Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-05-05

tains In All Directions Were Proba-
bly, Broken-Prior to 1850 Drinking
Water Was Brought to the City by
a Ferry. :.
The failure OF the water supply
which placed San Francisco at the
mercy of the flames was doubtless due
to the breaking of the many large flow
lines that lead to the city, says the
Kansas City Times.
In part this breakage may have been
caused by falling buildings, but pri-
marily it resulted from the violent
movement of the earth. Such accidents
have occurred in the past, notably in
1897, when large flow lines were crack
ed during earthquakes.
San Francisco's water supply is pro
yided by the Spring Valley Water com
pany, from series of lakes, distribut-
ing reservoirs on elevated places and
reservoirs formed by immense dams
across valleys or canyons in the noun
tainS. The largest of these reservoirs
are the Pilarcltos, San Andreas, Crys-
tai Springs and Calaveras. The capac-
ity of these four storage places Is so
large that the figures carry little mean
ing to the ordinary mind. but it Is
more than 72.OOO,Oo0,O00 gallons. In
addition to these reservoirs. which are
all ON high elevations, there are six
distributing reservoirs: Lake Honda,
36S feet above the city, with capac-
ity of 100000 gallons; College hill,
254 feet, 100000 gallons; University
mound, 16S feet, 35.000,0O0 gallons;
Clay street hill, 375 feet 141 900 gal
Ions; Francisco street. 139 feet, 7,0OO.-
coo gallons; Lombard street, 306 feet,
100000 gallons. This shows a dis
trlbuting capacity OF $4,000 900 gallons
and an elevation guaranteeing a sup
ply in every part of the city. Nothing
less than the breaking Of the pipe lines
could shut off San Francisco's water
supply, and this. as has been said, is
what probably happened.
The Pilarcitos reservoir Is in the
mountains of San Mateo county and
has an elevation of nearly 700 feet
above tide level. 1t was built in 1854
when the city had 100000 population.
1t was formed by building a dam
across the Pilarcitos valley ninety feet
high, with a capacity of more than
1000, 100000 gallons. A thirty inch
pipe sixteen miles long conveys the
water to Lake Honda, n distributing
reservoir In the suburbs Of the city.
The San Andreas dam, In the noun
tains of that name. holds $500, 100000
gallons of water The Crystal Springs
reservoir is In the San Andreas noun
tains, southwest of San Francisco
about fifteen miles. Its capacity is
1000, OOO, 600 gallons.
The distributing pipe system of San
Francisco, from four inches up TO thir-
ty-seven and n half inches. has total
length of more than 400 miles, and al
though the city's surface is broken by
many hills and dales the average pres
sure maintained by the splendidly
equipped pumping stations and the ele-
vations varies from fifty to seventy
five pounds to the square inch.
Prior TO 1860 San Francisco's fresh
water for drinking purposes was fer
ried across the bay from Sausalito. in
Marin county, much as milk would be
supplied in cans and barrels. Lake
MERGED, on the west coast of the pen
inSula, contributed also to the city's
needs, as it does now. but both sources
were wholly inadequate. The Spring
Valley Water company was organized
in 1850 and bought land In San Mateo
county for a waterworks in the San
Mateo mountains seventeen miles
southeast from the Market street ferry
house. This land lies at the confluence
of the Pilarcitos and Spring Valley
creeks A reservoir was built Of small
capacity. and a line of pipe thirty
three miles in length was laid to San
Francisco. The company also built
the Lake Honda reservoir, with ca
pacity of 33,00O,00O gallons, and later
another was constructed near the juno
ton of Market and Valencia streets, at
what used TO be called the Market
street cut.
The water company continued to in
crease its supply year by year until
in 1865 it was realized that great
city was to be built on the peninsula
and that very much larger water
supply than 1t then had would be nee
essary. The average daily consump-
ton then was $500. 600 gallons. Since
that year the company has been adding
pipe lines and reservoirs constantly.
The San Francisco water supply has
always been regarded as a very good
one