, 1874-08-16
Considerations d that Detern;r,
the Location of New
Pipes. =.
The Way the Water-ol]ice R..n.
Track Of its Customers,
Is a Greater "Eead" of Watar :. ~.
cago Desirable or Practicable ~

hnaac'a1 and scientific. have schieYed H. eea
ton, have III them large element of thu 49,.
from which the desperate needs of tha 49,
tracted but little. The perfection OF that
ment, 30 far es the purity ard efacencv =. ~
supply are concerned, has often been ton ~ ~
IL matter OF world notorety. Itis.
NATTER OF CONGRATULATIONS
that the radical thorouSlness which rh,,x.
lied the action Of Chicago in her n,,~<s
search for pure wafer, prevented the ado.s3
OF halfway measures, and relegated fo,era,.4
"outsido barbarians the old question NJ ~
to get lid Of the inp1 rites Of turbiJ no;.o.A;
nanseatine water, which only WAS prncnr,h,s
While other cities construct vast ress,ro;.. =:
protect themselves against seasons Of drorah. "
and to give disagreeabie impurities 4 cb,n,en' ~
pEeclGitats themselves ere passing into II. y; -
tr1but1ng pipes, or cause their supply tn ~,
though elaborate scientific filters. In tha fas
hope OF etralnlng out poisonous substances hsa
Ill eoiutou. 1t was reserved for Chicago tn mo.4
than rival the old Roman prodigallty, and ,nds'
pendent, to all lnteuts and purposes, Of s.r,;o
fall, or "drainage Surface" OF :.geolopie,l
formations" or OF all possible 1eGlcm4n11 ~
bring within the absolute control ~; ~ ~
foeblest dwellers within her bordera, m .hnns
dant supply Of pure water. Tie general mstbod
by which thus is done is familiar 70 al ths vo1's
but it il thought that
CLOSER VIEW
than ia uH'1ally taken OF tito water-syatern =,
CIlcago will Lot be unintcrestipg, eye. to bcr
own citizens, The location and use CT the c1h
are sell know, but it is not 80 we'll known tIr
by peculiarly Ingenious construction tho wstar.
supply Of the city il obtained from Tia coId
clear water Of tile bottom OF the 1.sa r.
gates through which the water enters tha
Shaft that supplies the tunnel are near the sur.
face it is true, but the Openings or sluice. bv
which the ''well" OF the crib supplied are iust
above the bottom Of tho lake. All orthodoI' d.
different Leads Of water" But tho unin1iti.ted
often fail to understand wheTe tho
"HEAD"
''comes in" that affects the fow Of sster
through the tunnel. Alter the water n.sses
through tLs pumps and into tie distributing
plpes it is commonly and easily understood ttat
''nead is furnished by the staud-pioe located
in the tower Of the water-works. Iut its iatu-
ence cannot reach beyond the pumps in tha IL
rection Of the lake. The tunpel 1t tue ahots
end terminates in pump weli in which tbs
water naturally rises to the erel OF The ''sou:rs
Of supply" or the surface Of the LAKE.. Nhea
the pump begins to operate, the leTel Of tbs
water in this we'll is lowered, aud the difference
of water between the surface Of the vse,
LII
the lake is the ''head'' which raSul1e,
the rapidity, and consequently the AMOUR.
Of the dow through the tunnel. When
this difference OF level is feet the capacity ot
the tuune! is 19,0U0,o00 gallons daily Uheu it il
8 feet, 35u00.000, and Whep it Ii Is feet the c.
pacity is 81, ,00o, GOO gallo1s daily
When the wAter supply Of the city first came
miles OF tuain and distributing pipes. Siuce that
time upwards Of 2;}0 miles additional have been
ald, and such pipes a1e now aJlng at the r4taoj
more than 10 miles per year.
TIE METHOD
y which the cit' accomplishes this very COM
olicated aud difficult work is worthy OF 1nyesti.
,ation aud attention. In this aye, which haa
n every department Of business and
IT lie, prominent feature snd
general characteristic Of all comprehensive
operations, is that principle commonly kuoun
u the division Of labor, by which each agency
employed performs definite aud we'll under
tood portion OF the work; Accordingly We Gnd
n the water department OF the Board Of Pablo
Works in this city q little army Of clerks aud
who smoothly and et1icentty sccom-
,l1sh an amount Of work which, viewed in the
sg1 esate, is littla less than prodlgious.
THE ECcESTGIC1T1Es
t resl-estate spectators, and the singu1arly
rraric nature OF Chicago's growth, prevent the
aost astute observer from knowing positively,
r with any considerable degree Of certal y,
Le probable extont Of the development of
ny given neigh1o1hood, but euabte the
,ost inattentiya to know that the actnal
um Of the whole progress is euo1mos-
is therefore problem OF no little difficulty,
and justly determine the beat iocaL-
cs in whlch to o1renl the limited annual ~
ropr,ation5 for the laying OF wa.cr~pipes- Tho
ability to Erievous annoyance from the solicits-
iona Of importunate epoculatots to lay pipes
Trough desert streets to reach some favorlta
ubQiYiaion. is eelf-eyidcnt. 70 protect itself >
rom this annoyance, as we'll as to 90 justice 70
lore densely populated neighborhoods 4
REGULAR PROGRAMME
marked out by which pipes are laid On ner
,ere is no water he il entstled to petition the
oaru Of Public Works to lay wateE-plpes in ths
:reeet. The Board before acting on the pc:1uon,
ends an aSsut whose special business it IL TO e1-
famine the locality to which the petition refers
ho object OF the examination Is 10 ASCERTAIN 1he
respective revenue to be derived from the pro
osed Improvement. Inasmuch as the amount
{ the ordinary watcr-tax depends upon tho
umber of houses, aud not upon the amount OF
.lue Of the real estate, OF the number of lnhao-
ants, it is comparatively easy to make t1s It.
lired estimate. Tie usual practice OF tho
oard is TO lay tho pipe on street whenever
,e number of houses thereon il Sufficient TO o.
lpy one side Of the street. 1n early dava Fhe''
10 principles Of sanitary science we're less ge1-
ally understood than nov, tne petition iof
ater WAS often accompanied or followed By
REuoSsrRASCE
i the part Of those who had excaVated COCA
ellis. So far as the collection OF regular wataS-
ties is concerned, it il matter Of no conso-
1euce whether house las !he Tau1
!: lot. The regular rates are PAT
pon vacant houses the same as il occupied
f,o rf3u IN DArtiEg. MILO