Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-07-24


| RESERVOIR AND CONDUIT
|
The report made by Capt. Thomas w. Symons
of the engineer CORPS. in response to the Senate
| reSolr,;o,, rooras,ina ip,nrmatfon as To tn a
! .,.,.. 49,. -. . " . CO
'is"piilty oi pIoNiuIhs tue water supply oi th'
| capital with filters and other appliances fol
CLEANSING and nurifvine the water contained 8
| hr., -, ..-,, so-.ri,,;.,, 90 o.. -,
| 100 AN - 1o VOW
supply OF the city as follows:
! The source OF the supply Is the POTOMAC river
| The water Il taken from the river at Il point
| just above the Great Falls, and about sixteen
/ miles from the city. A masonry dam is being
built. and is nearly completed entirely across
| the river 10 height OF I4S leet above the
| datum plane of mean tide at the W ashington
navy yard: Thi. dam insures the constant
| supply at all seasons ot the year into the aque-
| duct. The feeder entrance to the aqueduct has
| AN elevation AT the bottom of 139 feet, and al
the top lag feet above datum The water
| passes through the gate-house INTO the aque
| duct proper, which is circular and nine feet in
diameter. The elevation of the center at the
f 49, ~ - az 40 va ~ ~, ,'1 ope
| the rereivinS reservoir Is as Ieh feet or abont
9miles.
THE RECEIVING RESERVOIR
is the natural valley OF q small stream called
| Powder Mill Branch across which a dam has
| boon ,bro,rn ,rhis rosar,,ir - vi,ho,, am,,
| ST. - q, - ~ . s,aii stra.n,s jrain;'S1
tic aeiaconf ,,,,n,r,- 80 ,boir ir, e
| tsitb"9f hi ir Gvu' p Od hnvn Gos;tnd ID ~
| 80 a,nor'nt -, aaI;,'a, AZ &, ,,"tri ~
| ter7erin.r Win ms nnnnsS and canocitv .s q
| storage and subsiding reservoir Pans have
! beeu nrenared and s,7hmit,ad r1 ,,onyreSs vii
| estimates off tn. ,nSt OF i,,nrovino his reser
| yoir nv de fecfing IRON, Fl fh. siTeams which
| now enter IT. rough having il, banks within
tha Ifrnit ar ya,.a 80, .,nd dradan1 CT al
| .II.,,-a;1 a., ,,,a,-an -, ~ ,rt.S,,',,,
| feet The stor:t-e canaciIv of this reservoir il
/ now ,I,nut ,n 900 non SaiIons TLa eiava.
] ton OF the center i'm of the Conduit Giscbarg
! ing into thh reservoir ia 1870 a feet abnSe
/ damn
| The Instance from this tn tho point xrbare tho
| conduit emerges trnr, tho rns.rvoir - q 40
| feet A connecting co,d,,i. bos benn bn,If nv,
| means of which water can be carried around
the reservoir from the conduit above to the
I peiow. Inns Is =, 10 leet long. Ever
/ been carried around the rasarvnir nv the con.
Meeting conduit. The continuation of the
aquedUct leaves the receiving reservoir at an
elevation of 13S. 50 feet for its center line
above datum. 1t Is 1U.10U feet, or about z
miles long To the distriiutine reservoir sim.
ated near Drovers' Rest lust west Of George.
! town.
THE DISTRIBUTING RESERVOIR.
The conduit entar. tho Distributing rosorvo;r
at an elevation, of 1a- .,eg foo, tn ;,s oo,,,ar
a. OH nc "t.oh vi o'-ooo lee' ior ilS ceu'er
line above datum. The water Is supplied 10
the city from this distributing reservoir by
means of three iron mains OF 80 80 and IL
inch diameter. The new tunnel extension of
the aque duct leaves this reservoir and extends
I: distance oil Polls feet or about miles in IA
northeasterly direction to the new reservoir
near the Soldiers Home
y connecting conduit feet in diameter is
built around The distributing reservoir with
connection to the old mains and to the new
tunnel. The distributing reservoir is divided
into COMMITMENTS Dy u puddled and payed
wall. Communication between the two is
maintained through a passase-way which can
be Closed by stop planks.
