The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-16
ARTESIAN WATER SUPPLY.

The movement of the Union for Practi-
cal Progress in the direction of securing
municipal ownership of the water supply
has included an investigation into the
matter of artesian water. 1t has been
demonstrated that a generous supply of
artesian water underlies the peninsula of
San Francisco, as the water WORKS at the
park are delivering 100000 gallons daily
from that source. 1t seems to be taken for
granted that this indicates the feasibility
OF securing a supply of $4,000, 900 day for
use by the entire City. This may or may
not be true.
One engineer has published figures show
ing that an aTtesian water supply can be
installed for the City at cost of 81, 500, 900,
which is little less than the annual
revenue of the Spring Valley Water Works.
In all these calculations and speculations
it is taken for granted that the artesian
stores available Will furnish the required
amount. Evidently no water can compare
with that from artesian sources for purity,
and it is equally evident that surface water
stored in open reservoirs must necessarily
be more or less impure. whether or not I'M
wholesome, and that in the presence of
any infectious disease in the transmission
of which water can play part it might
become a source OF great danger.
Surmises as to the extent of the artesian
store underneath the peninsula can be
based solely upon a careful scientific study
of the elements entering into the matter,
including borings to ascertain the pressure
of water, the depth at which the greatest
pressure is found, the trend, configuration
and character of the rock qualifications,
and an approximately close ascertainment
OF the part of the contiguous country from
which the water comes as the basis of esti-
mates concerning its volume. Thus, in
the San Joaquin Valley there exist some
wonderful artesian wells, and the pre-
sumption is that they are led by the heavy
precipitation of the Sierra Nevada. This
precipitation is in great part snow,
larger proportion of which soaks into the
earth than of rain, and the soaking is more
constant and gradual and the supply of
artesian water more certain and continu-
Gus.
Whence comes the artesian water under
lying the peninsula? Does it come from
so great distance as the Sierra Nevada,
or from the Coast Range? II from the lat
ter, where the rare winter SHOWS cut no
figure in the question, and where winter
rains quickly pass away in the form of tor
rental streams, could sufficiently abund-
ant and reliable flow be expected from
artesian wells?
Santa Clara County has had an interest
ing experience with artesian wells. Many
years ago several prolific wells discharged
above the surface in San Jose, but when
an Eastern company some years later &C
quired large tract of the Alviso marshes
and sank artesian wells on the property
and allowed them to remain flowing the
level of the wells in San Jose dropped far
below the surface. The Supervisors, in
order to protect the San Jose wells, were
finally compelled to cap those at Alviso.
This goes to show that the sinking of wells
at Alviso, below San Jose, reduced the
pressure on the wells at the latter place
and this in turn means that it reduced the
supply which those wells had been re-
ceiving. The sum of it all is that the
water supplying those wells was limited
in quantity. Investigation would proba-
bly, show that all these wells in Santa
Clara County did not weld a sufficient
quantity of water for San Francisco. And
yet, suppose that the supply of water un-
derneath this peninsula should come from
the source supplying the Santa Clara wells.
These suggestions are thrown out merely
to induce the exercise of proper care. THE
CALL, along with every other agency de-
voted to the good of the City, is DESTROYS
OF the best method of managing the water
supply, and will heartily cooperate with
those who exhibit the high wisdom which
all the circumstances of the case require.