Evening journal., 1903-08-26
ARTESIAN WATER
CLEAR AND PURE
Fine Well at the Delaware
River Pier Of the p. & X.
Railroad
SUBTERRANEAN STREAM NEAR CITY
Several Wells Here Have Been in
Operation For Many Years With
Universal sueeess-surfaee Water
Cannot Reach Them.

In the discussion al this time regarding
pure water which Is OF interest 90 every
citizen Of Wilmington, artoslan water isl
stln being talked of by no small number.
AS an illustrations the well at the Dela-
ware river pier OF the r. q n. Railroad
Company is a demonstration of what has
been done.
The well was sunk l70 feet years ago
and since that time not a. particle Of
trouble has been experienced. An mex
haustihle supply OF pure cool water has
been the result.
A sx-inch pipe was settled i7o feet
by the railroad company to supply itsI
locomotives and steamboats, with waiter
Inside Of this pipe ls another three-inch
one and inside the three-inch pipe is
placed a two-inch pipe. which is carried
90 the top of the tank which is twenty
feet in diameter and ls ten feet above the
pier. The water comes up IN the outer
pipe to a point thirty beet below the SUR
face The tank Is filed by forcing air
from an eight horsepower Westing-
house pump on top of the water IN the
three-inch pipe. This forces water through
the two-inch pise into the top OF the
tank
In speaking Of the supply this morning
to an Evening Journal reporter George
Rummel Of the p. & r. railroad said;
"rhe well has been In use for eight
years and has always given more water
than We have use for IL Is my opinion
that the well Is connected with a subter-
ranean river that flows beneath the bed
OF the Delaware ana that the supply is in
lexhausuble.
I'm defense Of the theory know the
Morris ana Tasker lron-Company az New
Castle has q well with the same kind OF
water which Is fifteen feet below the sur
face ana at Fort Delaware there IL an
other artesian well where the water flows
freely. showing the stream gradually
rises TO the surface. All the water ir
these wells Is exactly the same, according
to experts. This proves that there d
water In Wilmington that can be utilized
for manufacturing and drinking purposes
Il cannot see how surface water car
pass through an iron pipe and contami.
nate water of an artesian or driven well
Several years ago I was employed n
Terre Haute Ind. A water plant was
built there and the water of the Wabash
river was forced for three miles through
! sand ana gravel, known In that country
as hard pan and when IL reached ths
pumping station It was pure This goes
ITO prove that even though the surface
water did filter as low as the supply OF
arteslan wells are supplied from. that Il
would be pure. This does away with the
contamination idea in my mind.
1T would not cost a bit more to driv,
wells and force water that Is pure into a
distributing basin or direct through the
pipes than to get the water from IN,
Brandywine which everyone knows is O
J drainage from large scope Of country.
, AT Camden the artesian wells havl
been in use for several years and havl
given universal satisfaction. The percent
age Of typhoid in that city has been great
d ly lessened. I think Il has been reduce,
from twenty-three cases IN coe thousan,
= population TO one case to a Thousand I'm
hahltants."