Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-21

graded. and the shallow, marshy portions
partly filed and partly deepened- The SPILL
way was eItensively repaired and q saug 3;
cracks In the bottom and along the sides
Of the high-service reservoir in Georgetown
were plastered up and the entire interior
| was covered with several washes Of Port
land cemen. to prevent exfiltration.
During May and June, 1897. for the second
time since completion. all deposits (aggre-
eating ITO cubic yards) were removed from
scraped and swept. An inspection of the
entire interior of the conduit shows that
some of the cracks plastered up in 1896
have reopened and that no new ones have
developed.
General repairs, such as cleaning out
culverts and bitches. cutting down bushes
| and trimming slopes, were made to the
| entire road between Georgetown and Great
| Falls.
The ordinary inspection of mains and
| repairs Of leaks therein oiltng and working
OF valves and blow-offs, packing of valve
pipes to prevent freezing. and investfga-
lions Of applications for permission to tap
mains were carried on during the year.
| With the appropriation Of June IL, 1886,
| six 3-inch air valves were inserted in the
86-inch main, and four blow-offs and nine
air valves were inserted in the SO-inch
main.
In addition, one 12-inch blow-o6 was in
serted in the 48-inch main and paid for out
| Of the regular annual appropriation for the
| Washington aqueduct.
By the use of special tapping machine
all of this work was accomplished without
at any time shutting off the water from
| the mains.
The telephone line between the office in
| Washington and Great Falls was extern
| sively repaired, but does not AFFORD salts
| factory service. By act of March 3, 1897.
| an appropriation of $1,000 was made for
| constructing a new telephone line between
| the Washington aqueduct office and Great
! Md With this annrODriatiOn
| line, equipped with the best long-dtstance
| telephone, will be constructed early In the
next fiscal year.
| Measurements of the daily and hourly
] consumption and waste of water were made
! on June %. a and %. 30, 1897. and mean
| of the two results gave the daily consump-
| ton as #. 267 .047 gallons, a slight increase
| above that of the preceding year. Based
| upon estimate of 261, 47S consumers of
| Potomac water, as given by the assistant
| in charge of the water department of the
District. this corresponds to per -e capita
| daily consumption and waste of 1l3 gallons.
| Based upon a population Of 2I1,IS2 in the
Distnctsof Columbia, as determined by the
| police census taken In April, 1897 ire
| spective of their source of water supply.
| it corresponds to daily per capita of 163
| gallons.
An extensive series of gaugings. by cur
| rent meter observations in the conduit, at
| two stations, discloses the fact that at
the lowest stage of the Potomac, with all
1 deposits removed from the conduit and the
distributing reservoir about two feet be-
| low it's present level GAG feet above datum).
1 the conduit is capable of discharging into
| that reservoir about 76,500,000 gallons per
| day.
New Conduit Needed.
| This represents the ultimate capacity of
| the conduit, and the present daily con-
| sumption is about 60 per cent of this
! amount Ten years ago it was but IS per
cent of the same amount. The necessity
! therefore, for the construction of a new
| conduit between Great Falls and the dis
| tributing reservoir is only a question of
| time.
| The new conduit should be completed and
| ready for operation before the daily con-
| sumption equals the maximum capacity Of
| the present conduit. To make the prelim-
| mary surveys and plans acquire the nee
| essary lands. and construct the conduit
| will involve operations extending over sew
| eral years, therefore the Inauguration of
this work should not long be deferred.
| The officer in charge states that estimates
| for the preliminary operations will be sub
mitted IN the next annual re2ort. the
trunk mains leading to the city, however,
| are already overtaxed in supplying the
present consumption of a little more than
| 45.O00.GU gallons per day, and every in
| crease in their volume of flow will be
marked by a rapid decrease in pressures in
those parts of The city supplied by gravity
alone. 1t appears, therefore, that while
the conduit is capable of supplying over
?c.HD.UO0 gallons per day in excess of the
present rate of CONSUMPTION, the trunk
| mains have reached the limit of efficient
| discharge. and consumers will receive bur
| little benefit from the increased discharge
| of the conduit unless some method is pro-
vided for bringing an additional supply OF
| the water from the distributing reservoir
into the city.
The Tunnel Project.
Upon recommends ton of the chief of en-
gineers, approved by the Secretary of War.
an expert commission was appointed to
meet in Washington in December 1885 to
report upon the feasibility of completing
the tunnel conduit. After a careful study
of the subject and thorough inspection
| of the tunnel conduit and the works con-
nected Herewith. the commission sub
mitted their report published in House
| Dec. No. 1885, Fifty-fourth Congress, first
session.. which concluded with the state
ment That it is our unanimous Judgment
that it is feasible to complete the tunnel
conduit, with its appurtcnances, ready for
| service, for the sum of $S97, S37, as stated
In cur estimate. and believe that such
completion will not be impracticable or toe
extensive. inasmuch as We know Of nc
| more economical method for bringing in
creased water supply from the reservoir in
Georgetown to Washington by pipes or
| otherwise" As an essential part OF this
system. 1t is necessary to complete the new
| reservoir near Howard University at an
estimated additional cost of sos 80,
making the total cost of the whole work
ST. 95, 5000.
There is a balance OF about $3.50, 600 Of
the appropriations made by the act of
1882 and subsequent acts for 'Hncrea sing
the water supply Of Washington D. Co.
rem aiming unaxpended in the treasury of
| the United States.
By making this sum available for ex-
| penditure on the work and appropriating
| an additional sum of $SO5, 5000 the whole
| amount estimated by the commission as
nece ssary to complete would be provided
recommend, in view of the foregoing,
| that the aforesaid balance be made i'm
| mediately available for expenditure and
| that the further sum of $S05 5000 be APP
propria ted, also to be Immediately avail
able. for the work of resuming and COM
| pleting the tunnel conduit between the
distributing reservoir and the new reservoir
near Howard University and for the other
works connected Herewith, including the
| latter reservoir.
The estimates for the fiscal year ending
| June 80. 1899. are as follows: q
| For repairing the north connection of the
by-conduit. Dalecarlia reservoir 5000; for
repairing the Conduit road. 5000: for re-
Stunning and completing work upon the
Washington aqueduct tunnel and new
| md fh4fv o<ap