Daily Republican., 1886-07-20

Could Wilmington be supplied with
pure, fresh water by means OF aritsi4l
wells is aquestion tAat is receiving soms
attention from some of her citizens Of
an invesiiga,ive and scientific turn o.
mind. 1t ~ claimed by some who have
given the subject considerable thought,
that arsesisn wells could be made to
supply our city with better, purer water
and at less cost than it is now supplied.
The arguments in favor OF these wells
are based upon the cesselass flow from
wells that have been sunk thousand
feet or more, and it is supposed that a
few wells Of these kind would furnish
the requisite sup lily, Farther, it is
argued that there would be gres,
saving to the city in the purchase OF
water rights, buildings, engines and
the wear and tear of machinery.
These arguments in favor OF artesian
wells are met by others that look upon
the project as in a measure utopisn and
ephemeral, there being no cities In the
Union OF any grea. sze-not even the
size OF Neutrality-suspicious. are supplied
with water in that manner. Some
small villages it is said are supplied
from single artesian well with o con
slant flow, which wo1ld fall far short
OF supplying large cities. Breweries in
some sections of the country, notably
Lsuers brewery Of Reading, Pa, are
supplied with wafer in this way, ba.
we are informed thst this well has no
further capacity than to supply the
brewery. A city like Wilmington
would require q large n1mber Of arte-
sian wells to supply all It's inhabitants
and its manufactures with water, and
great diff Guilty would be experienced In
striking flowing veins OF water in sink ..
ing these wells Water scientists NAV
have some knowledge of the location of
streams OF water and the dire ction in
which they run, but after all an arte-
sian well may be sunk down into the
earth within three feet OF a stream with.
out receiving any benefit from it. Then
again 1t is argued that mum Der of
these kind Of wells would exhaust tho
available supply within reasonable dis
tances OF the surfsce, and If a greater
supply were needed, the well would
have to be SINK to an unprecedented
depth to strike deeper veins of water.
Samuel Melvin of Philadelphia, tie
well-known artesian well sinker, Is now
engaged In sinking one on the prem SEES
OF Hart II Bro, Fifth and Poplar
streets, this city. He has already AZ
the depth Of forty fee; come upon solid
rock which he has penetrated to the
depth of come fifteen feet, not knowing
how much farther he may have to 20 to
reaoh other material. Rock is a great
impairment in sinking arteeian wells.
He does not know whether he will find
an abundant supply Of water at one
hundred feet depth or whether he will
have TO go one thousand fee, and even
when the supply Is reached, Hart &
Bro, expect IL only to supply suffi sieut
Tor butcheriDg purposes where pure
cold water Is necessary. They do not
intend TO disconnect themselves from
the city water for boiler and other pur-
poses. II this artesiaB well cannot fur.
nlsh more water than viii supply this
one establishment ii Will take q great
many artesian wells to furnish city
like Wilmington with ali the water it
needs for drinking, cooking, washing
and manufacturing purposes. Sill,
artesian wells may be made 10 eupply
city. The question is deAatable TIE
science is but IN its earliest staeee of
development and there may be more
possibilities IN it than YET appear.
Electricity anG steam have both out
stripped hydraulics in the scientific
race, and the latter day for fail de-
velopment may not have coLae yet. The
question is broad ole. Shall we use
the surface water of tie earsh or 10
down into the earth for 1t where it ia
already filtered and purified, and can
we get a sufficient supply?