New-York tribune., 1890-08-30

TO the mile posts on the railroad the passenger be-
gins to signs of he>,Newarb Waterworks. He
Is " Passaic County, MI. As he is going up stream
he the lower end of the works hrst-the trench
In which the pipe line is 10 be laid After he leaves
Butler he will see the excavation and the work on the
dam Of the lowest Hservoir the Macopin intake where
the waters are to be collected before they begin a
thirty mile journey through the pipeline TO Newark.
Six eight miles further up the road another glimpse
of the works is given at the head of the Oak Ridge
reservoir In seeking supply of water
Newark was limited TO practically three sourccs-the
Ramapo, Pequannock and Rockaway rivers. The
most available was the Pequannock, because a sup
ply could bc obtained from this AT height
sufficient TO deliver the water at Newark without pump
ing. The water company was not limited in its
choice however, but it naturally selected the Pcquan-
mock. by going nearby to Charlottcburg in PaSsac
County a height was reached which would enable the
company TO send the water through the pipes not
only without pumping, but without siphOnng. a
narrow valley selected there for the intake
reservoir, where the pipe line would begin High
mountains on both sides and almost entire absence Of
population, Of arabic land, for that matter, made
the site especially desirable The engineers wanted
two other reservoirs. ono required TO lmpound
the waters OF the Pcquannock River above New
Foundland and a reservoir site free from probable
pollution was found mile beyond Oak Ridge. The
valley selected narrowed at the mouth and made the
construction Of dam the easier This reservoir is about
six miles above the Macopm intake. The thir.
reservoir was found at Clinton Falls about as far from
the Macopin intake, but in another direction. The
Clinton reservoir wanted to impound the waters
from Cedar bunker and Brackabear ponds three ht;Is
lakes among the hills From the Clinton reservoir "a
stream flows to join the Pequannock at New Eoundland
a couple OF miles above the MacOpn intake reservoir.
Thus IT will be seen, the company has two storage
reservoirs the oak Ridge and thc Clinton and largo
intake reservoir, besides the three ponds mentioned
which are natural storage reservoirs.
The task before the company great. IL was
first occupied in purchasing the land the reservoir
sites for which some thousands of acres were re
ouired and then the land for the pipe line route
to Newark was 10 be secured. The purchases were
made without condemnation proceedings while the
prices were above the ordinary value of the land
they were not Us a rule, excessive. II was a work
of many months, but the necessary property wa, at
length obtained. Then tho actual construction work
began and IL has been in operation now for nearly
sin months The trees the sites have been
removed and new roads built take the place of the
old roads that crossed the spaces hat will eventually
be filled by water. AT oak Ridge "spway"
through solid rock had % be blasted for a couple of
hundred feet in length and fifty feet deep. and nj
Clinton a similar place. though less difficult I'm con
struction was required. The clearing Of the woods
shas hean considerable task and when the cleansing
~ the reservoir bottoms begins still more labor viii
be necessary.
tention Al oak Ridge and AT MacOpn the dams are
being built. That at oak Ridge will have rock and