ns S , Va :. 40-iheh IRON pipe we upper
city mains without the water passipy imio the
lower compartment. The storage capacity OF
the upper compartment Is about llO,OOOUOO
SauoDs, anu tne lower 6o,oUO.ooO gallons.
ihIs distributing reservoir is very happily
situated ana cons tructed for the application OF
I
THE NEW RESERVOIR
near the Soldiers Home will have a storape
,,,,ooi,-- -, -. .,o, coo Go ,, J:
NNpN~'s VI ""o" ooo'ooo''oo s''lohs' anu IL
VIII nave circulating conduits TO Insure con-
tinued movement and prevent stagnatiOn. and
the SatehouSe Will be so arranged that water
can be taken to the city mains either from The
reservoir directly from the tunnel. The out
lei from the new reservoir TO the CITY is a 70
inch iron main tor Is distance OF $50 feet. Here
provisions made Tor branching into three
IS-inch mains, only one OF which Is at present
laid. When the new works are COMPLETED the
city Will have an abundant supply at ali
points reached by service mains of proper size
and in proper condition.
The Gotomac Is "a river about $50 miles long,
draining the eastern slope OF the Alieghanies
reaching Underwater at Washington and jOi n-
ing Chesapeake Bay about 100 miles below the
capital. It's principal feeders are the north ana
south branches, the Cacapon, the Shenandoah
and the Monocacy, all OF which enter it above
the source OF our water supply. There are no
large cities on the Upper Potomac or Its
branches, but there are many small ones the
/ most prominent beng Frederick, HageTStoWu,
Harpers Ferry, Hancock, Gettysburg, CuInber-
land, Martinsburg, Winchester, Stanton. Stras-
burg, &c, all places historic interest.
THE POTOMAC WATER
Tho on,our, -, ,y,,.. ms, r,i.,,, - ,Io r,u..
- =! VIC o'oiii az
IL us lowest stage Is about 'oO,OoO,OOo gallons
per day. In quality the water OF the Potomac
i uerhaps ;s good as that of any river of its .za
fnyving no tIo ttI,nfjr. sa.tn.rd . . $500
OF wafer suI,nly for a Iary, civ tho PntU,nac
has the inherent defects which accompany most
river sources, ana these defects become more
i ~ ,, i.'i m.iA ~: ,.e az 'a.ioe vi cIsiHa-
great numbers of pennle with their f,ckS n I'd
nerdS Jne IandS ara biybJy cnI,i,.tad -,
have heen tor many YEAR and rho nSo ot ter
tiiizers docs :, mi unsf iDcrea>a yvi;h ,i,ra Tha
r1nnuI,i, si'.roc hri,,T, -, nlf,,,nSs t,, @
increa.in, tht. yioIence OF Stornls - frah,
| An Irfurious organic matter sc.tteraJ .hont
the Land in The shane an tnrtiIizarr aud Gac,--
80, -, 80 - - :, ~ -, -. =. .
r,tS $3.50 mt ih r"in - -. moi
TIE foods also vatt,er LARGER a,nonntS ff,,.n
,n,arI,rot -, So N,vuii 70 'i.,'n
| Ill. tErnnyb ,y,icb - rro,nrs a. IT. tnS
| increasi,y si1a art. nunhsr. If Tho ~ 80
Se1,srI,,. rom which ~, 81 F,'1is ~ 80 , VIZ i
| some f,1rn, orr Other ro ~ i - -
,,1t.I,tl -, no a,nstIi.,-ad - - ia; 'io oi.
-. 90 - az s,,,,'I -, - .'ie ueieo's
] IiyhG ana nf .hurt I|,r,i,n - p, aio ~ ~
-. - - ~ - .'ioi'' .lI o.oi.'ic Is d
/ ance Kut in the autumn winter az .fri,
the perou OF the wear nef, st,ri,,s and frtshe
most prevail, the water becomes more or less
itnpresna,ed Win Impurities oi All Kinds, and
/ supply as icaShcS tue CITY Il ieleI>lNS III