IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING OR CONVEYING SEA WATER TO INLAND PLACES
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Rae at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th November
1864.
I, JAMES RAE, of New Cross, in the County of Kent, Engineer, do hereby
5 declare. the nature of the, said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS
OR APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING OR CONVEYING SEA WATER TO INLAND PLACES,"
to be as follows:-.
In the conveyance of water by pipes of iron, as in ordinary, they are subject
to corrosion, but which in the case of fresh water is no great consequence, as
it is but slight, and is not sufficient to impregnate such water to an extent
that will interfere with its uses or produce any rapid deterioration of the pipes
themselves. In the conveyance of sea water the case is very different; the
action of sea water would destroy the pipes in a comparatively short time,
besides which the water would acquire such a color as to make it unsightly
and unfit for the purposes of bathing, for which it is intended. To obviate
this in laying down cast-iron pipes for this purpose I prepare them by
galvanizing inside and out, that is to say, I apply to them a coating of zinc,
which I do by first pickling them in the usual manner of cleaning the surface
of metals before tinning or galvanizing; I then dip them endways into a bath
of melted zinc. By this coating every part of the pipe, is coated with a
material not affected by the salt water, and in which it may be conveyed any
distance without prejudice to the pipes or water.
ordinary manner of laying water pipes, taking the
I lay these pipes in the
shortest and most level

page_text: route, by lines of railways, for instance. The sea water thus conveyed will
require to be pumped at different stations till it reaches the highest elevation
between the sea and point of destination Little pumping power will be required
unless the point of destination be much higher than the sea; when this is not
the case, but where separated by high land, over which it is to be raised, the
fall of the water from that point will induce a vacuum, and act in the manner
of a syphon, and so reproduce the power required for some thirty feet of the lift.
Water so conveyed may be placed in large swiming baths or utilized for hot
or portable baths, as may be required. In cases where the first outlay would
be too considerable to lay pipes I prepare special trucks for railways, having
close tanks made of galvanized iron, whereby the sea water may be conveyed
by railway from the sea to the place of destination. These tanks, which I
form as a permanent part of the trucks, may be of plate galvanized, or of
cast iron coated and galvanized, as before described with reference to pipes,
taking special care that no part of the iron shall be exposed to the action of the
Instead of galvanizing or coating with zinc, the iron of the pipes
or tanks may be coated with some other metal not affected by sea water, or
but slightly so, or it may be enamelled in the manner of enamelling iron
utensils, and so perfectly protect it from the action of the sea water.
I also transport sea water to inland places by water carriage, for which
purpose I employ barges or vessels fitted with galvanized tank or tanks
coated with enamel or other coating herein-before specified, not subject to the
action of sea water; such tank, barges, or vessels may either float with the
tide, or in addition, be propelled or towed by steam power.