The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-07-14

The board of health yesterday began
its annual inspection of the city's
water supply. A visit was made to the
new storage reservoir of the Scranton
Gas and Water company near Goulds-
hcro. This is the reservoir hurriedly
built on the headwaters of the Lehigh
river nearly two years ago when 1t
seemed probable that Wilkes-Barr
capital would make similar move.
Tire Scranton company not only built
the Oservoir and IA pump station but
purchased hundreds of acres of water
shed in that locality.
Yesterdays inspection was made by
DR.. w. A. Paine, president; DR.. ]. X.
BENTLEY, George s. Horn and NJ. ].
Kelly, Of the board of health; DR.. w.
r. Allen, health officer; Major ]. p.
Fish. superintendent of the Providence
Gas and Water company; p. j. Calpin,
of common councils sanitary commit
tee, and Superintendent Robert Reeves,
of the Scranton Gas and Water COM
pany. The party left Scranton on the
1905 Delaware, Lackawanna and West
ern train which stopped at the reser-
vOir for the members to alight. Near
ly an hour and a half was occupied in
the inspection, the party returning to
Scranton on the 12,1S train from
Gouldsboro.
CAPACITY or RESERVOIR.
The reservoir has a surface area of 70
acres and q capacity of 60,000,O00 gal
Ions. The work of clearing the ground
and building the dam and pump house
and installing the machinery was be-
gun Oct. 90, 1896. The pipe line to
Roaring Brook nearly two miles away.
was laid and the reservoir ready for
use early the following December. The
less than two months consumed stands
as a record for that kind of work in
this section Of the state.
The source of supply is the two fork
ell I.ehigh headwater. Each fork is
! fed by many spring runs. Both forks
are to the left Of the Delaware, Lacka-
wanna and Western tracks as one rides
away from Scranton, one branch par
alleling the tracks from a point oppo-
| site Gouldsboro depot and the other
flowing from a source at right angles
to the track. They join almost at the
reservoir
Up to the present time no use has
| been made of the water. 1t is stored
for emergency purposes that may never
arise. but it is there just the same
and an evidence of the company's pol
| icy to have on tap millions of gallons
of water beyond even an eXtraordi-
nary demand.
| In the pump house is a compound
| Northington pump. boilers and other
machinery, a plant with a capacity to
| pump 10000 00n gallons of water every
"a hours in Roaring Brook which leads
to the big storage reservoir at Elm
hurst. The water will be pumped $500
| feet, or nearly two miles, through a
24-inch pipe line up a 50-foot raise into
| Roaring Brook. The pipe line runs
| along the left side of the Delaware,
Lackawanna and Western tracks, go
ing Scrantonward, passing under the
| tracks at its brook terminus. 1t rests
on planking over a part of the route
which is very swampy.
ON SHORT NOTICE.
To put the pump and other mach
| inery in shape for service, only a half
days attention would be required
The company owns practically all the
| land between the reservoir and the
divide" which separates the PaupaclS
and Lchish watersheds. Another "div-
ide," to which the pipe line runs, sep
| arates the Lehigh from the Roaring
| Brook territory. In this broad stretch
OF timber-covered country the company
may in the future build other storage
reservoirs.
If they are needed they can be placed
there with total storage capacity oi
2,o00 000,0 900 gallons. In that event the
water would he piped to the present
I.ehigh pipe line. The fall would be
sufficient to force the water over the
Roaring Brook divide and into that
stream without the aid of pumps.
The city officials were pleased with
what they saw yesterday. No water
was carried away for analysis as there
is no probability of its immediate use
1t will be subjected to chemical tes
before being used, although it's sourc,
in the mountains, the isolation of thu
reservoir and the siX-mile flow through
Roaring Brook before it reaches Elm
hurst all goes to show that the wate
is pure.
Next Mondsy the board will inspec
the Providence Gas and Water com
pany system.