The Richmond palladium., 1872-04-27
PNEUMATIC SYSTEM OF SUP.
PLYING CITIES AND TOWNS
WITH WATER.
wAsmSGrox ClrY, April 10, 1879

sion 10 visit your State recently, and learning
that ths good people Of your beautiful city arc
agitAting the subject Of better supply Of
wstsr-a supply that shall be adequate to the
wants Of he Fire Department, as well IS TO
the needs Of the citizens for domestic pur-
posss, ard feeling perhaps natural desire TO
aid then. ii possible, in securing the best
sranesmeut Of operstiens for the purpose
vsutsre TO address you upon this subject
IN the hope that you will publish my sugges ,
lions IN your paper.
In treating subject Of such magnitude and
importance, it will be apparent, that ouiy
the leading features can bs alluded TO, in .
single lsttsr. These features are
l'irss. certainty Of an adequate supply At
all times, and especially in case OF ere.
Secondly, the quality Of the wafer, and The
best method Of improving its quality while
10 tsansitu from the source of supply to its
point of destination where is to be used
CT domestic purposes, and
Thirdly, the cost and durability of TIE
,machinery to be used for elevating the water
and for conducting it to the pcint where it
TO be used.
First, then, the certainty Of an ample sup
ely il Of great importance, and especially in
cases where fires occur. How then can this
supply be obtained, and how shall it be as.
sured 10 your citizens that such supply shal
not fail ct The most critical of all times, that
ID: when some Of the buildings of such citi-
Gems are in flames? There are three well
known and somewhat extensively adopted
methods or. plans forj producing the result :
The elevated reservoir into which tho water is
raised by any suitable machinery, and from
which IL is TO be distributed stand-pipes,
such - are used in Philadelpbia, in some
parts Of Boston, and in various other places,
into which water 10 also pumped for distri-
bution-and the other is the plan more re-
Gently adopted in this country, of pumping
the water directly into the pipes which are
to carry il 70 the town and from which II 10
properly distributed. The two 6rst named
plans are 20 well known Is to make it unnec-
essary that should discuss their merits here,
except 10 say that whom the water to be used
;s to b taken from streams which are liable
70 have the water "rilsd" or "made muddy"
by rains Or from other causes, regard the
rsssrvoir system ~ possessing important ad-
vsntaess over the stand-pips; and it is also
apparent tha. - to certainty Of supply there
can bs 10 comparison between this and the
other plans referred to, - there can always
be few days supply kept on hand in the
reservoir.
The last system referred to is the ono in
which the water ID forced directly into the
pipes ~ il is drawn from the source Of sup
ply; and this plan involves the constant oper-
alton Of the mechanism, and makes it abso'
lately necessary that such mechanism should
be kept in motion every day and hour in the
year, and Il is impossible that any one set OF
machinery can be relied upon for such con-
stant and long continued service, it follows
that two or more sets Of mechanism are re-
ouired, for it should be remembered that II
there ID . stoppage at any ten consecutive
minutes, the pressure will be 80 reduced in
the pipes that the supply will be entirely cut
of. II 10 we'll known also, that this plan in
wolves the necessity of An increased speed
and consequently Of the use Of an increased
amount Of force when the plan is made Z
embrace devices for extinguishiug fires /; ant
you can readily see that this increased ser
vice increases the liabilities OF failure in th'
mechanism, aud that at the very time it is c
the utmost importance 10 property holders
that the supply should be kept up. For tn,
reasons above stated. and for many other
which could be urged, did time and space
permit, feel warranted in saying that thi
last namsd plan capuot be regarded as pos.
sessing TIE requisites of q reliable plan 70
Furnishing city or town with water. I au
aware that there are those holding view
which diler from mine, hnd very plausabl
theory upon which to talk to parties desirin
TO erect works Of this character, in the fac
that adopting their plan, considerable sav
ng in first cost is made; but submit tha
such saving Of cost at the risk Of hav.n
your city burned down at any time, is yer
poor economy.
shall not attempt 70 disguise or c"uce'
the fact that in writing this letter hare beel
to some extent, governed BY personal motives
or the further fact that have made It
prelude 10 the Introduction to your people
anotbsr, asd as believe, better plan f
secomplis shing tho end desired, and 10 whis
"A, Interested. The plan now rcfer "
termed the Pneunatic system for supplyin
sities asd towns With water; and Il consis
IN raising water FROM Lakos, Ponds, Rive
Or other sources Of supply, BY means
compressed cir, and the forcing it into re
ervoir, stand pipe. or into pipes leading 4
rsctiy y Sbe town - in the system describ