The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-07-22

Brook--Drive Was Over the Sys-
tenn of Beautiful Roads Construct
ed by the Company-Supply of
Water is Pure and Inexhaustible.
Nothing save miracle can ever
cause a water famine in Scranton.
Every contingency short Of a miracle
has been provided against 10y the COM
panies that are supplying this city
with water. Yesterday the members
of the board of health and other city
officials resumed the work of examin-
ins the city's water supply and its
sources and what they saw filled them
with unbourded admiration.
The whole day was spent in visiting
the various reservoirs of the Scranton
Gas and Water company which are the
most extensive owned by any COM
pany in the country supplying a city
the size Of Scranton. Some idea OF
what this company has done in the
way of preparing FOR the future may
he cleaned from the fact that it has
acquired possession of nearly fourteen
thousand acres of land for the pur-
pose of protecting it's reservoirs and
the streams and springs supplying
them. Practically the entire water
shed from which it drains it's supply
is now owned by the company which
is thus able to protect it absolutely
from defilement of any kind.
The total capacity of the various
reservoirs of the company is forty-five
hundred million gallons exclusive of
| the supply available at Lake Henry, a
pretty little lake high upon the noun
| tain FIVE miles east of Moscow. In
| that lake are four hundred million
| gallons of water obtained from pure
mountain springs. Pipes have been
| laid from this lake so that the water
| can be diverted from ii at any time
| into the Roaring Brook and conveyed
into the big reservoirs lower down the
| stream.
| SURPRISE TO THEM.
| Few people in Scranton have known
of the presence of this lake and it was
not until yesterday that the majority
| of the members of the board of health
knew that it haG been acquired by
the Scranton Gas and Water company
1t was almost o'clock yesterday
| morning when the inspecting party
|
| sisted of Mayor James G. Bailey, DR..
| w. A Paine, Or. w. X. Bentley, At
torney George S. Horn and NJ. j. Kel-
10y, of the board Of health; DR.. w. E.
Allen, health officer; Attorney r. j.
Murray, secretary of the board; Cap
tain w. H. Burke, health officer; T. n.
Cullen, food inspector; NJ. F. O'Maley,
Plumbing inspector; Robert Reeves,
superintendent of the Scranton Gas
and Water company, and V. Z. Ar
mold, assistant superintendent of the
Providence Gas and Water company;
Select Councilman John j. Kearney
| and Common Councilman NJ. J. CuSick.
At the high service reservoir on the
top of Spencer's hill, Dunmore, the
first stop was made. This has a cap
acity of 100000 gallons and is used to
supply the high points of Petersburg,
| Sanderson's hill and Hyde Park. The
water is pped to this reservoir from
the Williams bridge reservoir which
is over in the mountains three miles
| east of Spencer's Hill and six hundred
feet above the city.
The water is carried from one reser-
voir to the other by gravity One OF
the principal reasons for constructing
the high service reservoir was "tC
} break the head of the water" as Mr.
Reeves, the superintendent of tht
company expressed it. In other word;
if the water was taken to the city
direct from Williams bridge the pres
sure would be so great that it woulC
. be unmanageable and would destro!
, the service pipes in most of the cit!
, residences supplied from that source
, The water coming from Williams
| bridge is exceptionally pure and cool
1t does not require filtering and is coo
' enough for drinking purposes withou
having ice applied to it.
NO. RESERVOIR.
From the high service to the No
reservoir, a mile away. the party pro
ceeded. This was once the main res
{ ervoir Of the company but is now uset
only as a settling and distributing res
ervoir. 1t has a depth of thirty-fiv
: feet and is capable of storing 100000
gallons. From this reservoir nearl,
n the entire supply for Scranton is TAX
en-. 1t is on the Roaring brook an
: | further up the stream at Elmhurst
> a storage reservoir that has a capacit
| of thirteen hundred million gallons
The water has an average depth O
Q sxty-five feet and covers 40 acres q
: land.
At Elmhurst Oak Run flows into tn
| Roaring brook from the northwest an
on this one and one-half miles abov
I'lmhurst is another reservoir that ca
| store three hundred and forty million
gallons. The Elmhurst reservoir is a.
immense piece Of masonry, fifty fee
at the base and sixty-five feet i
! heighth. The spillway is $50 feet wide
E No water is piped from either o
8 these dams. 1t is carried along Oa
4 Run in the natural channel to tn
t Roaring brook and from the Elm
t hurst dam in the latter along the be
3 of the stream to No. 7. The ownershi
i of the land on both sides of the strear
t ty the company makes this feasabl
I and safe.
E Arriving at No. 7 the water is al
lowed to settle and the sediment goe
TO the bottom. All the water take
, from this reservoir for city purpose
v comes from within ten feet of the tor
t insuring the greatest purity. Afte
leaving the dam the water passe
S through the extensive filtering plan
of the company constructed two year
. ago at a cost of 100000. 1t is in real
$ ity a double system. If anything har
s pens to one of the filters or it is de
sired to clean it the water can b
5 turned off and the other filter wi
screen and clean enough of water