Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-10-24
THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING
THE WATER WORKS COMMITTEE
AND THE SURVEY.
They submit an Exhaustive Report
OF Engineer HnwIcy--It Fhvors n
Reservoir West of the cIty which,
Win Dnm, would Cost si3i 900.

Alderman Fry presided as mayor
pro TEN at the meeting Of the city
council las; night. and all the members
were present at roll call except Messrs.
Fischer and spoontz. Mr.. Fischer
came in afterward.
The report OF the water works com
mittee on the survey MADE during the
past few months was taken up at the
opening Of the session. It embraced
the report OF the consulting engineer,J.
u. Hawley. II was as follows:
TO HIS Honor the Mayor and the city
Council, Fort Worth, Tex;
Fort Worth. Tex. oct. 20. 1s9t--Gen-
tlemen; We. your committee to whom
was referred the matter OF investigat-
ing the water supply question, TO the
end 81 procuring, In the most feasible
way. an increased supply for the city,
beg leave 70 report that, with the as
sisi1nce OF the consulting engineer.
whose report is hereto attached and
made "a part hereof, we have carefully
cnrvassed the entire subject, and rec
ommend tho following improvements:
First, the universal adoption OF u
meter system.
Second, the building Of a masonry
dam at some suitable point below the
old pumping station
Third, that steps be taken TO dis
cover the relative merits Of the sew
cral makes OF mechanical filters. with
a view u adopting one OF them as set
forth Ia the engineers report
Fourth, that after having settled the
question as 10 which. n any. litter be
ton pump nc moved 10 the new pump
house, to be there used IN connection
with snid filter
Firth that steps be taken by the re-
ceptiOn Of proposals. thereon to ascer-
tain the cost Of lowering the connec-
lions O. the artesian wells, provided
that the net cost thereof shall not
greatly exceed the market value VI tho
Iron saved by the use OF Vltrited pipe
sixth, that not to exceed three ma
spnry storage dams he built on the
Clenr Fork at suitable sites
We recommend the above. believing
that eli the improvements mentioned
arc Of 70 permanent nature. In line with
the ultimate supplying Of the city by
n cans Of very large storage capacity
ag set forth In the engineers report.
said large storage capacity We be-
iieve 10 be at present beyond reach
/ Of the city's resources.
We further recommend that the wa
| tor works committee, together with the
! mayor, be authorized to have detail
/ plans ana specifications prepared for
/ the recommended improvements, and
| to advertise for bids thereon as soon AS
| prepared rcscrving the right TO reject
any or all bids, providing prices are not
! satisfactory.
Your committee would at this time
4 take occasion 90 extend our thanks to
/ consulting engineer, Mr. j. Il. liuwley,
] for che thorough ana painstplng man
| npr in which he has performed the
! work assigned him by tHis committee.
| aud we think the report formulated by
him covers all the points involved In
the solution Of the water problem.
! Feeling assured that tine care with
/ which all points have been considered
has Justified the tlmc consumed In
making this invcrtigltion and that We
o0cr 10 you a solution OF the water
| problem as Il concerns the present
and much of the future, we remain,
Yours rcspcctrully
j G. CLEMENTS, Chairman,
S, NJ, FRY,
Fort Worth, TcN.. Oct, iG, 1891 To
the Hon. Mayor and Waterworks Com
mittcc. Fort Worth. Texas. Gentlemen
] herewith present FOR your consider
alton "a report covering my invcstlga'
lions %, your city water supply;
In general the function OF a consult
ing engineer Is To pass upon the data
collected by others. ottcnumes cover
crlng the observations and surveys OF
years, and from an inspection OF sucl
material TO formulate the plan OF ac'
ton solving the problem under dis
cussiOn.
OftImcs his duty IS simply to throw
tic weight ot his judgment In favor
OF one of several already well de
vcloped plans, the details Of whlcl
have been carefully studied by com
potent persons.
The situation here has demanded "a
different treatment Previous TO my
employment by you, no surveys ha,
been made, no data collected, no plan
formulated. 1t has OF necessity been
u case of Commencing at the beEiu
ming" endeavorlng by observation OF ,
, few phenomena, such rs the summe
months of a single season afford, an,
an inspection of the fragucntary re
cords kept at nclghbprlug places, 4
arrive at conclusions in the fundamen
tai matters OF rainfall and now an,
others equally important as II base,
on the actual observations of years
This lack of observed and recorde,
data has necesltatod that some of tn
premises OF the discussion should b.
matters of estimate and opinion, rathe
than assured facts,
In such eases I have endaVored t.
make the assumptions as c0nsorVatiy
aa possible and feel that the future vii
+ sanction them. Treating those assump
tons az facts, | have tried herein q
$ nnalyze your situation Ia such II wa,
{ that the conclusions at which | arrlv
viii appear to You. as to me- the onl,
( ones logically warrantahlc. and no
simply "ipse dlXit" statements o
! mine.
! Fort Worth Is dependent upon tw
T sources for It's water supply, The frs
OF these-the Trinity river West Forl
and Clear Forks an inconstant, wa
riRblc stream, a raging torrent a
times OF heavy rainfall and n "dr
run" la times OF drought.
The second source Of supply--the ar
t tesian well furnishes at pres
e cnt only slightly above one million gal
/ Ions OF water per diem The presen
i amount OF water Furnished by the wa
r terw0rks and consumed by the cit
may fairly be stated as 100000 gallon
per diem on the average, the min
, mum being about 100000 and max
muf about 6,0O0O 600 United States ga
/ Ions, Viewing these facts It seem
necessary that Que or both OF III
branches OF the Trinity must be locke