Arizona republican., 1912-06-25
PUMPING PLANT
 NEAR MAR|COPA
Successful Test of the Wa ter Supply for the De sert Reclamation Under taking of R. P. Davie and Associates.

Not long ago The Republican recit- ed at some length the details of project undertaken for the reclama- tiOn by pumped water. of a tract of 12.SO0 acres of desert land just east of Maricopa This land was taken up -withasorip by R. P. Davie and as sociates and when title was secured it was sold to a Scotch syndicate consisting of C. M NJ CrichtOn of AItadena,. Cal, athe Earl of ROthers and a Mir HoNsard of London, Eng lauds The ssld swfs made contingent uponj a denpns siration of the feasibil- ity Qf wateffng the land by pumping plants That, delnonstration was made last week under the supervision of J. C. Dobbins, a well known en- gineer of this city, and in the pres ence of MT Davie and Mir Crichton. It was more than successful
 The superlative is used for the req son that the requirement was the raising of $40 gallons of water per minute fromg the we'll, and the show ing made was the full capacity of the pump, $50 gallons per minute. The we'll is IS inches in diameter and 300 feet deep, though it is only 31 feet to water level. the rest of the hole being used for storage. The test lasted from Tuesday night until Friday night of last week, practically continuous pumping, and the draw down was only seventeen feet
 It is planned now to equip the well with 1900 gallon pump and it is believed also that with continuous d,v-y, b. even less as it will keep the hole cleaned out and the flow clear, while the supply seems almost ineXhausti ble In the subsequent reclamation of the entire tract number of such wells will be required but the pres ent demonstration is so much better than was even hoped for that all con cerned are decidedly jubilant
 The next few years will certainly witness the reclamation of many such desert areas that have all the needfuls of the finest farming coun- try in the world, except the water supply and that exists but d few feet below the surface. The modern pumps and improved engines are the solution of the reclamation problem in all such places. It is true that many reclamation projects depend- ing on pumped water, have in past years resulted only in failure for the reason that the cost of raising a suf- ficient amount of water was pro- hibitive But inventive genius never ceases from it's labors and the strides made in this line within a very few years have been marvellous
 Engines are now obtainable that may be operated with but a small part of the fuel required few years ago, and that return also a much greater volume of power for a like amount of fuel used. Therefore undertakings that were certain failure a few years ago, are today equally as certain of success. It is only a few short years since it was cOntended in this val ley that it would not pay to raise water for irrigation purposes, over fifteen or twenty feet Today many are pumping water to a good profit 90. 75 and 100 feet. depending on the conditions and the crops requiring the water. And there is no reason for believing the limit has been reached. It can be pumped a thous- and feet if the fuel and volume of power can be provided cheap enough