IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CITIES AND OTHER PLACES WITH WATER
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CITIES
AND OTHER PLACES WITH WATER." A communication from abroad by Nelson
Winch Green, of Springfield, Massachusetts, United States of America, Engineer.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th August 1879.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPA-
RATUS FOR SUPPLYING CITIES AND OTHER PLACES WITH WATER." [A communi-
cation from abroad by Nelson Winch Green, of Springfield, Massachusetts, United
States of America, Engineer.]
This Invention has for its object the of furnishing an inexhaustible supply of
perfectly pure water for the use of cities, towns, and other places, and comprises a
water-supply apparatus constructed by connecting a series of driven wells with a com-
mon suction-pipe which leads to a pump or pumps; also suitable pumps for drawing
water from the earth through the aforesaid wells and pipe, and proper water-mains
for conveying said water from said pumps through the streets of a city or town,
whereby the general subterranean water-deposit of the earth is utilized for furnishing
large quantities of water, by causing a subterranean flow toward the exhausted
district penetrated and drawn upon by the action of said pumps through said series
of driven wells connected thereto.
•
By means of the said Invention I provide suitable means for utilizing the sub-
terranean water-deposit of the earth from which to draw large supplies of pure water
for the purposes above specified, in contradistinction to the common gravitation and
pumping systems, in which the sole dependence is upon a greatly varying supply.
(in quantity) of surface water, which can rarely be used without filtering, and which
when most scarce is most unwholesome.
In carrying the said Invention into practice the driven wells are constructed in
the usual manner, and are each provided with a metallic shield, attached thereto

page_text: •
.
over the perforated portion of a tube, which is constructed of a finely-perforated
metallic plate. Such a shield is a great improvement over a wire netting shield, as
it is less apt to get torn and injured in being forced against hard earth and stones
while the tube is being forced into the ground, and its perforations are never seriously
obstructed by matter from the earth. The combination of this shield and the pipe
is not, however, a part of this Invention.
I construct the tube portion of the driven wells in the manner described, and
drive them into a suitable locality adjacent to the district to be supplied with water,
driving such a number of them as the required water-supply may demand, some-
times but a single series or gang, and sometimes several series, connecting each
series or gang to a suction-pipe leading to a pump driven by any convenient motive
power.
Where the nature of the service requires a water-supply greatly varying in
quantity I find it preferable, where several gangs of wells are employed, to draw the
water from each gang of wells by a separate pump for each gang, but the product of-
two or more gangs may be delivered into the same mains or receptacle. Ordinarily
it will be found more convenient to employ a steam pump or pumps.
From said pump leads an eduction-pipe discharging water into a street-main
supplied with branches. On the eduction pipe is set a pressure gauge, and in the
street main is set a waste-valve.
In practice I build a suitable boiler and pump-louse, locating it near where I
drive the wells. This house is supplied with suitable steam-boilers for running the
pumps, of which there should preferably be two to each gang of wells, so that a
reserve of pumping force beyond ordinary wants may at any time be available. The
wells and pump or pumps are connected together as described.
I extend the water-main from the pump through the streets of a city or town,
and connect fire-hydrants and buildings therewith in the usual manner for supplying
water.
The operation of the said apparatus is as follows, that is to say:-I provide such
a number of wells for the supply of a town as will deliver, say, three times as much
water as will be required for its ordinary consumption, and provide a pumping
capacity for said wells which at a low speed will supply the regular demand, pump-
ing directly into the main. By the pressure-gauge attached to the eduction-pipe
the pressure in the delivery pipe is indicated, shewing what "head" is maintained
on the mains. Should the supply of water exceed the quantity drawn temporarily
such excess of supply would escape through the said waste or escape-valve, and thus
prevent any undue pressure upon the mains.
The purpose in arranging such ample pumping capacity as to be able to supply the
town with the pumps running at a low rate of speed is to keep always in reserve a
considerable pumping capacity for use in case of fires. This reserve can be provided
in two ways, that is to say, by running all the pumps constantly at a low rate. of
speed, with the ability to increase said speed up to that which would deliver water
enough to give an ample supply for all the fire-hydrants that would probably be
opened at any one time, or a certain number of pumps may be run at full speed to
supply ordinary demands, and reserve pumps which can be set to work at a moment's
notice, in case of fire, be provided.
It should be observed that I propose to draw from a certain number of driven
wells by the employment of the said apparatus either an ordinary or an extraordinary
quantity of water, as circumstances may require. This contemplates a subterraneau
supply equal to the draft that niay be made upon it, and this result is obtained in
practice, demonstrating that the water-supply is not alone from a local source,
but that forces are at work which compel a flow of water through subterranean
chaunels-toward the driven wells-to-replenish the district immediately.drawn upon
by the pumps, and replace the local water by that drawn from a distance, so that
practically the water supply is inexhaustible and freed from local objectionable
qualities.
