Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-13
oU. MAIL POUCH.
City Water Works for Allegheny.
tho Fdttor of The Dispatch:


To the Editor of The Dispatcn:
In your issue of the 10th inst. you have an
article on THE Water Problem" for Ale
gheny, in which reference is made to company
furnishing water to the city of Allegheny.
There is no reason why Allegheny cannot build
and operate water works for herself as cheap
as any company would be likely to do. Of
course private company takes the work be-
cause there is money in it, and this profit ought
to be more than that due to any mismanagement
on the part of the officials. 1t seems to me, the
scheme as outlined, is the same as that which
has been discussed during the past few years
in the Engineers Society of this city and In the
public press. Superintendent Armstrong;
idea seems to be to take the water from above
Claremont, pump it into the reservoir in that
vicinity, and lay wrought iron main to the
present city service pipes. Mr.. 7. P. Roberts
improves upon this by suggesting the building
of filter system in one of the several islands
in the Allegheny river, ana in this respect
copying after quite a number of European
works. and somewhat after several that are
now in successful operation in the caste IN part
of this country.
In 1887 the undersigned made a suggestion to
some extent combining the two above; but,
instead of building new pumping works at
Claremont, to bring the water in the brick con-
duit from the filtering works to large pump
pit to be built in the vicinity of the present loca
ton OF the pumps, from which the water would
be pumped substantially as now, and that
large additional reservoir should be erected in
the vicinity of the Eleventh ward, and at the
same elevation as that of the Troy Hill reser-
voir. The estimated cost of this is probably
within the combined cost of the first two, and
equally efficient. In addition to this, If it was
chosen to build of sufficient size, the city of
PittSburg and the boroughs, Williamsburg.
Sharpsburg and Etna might also obtain their
supply by pro-ratlng the cost Of furnishing the
water.
While this, in outline is the present idea of
the undersigned, still it is subject to such
change as detail surveys examinations and
estimated cost and running expenses might
suggest. So far as know, such surveys and
examinations have not yet been made sufh-
cientlyin detail to warrant final determination
upon this question.
In THE DISPATCH of August 81 there is an
article signed by ]. II. McClelland and appa-
rently written from ST. Moritz Engadine, Swift
zerland, treating on the water supply of that
place. The article contains the following:
but the practical engineers OF the company
put their wits to work, and. regardless of cost,
brought the machinery and other details of the
process to its present state of perfection"
1t seems to me that this contains the gist of
the whole matter. Allegheny while having
spent some money, has not up TO this time en-
ployed anyone of national reputation on the
y.
fall OF 1887 Prof. ID. VI. Green was employed to
make an examination. In the first place, Prof.
Green, among water works engineers, has no
prominent reputation in that line of Work.
secondly, to the best of my knowledge, Prof
Green was on the ground less than week: and
MS reports and estimates were based largely
upon survey previously made; said survey.
however, being rather primitive in its details.
In conversation with one of the committee
after the report of Prof. Green was presented,
the writer asked why he had been employed;
the substance of the reply was that his services
could be obatined cheaper than that of any
otner engineer corresponded with. The ques-
ton arises in my mind as to whether it was
cheaper. Certainly Prof. Green was paid but
little (about $500 for his services but so far as
can e,it,was not worth more. If such men as
Frederick Graft, of Philadelphia; Rudolph
Herring, Joseph P. Davis, A. Fteley of New
York, had been employed, Allegheny would
probably have paid $1,000 or more for their
services; but in all probability would have had
good deal more to show than in the present
case, and, If such men were employed as men,
toned above they could give in substance all
there is in relation to water works in success
full operation in this or European countries.
The question of spending one or more million
dollars for supplying Allegheny with water, is
one that should be referred to experts and not
be decided by laymen, however prominent and
skillful they may be in their own line of work.
BY experts, l mean men that have a national
reputation as such, not those that call them
selves experts. l never heard of Allegheny
Council, when she had law suit on hand send
ing for surgeon, or, when an accident oc
CURED and men were suffering to send for a
lawyer however eminent they might be-
The fact that Allegheny has been for dozen
years or more discussing this subject shows this
to be fact AS resident and taxpayer of
the city of Allegheny would rather pay my
proportion of $4,000 if necessary, for the
proper examination and determination of this
question, and, as far as / have talked with
others, this seems to be the general opinion. 1t
is cheaper to make your experiments on paper
than in the construction of works, as has been
found out by Pittsburg.. ]. II. HARLOW.
ALLEGHENY, September IL