Evening star., 1924-06-12

Washinston's water supply was
threatened today. when sixty feet OF
the sixty five -year-old conduit which
brings the Citys water from Great
Falls gave way. completely shutting
off the water supply and causing
Conduit road to cave in on top of
the break. The blowout" occurred
about five miles the other side of
Cabin John Bridge, about 10 O'Clock
this morning. There is ample water
supply in the city's various reser
voirs to meet the needs of Washing
ton until after the break is repaired.
which. engineers estimated today
will be by, ) O'Clock Saturday after
noon. s1S's ~
The break was caused, as engineer
have been predicting for years, BY
the weakness induced by age, in the
single conduit which supplies Wash
ington'S water, combined with heaYN
rains which have washed earth AVA
from the bottom of the big tunnel
The force of the break carried por-
tions of the brick conduit twenty fiNs
feet. and the Conduit road caved in
on top of the break for a distance 1.
sixty feet.
No Canse for Alarm.
Maj j. A. OConnor, Urited State
engineer. in charge of the aqueduc, ::
declared that there is no danger ot
the water supply TO the District fail
ing, and that consequently there i
no cause for a panic or alarm on the
part of the residents. Even if big
fire should occur, he said there will
be ample water. He pointed out thai
the city now is using 65,0o0.00o gal
Ions of water daily. and that there i
in the reservoirs more than 26O.OOO0uo
gallons, which will be more than
enough.
According to J. S. Garland. superin-
tendent of the water department, the
reservoirs at Brightwood and Keno
are filled with 3i,500,000 gallons
in the Geogetown, Dalecarlia and Nc
MILAN reservoirs, and 4,00O.Oo0 ga
Ions of back water in the conduit
from the break TO the reservoirs
Should it be necessary, the break can
be repaired enough Immediately tn
allow some water to come through
to Washington.
Repair Work Rushed.
Three shifts of men. fifty to each
shift, are working rapidly to repair
the break. It will be necessary e
repair at least 100 feet of the conduit,
or possibly more. because of the
cracks and other weak spots for some
distance each way.
The water burst from the conduit
with terrific force, scattering bricks,
wooden supports annd every thing
near for yards around. The road, the
men who were on hand say, quiyered
and caved in leaving chasm about
sixty feet long and twelve feet deep.
The men are now working feverishly
with spades, picks and every obtain
able tool tc clear away the debris.
The section of the roadway that
remains has had to be supported. and
a new enc will have to be constructed
for some distance so that the work
on the new water line may be con-
tinued For some distance up the
brick structure, the conduit has been
the water. Work on the new conduit
will not. however, be materially de
layed
No immediate reason can be given
for the break other than the heavy
rains, which weakened the support
ing earth, which has been one of thu
safety features OF the old brick con-
duit for long time.
Prepared for Trouble.
Maj O'connor declared today that
1T was lucky this did not happen
OelOT6 we e8peCIou II anu prepared
for it." The engineers were sur
Erised. however, that the break was
in the top of the water line, instead
of at the bottom and sides, where
the pressure is greatest.
The three reservoirs along the Con-
duit road already show a deprecia-
tion in the water mark of about
foot and a half. This represents the
drainage by the city for more than
twelve hours.
The break in the old water line has
shown that Congress did not appro-
pirate money any too soon for the
new conduit. which is expected to be
ready by MAY ]. 1925. Maj. O'Connor
stated that Washington was fortunate
that the sixty-five-year-o old water
line was so excellently built. He
estimates that when the breaks are
repaired, it will take three days to
| refill the reservoirs to their normal
| capacity.
Conduit Sixty-Fiye Years Old.
The conduit in which the break
occurred has served Washington with
water continuously sixty-f1ve years.
It was completed and placed in sery-
(Copfipued IN poce rolrran Tn