.
One force above alluded to which compels the subterranean water-deposit to flow

page_text: toward the place where the driven wells are located is one which has long been
recognized as developed by the action of wells driven tightly through the earth's
surface into the water-bearing stratum beneath, and which consists of a vacuum
there produced by which said How toward the wells is compelled, that is to say, by
a force equal to the weight of the atmosphere indirectly intervening in favor of the
water supply.
The second of said forces is supposed to be the resultant of the earth's centrifugal
and centripotal forces acting impulsively upon the subterranean water-deposits, and
tending to force them into and through the natural channels of the earth, and hence
into an artificial channel which may by chance penetrate to any of these water-
bearing strata; but by the system above described exactly these relations are
established between the pumps and subterranean water-deposits, and hence this
resultant force is subordinated to urge the water to the pumps.
The herein described system of water-supply possesses obvious and decided advan-
tages over the gravity system and over the ordinary pumping system, as well as
over any open-well system, or one in which dependence for pure water is upon the
filtering capacity provided therewith, for, drawing as I do upon a subterranean
deposit of water, I obtain the following results, that is to say:-First, absolutely pure
water, needing no filtering; second, an unlimited supply, as if drawn from a large
river; third, that if the water found at the point where' the wells may be driven
should possess any objectionable local quality such is soon removed by the water-
supply, which is derived from distant sources, attracted to the pumps by the forces
heretofore explained; fourth, the said apparatus furnishes a new means of water-
supply for the purposes specified at a minimum cost and at a greatly reduced expense
as compared with the cost of any system whose dependence is upon a gravity or
surface-pumping supply, thus furnishing more than an equivalent for the indispens-
able artificial reservoir in a water-supply system.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th February.
1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPA-
RATUS FOR SUPPLYING CITIES AND OTHER PLACES WITH WATER." A communi-
cation from abroad by Nelson Winch Green, of Springfield, Massachusetts, United
States of America, Engineer.
This Invention has for its object the furnishing of an inexhaustible supply of per-
fectly pure water for the use of cities, towns, and other places, and comprises a water-
supply apparatus constructed by connecting a series of driven wells with a common
suction-pipe which leads to a pump or pumps; also suitable pumps for drawing
water from the earth through the aforesaid wells and pipe, and proper water-mains
for conveying the water from said pumps through the streets of a city or town,
whereby the general subterranean water-deposit of the earth is utilized for furnishing
large quantities of water, by causing a subterranean flow toward the exhausted
district penetrated and drawn upon by the action of said pumps through said series
of driven wells connected thereto.
By means of the said Invention I provide suitable means for utilizing the sub-
terranean water-deposit of the earth from which to draw large supplies of pure water
for the purposes above specified, in contradistinction to the common gravitation and
pumping systems, in which the sole dependence is. upon a greatly varying supply (in
quantity) of surface-water, which can rarely be used without filtering, and which
when most scarce is most unwholesome.
In the accompanying Drawing,
Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the general construction of my improved
apparatus, shewing how the driven wells suction-pipe, pump, and street-mains are
combined; and
Figure 2 shews the construction of the lower end of the well tube on an enlarged
scale.
a, a, represent driven wells; a¹ shows one of the said wells completed; b is the
suction-pipe; d is a steam-pump; c is an eduction-pipe leading from pump d to the
street-main e; n, m, n, are branches on the main e; i is a pressure-gauge; his a
waste-valve; represents the surface of the earth or the floor of a pump-house; o
is a steam-induction pipe; t represents a perforated metallic shield placed on the
exterior of the wells a just above their pointed end. This perforated metallic shield
is shown on an enlarged scale in Figure 2, a portion of the said perforated sheet-
metal shield t being broken away to show the larger holes in the tube a¹ covered
thereby.
The driven wells are constructed in the usual manner, and are each provided with
the said metallic shield t attached thereto over the perforated portion of the tube a',
which is constructed of a finely perforated metallic plate. Such a shield is a great
improvement over a wire netting shield, as it is less apt to get torn and injured in
being forced against hard earth and stones while the tube is being forced into the
ground, and its perforations are never seriously obstructed by matter from the
earth. The combination of this shield and the pipe is not, however, a-part of this
Invention.
I construct the tube portion of the driven wells a in the manner described and
shown, and drive them in a suitable locality adjacent to the district to be supplied
with water, driving such a number of them as the required water supply may
demand, sometimes but a single series or gang, and sometimes several series, con-
necting each series or gang to a suction-pipe, as shown, leading to a pump driven
by any convenient motive power.

