The Wilmington morning star., 1944-10-15

links of the 21-mile line. Lowe,
Die undertaking.
this is done, the pipeline will be-
gin to Junction.;
A 4-million gallons-a-day reser-
voir, now under construction near
the waterworks;
Two elevated water storage
tanks for reserve purposes a n d
pressure regulation (This project,
not yet sanctioned by Washington
as to specifications, will receive
the proper priority stamp soon, it
is hoped)
Citizens can thank the war for
squirting the salt-free water fight.
For war-boom conditions made inn
perative drastic Improvements in
an antiquated system. A war-con-
scious government made construc-
ton Of the great project financial
possibility by contributing 60 per
cent of the bill; city bonds took
care Of the rest.
The city has been getting by"
with poor water facilities for three
decades. Ever since Wilmington
bought the water system, back in
1909, it has toyed with the idea of
seeking new supply. When war
time demands shot the required
gallonage per day from 100000 to
over 100000, action had to result.
All this time, little Toomer's
creek, just a few miles from the
Cape Fear rivers mouth, has done
pretty well supplying water for the
city's network OF mains. But moth
ing could stdp a willful Atlantic
from frisking its salty tides up to
the creek whenever drought made
the flow of fresh water down the
Cape Fear insufficient to buck the
opposition. The awful result was
that Wilmingtonians h ave some
times had to swallow water with
salt-content as high as one-tenth
o; that in regular ocean water.
Municipal rage, ruined plumbing,
and elevated blood pressures were
as regular as salt-intrusion.
The fight for the new pipeline
was far from easy, even after Fed
era1 approval for the whole supply
scheme was gained.
When the bright conduit had
crawled about z miles of its 81
mile path toward the Bluff, the
War Production Board saw fit to
deny the remainder of the steel
needed for reinforcements in con-
struction Of the concrete links; it
ordered the city to drop the line
into Hoods creek, a few miles off
side, a spot engineers were doubt
full could render pure water. WPB
complained that the steel was
wanted for ornaments. To the city,
Hoods creek meant waste OF
effort and money It wanted the
water behind the dam.
Whereupon city officials, led by
City Attorney William B. Camp
bell and fed plenty of information
by City Engineer Loughlin, put up
a stubborn and relentless scrap.
They ignored flat mos from
Washington, they knocked on gov
eminent doors in Richmond and
the capital, they assailed the WPB
with floods of affidavits from fish
ermen and engineers, attesting that
Hoods creek would be no better
source than TONERS, they tack
led talk of dangerous compro-
mise for choked little Livingston's
creek, 1876 miles along the origin
ally planned route.
More than once, the good-water
dream appeared broken. But there
was a final council prayer before
WPB. A sympathetic ear was won.
There was wait OF a few days,
then the yellow telegram award
inc the steel priority that antici-
pated the destination.
Building the line has been as ex-
traordinary a task as fighting the
paper battles.
First, the Lock-Joint Pipe COM
nany had to set up its own plant
al Navassa for manufacturing the
concrete and steel links. These
were fashioned, right on the site,
within each trucking distance Of
the line.
Then the sections had to be laid
across swampland and river, Fit
ted end to end.
Rain that poured through many
days Of the installation caused de-
LAYS and forced the workmen to
splash slowly through puddles and
muck.
Where the soil was unstable, en-
gineers had to build treated tim
Der pile bents to support the pipe
line.
The most absorbing problem
they had to face was laying the
708-foot cast-iron river siphon I'M
dar tho Cane Fear at NaVaSSa !