Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-27
THE SECRET IS OUT.
Superintendent Wilcox Solves the
Mystery of Oily Water.
CAUSED BY DEPOSITS ON BANKS.
He Recommends Wing Dam at the Head
of SiY-Mile Island.
BIGELOW WANTS ANOTHER RESERVOIR

Superintendent Wilcox, of the Bureau of
Water Supply, who has been making an in
vestigation to learn the source OF the oil
| which recently rendered the water supply
| OF the city unfit for use, made his report to
Chief Bigelow yesterday. 1t covers eight
pages of typewriter matter, and gives the
details of Superintendent Wilcox's opera
tions in a trip to Oil City along the ALE
gheny river. He made the trip from Par
kers to Oil City, distance of so miles, in
skiff. All along the river, from the Bril-
liant pumping station to Oil City, he found
oil floating on the surface of the water.
Between Oil City and Parkers, he states.
the river runs through 80 oil producing
pools, all draining directly into the river or
its small tributaries, while above Oil City
there are several other pools which the river
receives drainage from. In sight of the
river l counted over 300 oil derricks. At ell
oil wells more or less Oil and refuse wastes
from the wells and tanks and finds its way
to the river, the heavy rains in spring and
fall carrying off the accumulations of the
dry or cold weather. Where the wells were
close to the river noticed considerable oil
on the surface of the water and that the
banks had a heavy coating of oil and B. 5.
able even at high stage of water.
Fuel Oil Escaping Into the Water.
From Oil City to Brilliant there are Il oil
refnerIes near the river, and a number of
others above Oil City which discharge more
OF less oil and refuse As to the pipe lines
saw large number laid along the river
banks, varying in size from one to eight
inches, but 1 noticed little leakage from
them except in the river just opposite the
Bear Creek Refinery small quantity of oil
comes to the surface over the National
Transit Company's fuel oil line.
From the sources named-oil wells, refiner-
les and pipe lines-a large aggregate of oil
and refuse gets into the river and during
low stage of water this stuff collects along
the banks of the river on logs, rocks and
bushes. Between Parker and Oil City oil
could be scraped off the stones lying three
or four feet under water. When a rise comes
the current carries this deposit OF oil and
refuse of, in quantities at first, and then
gradually the action OF the water divides the
deposit up into fine particles, mixed with or
held in suspension in the water. That
all of the oil does not float on the
surface is shown by the fact that l have
taken samples OF water over our water
works crib at depth of nine feet and she
microscope rev vealed particles of oil in it,
On allowing it TO stand q few days the oil
accumulated on the surface o. the water.
In passing DOWN the river found tine smell
Of oil very perceptible in places where
there were eddies or where the current was
not swift.
Referring to the Bear Creek Refinery and
the salt works at Natrona, Mr.. Wilcox SAYS
they are careful about the refuse and trihing
quantity of it gets to the river from either
place, though he recommends that the Bear
Creek Refinery be absolutely prohibited
from throwing any refuse into the river
until it has been settled in tank and passed
through a filter. He says the only way to
totally abate oil pollution is to stop throw
ing oil and its refuse products into the
river, but as the city has only jurisdiction
five miles above the water works, legislation
would be necessary. The same act might be
applied to pollution by sewerage, but Mr.
Wilcox does not think the population on
the river above large enough to warrant it.
Caused by Deposits of OIL.
smell of the wster is caused by the
deposit of oil along the river
banks in low water being carried down DUR
ing the regular spring and fall freshets, and
then pumped to the reservoirs. The
trouble, he SAYS, only occurs in the spring
and fall seasons, and all the towns along
the river complain of it as much as Pitts
burg. The river last summer, he says,
reached lower stage than for five years,
and there was a greater accumulation of the
deposit along the river to be washed down,
the water recently.
Mr.. Wilcox recommended the erection of
a wing dam at the head of Six-mile Island to
produce deeper water and a swifter current
over the crib from which the city's water
supply is pumped
Chief Bigelow in commenting on the re-
port, said: I'm addition to the wing dam
Mr.. Wilcox suggests we must have addi-
tional reservoir capacity so that when the
water is full of oil we can stop pumping
and allow the water in the reservoirs to
settle. 1 don't think the oil does any
harm but it is unpleasant. The wing dam
is needed because the Government dam on
the river opposite our works produces an
eddy on this side over our crib and we thus
ret more oil than we otherwise should"