page_text: . Where the nature of the service requires a water-supply greatly varying in
quantity I find it preferable, where several series of wells are employed, to draw the
water from each series of wells by a separate pump for each gang, but the product
of two or more gangs may be delivered into the same mains or receptacle. Ordinarily
it will be found more convenient to employ a steam pump or pumps, as shown.
From the said pump an eduction-pipe c leads, discharging water into a street-
main e-supplied with branches n, n, n. On the eduction pipe c is set a pressure-
gauge i, and in the street-main c is set a waste valve h..
In practice I build a suitable boiler and pump-house, locating it near the locality
where I drive the wells. This house is supplied with suitable steam boilers for
actuating the pumps, of which there should preferably be two to each gang of wells,
so. that a reserve of pumping force beyond ordinary wants may at any time be
available. The wells and pump or pumps are connected together as shewn and
described.
I extend the. water main e from the pump-house through the streets of a city or
town, and connect fire-hydrants and buildings therewith in the usual manner for
supplying water..
The operation of the said apparatus is as follows, that is to say I provide such a
number of wells for the supply of a town as will deliver, say, three times as much
water as will be required for its ordinary consumption, and provide à pumping
capacity for said wells which at a low speed will supply the regular demand, pumping
directly into the mains. By the pressure gauge i attached to the eduction-pipe c
the pressure in the delivery-pipe is indicated, showing what "head" is maintained
on the mains. Should the supply of water exceed the quantity drawn temporarily
such excess of supply would escape through the said waste or escape-valve h, and
thus prevent any undue pressure upon the mains.
The object of arranging such ample pumping capacity as to be able to supply the
town with the pumps running at a low rate of speed is to keep always in reserve a
considerable pumping capacity for use in case of fires. This reserve, can be provided
in two ways, that is to say, by running all the pumps constantly at a low rate of
speed, whilst at the same time permitting the said speed to be increased to that
which would deliver water enough to give an ample supply for all the fire-hydrants
that would probably be opened at any one tine; or by providing a certain number
of pumps which may be run at full speed to supply ordinary demands, and reserve-
pumps which can be set to work at a moment's notice in case of fire.
It should be observed that I propose to draw from a certain number of driven
wells by the employment of the said apparatus either an ordinary or an extra-
ordinary quantity of water, as circumstances may require. This contemplates a
subterranean supply equal to the draft that may be made upon it, and this result
is obtained in practice, demonstrating that the water supply is not alone from a
local source, but that forces are at work which compel a flow of water through sub-
terranean channels toward the driven wells to replenish the district immediately
drawn upon by the pumps, and replace the local water by that drawn from a
distance, so that practically the water-supply is inexhaustible and freed from local
objectionable qualities.
One force above alluded to which compels the subterranean water-deposit to flow
toward the place where the driven wells are located is one which has long been
recognized as developed by the action of wells driven tightly through the earth's
surface into the water-bearing stratum beneath, and is the result of a vacuum there
produced, by which the flow toward the wells is caused with a force equal to the
weight of the atmosphere indirectly intervening in favor of the water-supply.
The second of said forces is supposed to be the resultant of the earth's centrifugal
and centripetal forces acting impulsively upon the subterranean water-deposits and
tending to force them into and through the natural channels of the earth, and hence
into an artificial channel which may by chance penetrate to any. of these water-
bearing strata; but by the system above described exactly these relations are

page_text: established between the pumps and subterranean water-deposits, and hence this
resultant force is subordinated to urge the water to the pumps.
The herein described system of water-supply possesses obvious and decided
advantages over the gravity system and over the ordinary pumping system, as well
as over any open-well system, or one in which dependence for pure water is upon
the filtering capacity provided therewith, for, drawing as I do upon a subterranean
deposit of water, I obtain the following results, that is to say:-First, absolutely pure
water needing no filtering; second, an unlimited supply, as if drawn from a large
river; third, that if the water found at the point where the wells may be driven
should possess any objectionable local quality such is soon removed by the water-
supply, which is derived froin distant sources, attracted to the pumps by the forces
heretofore explained; fourth, the said apparatus furnishes a new means of water-
supply for the purposes specified, at a minimum cost and at a greatly reduced
expense as compared with the cost of any system whose dependence is upon a
gravity or surface-pumping supply, thus furnishing more than an equivalent for the
indispensable artificial reservoir in a water-supply system.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
In a water-supply apparatus the combination of one or more series of driven wells
penetrating into the water-bearing stratum of the earth, a common suction-pipe con-
necting the said wells at their tops, a force pump or force pumps connected with or
having the induction port or ports thereof connected with the said suction-pipe, and
one or more water-mains (with or without an automatic waste valve) connected
with the eduction of the said pump or pumps, whereby the said mains and their
connections are supplied with water under regulated pressure, all substantially as
and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.