The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-07-13


Members of the Board of Health yes
terday began their annual examination
of the sources of the city's water sup
ply and, as Is the usual custom. spent
the first day at the storage dams and
distributing reservoirs of the Provl-
dence Gas and Water company, which
is now owned by the Scranton Gas and
Water company. Major j. B. Fish,
superintendent of the Providence com
pany, and Robert Reeves, general
superintendent of the Scranton Gas
and Water company accompanied the
party.
The situation in North Scranton at
present is this: On January / the
Scranton Gas and Water company, by
arrangement with the Providence COM
pany, supplied the customers of the
Providence company east of the Lack
awanna river with water from its
Scranton mains. This arrangement
was made because OF the complaints
about the quality of the water that
was being furnished to the people of
Green Ridge.
Since January l the Scranton COM
pany has continued to supply the
Green Ridge section, and In April the
Providence company was absorbed by
the Scranton company.
Since then. President w. w. Scran-
ton, of the Scranton company, has been
bending his energies to get control Of
land along the water shed from which
comes the Providence supply, and has
been so successful as to win commen-
dation from the members of the board
yesterday, who declared the conditions
surrounding the Griffin lake storage
reservoir are much better than they
were a year ago.
FROM TWO SOURCES.
The supply of the Providence COM
pany ordinarily comes from the Sum-
NIT lake dam and the Griffin lake dam.
Along the outlet from the former on
the ACkerly property is an objection
| able piggery, which caused a vigorous
protest from the Women's club some
| months ago. The piggery still exists,
but the company does not now use any
water from Summit lake and has not
since before the complaint about the
nuisance.
All OF the supply of the company
now comes from Griffin lake and five
artesan wells bored in the valley run
| ming from the outlet to Chinchilla. One
| of these wells Is 500 feet deep and the
other four are from 200 to 300 feet
deep. All are flowing good streams, but
no effort is being made to augment the
flow by means of pumps, for the com
| pany has an abundance of water
| Griffin lake has a storage capacity OF
$40, 100000 gallons.
At the inlet to the Griffin lake the
Tripp farm, which did much to pollute
the water OF the lake, has been pur-
chased by the company and the barns
and other buildings are being torn
down. Hereafter the land will not be
| titled and no person will be allowed to
live on it. The Stanton farm. adjoin-
| ing the Trip, which has also been fire.
quently complained of, has likewise
been acquired by the new owners OF
the Providence company and all of the
buildings removed, the ground where
they stood filed in and sowed with
| grass seed.
| The Snyder is another farm pur-
chased, making a total of 200 acres the
company has added to the holdings ac-
quired to protect its watershed.
POLICY OF NEW OWNERS.
This is the policy pursued by the
| Scranton company for years and
which has made it absolute owner OF
about all the land on it's watersheds
east of the city. 1t will be continued
in the case OF the Providence COM
pany until it will be impossible to pol
lutte the source from which it takes its
supply.
Leggett's creek, which flows dowr
through Chinchilla and from which
the Providence company originally got
Its supply, has been abadoned entire.
ly. 1t contained only a small amount
OF water and it was found impossible
to keep 1t even reasonably free from
pollution.
The method of filtering the water al
Chinchilla heretofore in vogue has
been abandoned and copper wire filters
| such as are now in use at No. dis.
tributing reservoir will be substituted
At present the water is not filtered
The water was a trifle muddy yester'
day owing to the numerous recent rair
| storms, but seemed to be wholesome
At the Notch the company has erect.
ed a small brick building and under Il
in the twelve and twenty-inch mains
the ventura water meters have beer
installed. The registers which will in
dicate the amount OF water that passes
through the mains have not yet beer
put in place, but will be within a few
days. They will be located in the small
brick building.
The members of the board of health
were of the opinion that within a briei
period the people who use water from
the Providence company's mains vii
have little to complain about. Afte,
yesterdays tour of inspection the
members OF the party lunched beneath
the trees in a grove on the shore OF
Summit lake.
Some day in the near future tht
board will examine the Scranton com.
pany's reservoirs.