Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-08
LESS WATER NEEDED,
BUREAU GETS CHANCE
OVERHAUL PLANTS
City's Demand Falls of 40~
100000 Gallons From High
Mark Set in Hot August
Days
SUM MER TASK SEVERE

For the hrst time In months the city
Bureau OF water Is able 10 furnish a sup
ply adequate 20 the demand. The demand
has dropped from thirty to forty million
gallons a day from the high mark Of
$40 600. 900 gallons in the closing days Of
August. and the difference makes II possible
for the pumping stations and hltration
plants TO keep abreast OF consumption.
The daily supply now is considerably
above normal. as this time last year the
daily consumption was well below s00.-
100000 gallons. The radical drop how
ever. comes as n welcome relief 10 Chief
Carleton E. Davis and his corps OF engi-
neers and assistants, and advantage In being
taken OF present conditions to make very
much-needed repairs and TO overhaul the
machinery in number Of plants
HARD WORK IN SUMMER
During the summer months when the
daily consumption was in the nelghbor-
hood OF St0.0O0.0OO gallons and sections
OF South Philadelphia were complaining Of
the inadequacy OF the supply, many of the
plants were worked at top speed and pres
sure, and as n result few shutdowns for
repairs were made The strain at times
was terrific and the need for overhaulins
became imperative as the daily demands
upon the sytsem lessened.
The new sedimentation basin at Tor
resdale has been proving it's value during
the unprecedented demand made upon the
water works with the exception of q
short time this autumn the river water
has been running unusually clear and has
been unusually free from bacteria This
basin, Chief Davis claims. adds an addi-
tional safeguard to the purity OF the water
and takes OF a certain load from the
filters.
TO UNCOVER OLD MAIN
A 6OO-foot length OF forty-eight-inch steel
pipe is about to be uncovered on Emerald
street between Lehgh avenue and Somerset
street. The durability OF steel pipe az
compared with cast iron. has been a much
discussed question. This will AFFORD to
the engineers n chance to estimate the con-
dition OF the pipe that has been buried ten
years. There In service about
twenty miles OF forty-eight-inch steel pipA
these being the principal mains carrying
water from Lardner's Point to the central
and southern sections OF the city.
Director Datesman has just awarded n
contract for the extension of the high pres
sure fire system to cover the territory from
Broad street to Seventeenth, and from
Spring Garden to Callowhill street This
extension. affording protection to the Bald.
win Locomotive Works. will be made at
very little expense TO the city, as the Water
Bureau already had on hand virtually all
the special pipe and fittings necessary for
the work These pipe and fittings were held
as reserve to make emergency repairs, but
practice has shown that more stock was
carried for this purpose than was neces-
sary. II has thus been possible to put
this pipe to useful service and perhaps pre-
vent a disastrous confagration.
II is an interesting commentary that the
introduction Of the high pressure fire sys-
TEN has materially reduced the volume Of
business done by safe manufacturers in this
city.