History of the Water Supply of the World / arranged in a comprehensive form from eminent authorities, containing a description of the various methods of water supply, pollution and purification of waters, and sanitary effects, with analyses of potable waters, also geology and water strata of Hamilton county, Ohio, statistics of the Ohio river, proposed water supply of Cincinnati.

by Thomas J. Bell

ARTESIAN WELLS.

Beneath the Cincinnati group are the calciferous sand-rock and Potsdam sandstone, which are porous and water bearing, but they rise to the surface nowhere in our State. They have been reached, however, at this point in several of the deep well-borings, and flowing water of sulpho-saline nature was found, at the following locations:

NAME OF OWNER.	LOCATION.	DEPTH IN FEET.	SIZE OF BORE IN INCHES.	PRESSURE IN LBS.	TEMPER- ATURE.	CAPACITY PER HOUR IN GALLONS.
Rabe’s Distillery	Cumminsville.	1,400	4½	35	—	6,000
Millcreek “	West of Millcreek.	1,440	4½	45	—	16,000
Cincinnati Gas Co	West Front Street.	1,360	4½	41	60	8,300
“ “	“ “ “	1,360	4½	40	60	8,300
“ “	Eastern Avenue.	1,475	6	52	61	30,000
Moerlein’s Brewery	North Elm Street.	2,408	4	—	62	24,000
Keck’s Fertilizing Works	Cumminsville.	1,380	—	—	60	—

Through the kindness of Gen. A. Hickenlooper, President of the Cincinnati Gas Company, the following complete account of the borings at their works on Front Street is given, which will also serve for a description of the above artesian wells.

The depth and classification of strata are:

Filling	5	feet.	Limestone, very hard		15	feet.
Yellow clay	5	“	Red sandstone		62	“
Blue clay	20	“	White sandstone		85	“
Sand and gravel	90	“	Coarse sandstone	}	15	“
Soapstone	3	“	Coarse limestone	}
Blue limestone	40	“	Sandstone		140	“
Blue & gray limestone	50	“	Very hard, flinty	}
Sandstone	5	“	limestone	}
Limestone	380	“	Red and white	}	25	“
White limestone	240	“	marble	}
Sandstone	65	“	White marble or flint	}
					——
Total					1,250	feet.

The synopsis of boring is condensed as follows:

July 24, 1880.—The contractor, John J. Pfeffer, drove a 6-inch iron tube with a heavy sinker, a few feet at a time, through 123 feet of drift, into limestone. A sand-pump was used to remove the loose formation. This portion was completed August 2d, 11 A. M.

August 2.—Commenced drilling a 4½-inch hole through the stone formation at an average rate of 33 feet per 24 hours, and continued to a depth of 425 feet, when the diameter of the hole was reduced to 4⅜ inches. The drilling was then continued, at the rate of 29 feet per 24 hours, until the 28th of August, when the socket pulled out of pole attached to sinker at bottom of well, and at the same moment the top pole, attached to chain on drilling beam, broke and fell into the well along-side of the sinker. This accident was repaired September 7th, and drilling resumed, at rate of 20 feet per 24 hours, until a depth of 1,025 feet was reached, October 11, 1880, when the drill broke. Resumed work, at rate of 12 feet per 24 hours, until November 5, 1880, when a depth of 1,265 feet was reached. At the depth of 1,225 feet, the well was tested by sinking a 4-inch pipe into the well with a bag at lower end to fit tightly into the 4½-inch bore. When the pipe reached a depth of 15 feet below the 6-inch tubing, the water flowed over the top of the pipe at surface, showing a leak around the bottom of the pipe where it was bedded in the rock.

November 8th.—Tested well, and found a pressure of 30 lbs. per square inch, and a flow of 90 gallons of water per minute.

February 17, 1881.—When testing well No. 2, the gauge was placed on this one, which showed only 15 lbs. The bore was then increased to 4½ inches, and drilling continued to a depth of 1,360 feet, the last 40 feet being only 3½ inches in diameter. The additional 125 feet was through alternate formations of sand and limestone; the last 10 feet through a hard flinty formation. Boring into this last formation increased the pressure to 41 lbs., and the flow to 200,000 gallons per day. The outlay of the two wells is placed at $8,000.

The analysis of the Moerlein artesian well, by Prof. Wayne, gave the following results:

	GRAINS IN ONE U. S. GALLON.
Carbonate of Lime	19.34
Carbonate of Magnesia	9.13
Chloride of Sodium	534.77
Chloride of Potassium	3.95
Chloride of Magnesia	17.26
Chloride of Calcium	22.19
Sulphate of Lime	29.20
Sulphate of Potash	2.30
Iodide of Magnesium	30
Bromide of Magnesium	39
Oxide of Iron	43
Phosphate of Soda	1.34
Silica	79
Loss in analysis	76
	———
Total	642.16

Prof. Newberry is of the opinion that soft water is improbable in these deep rocks.

No. 3.
WATER-SHED.

The courses of our streams show at a glance that a water-shed crosses the State from north-east to south-west. This water-shed forms a range of highlands that slope by long and easy descent to the Ohio in the south, more rapidly to the lake in the north. This water-shed in its relief is almost insignificant, its average altitude being only 500 feet above the lake, its highest point rising perhaps 1,000 feet above the bottom valley of the Ohio. Our topographical features may therefore be described of a plain, slightly raised along a line traversing it from north-east to south-west.

The following altitudes will show the topography of the northern divide. The levels are all above Lake Erie:

SURVEY OF DAYTON AND MICHIGAN R.R.		MIAMI CANAL.
	FEET.		FEET.
Cincinnati—below lake,	67	Junction, Paulding County,	147.25
		Lock 27.	182.25
Hamilton,	29	Delphos, Lock 23. Allen County,	211.
Dayton,	180
Dayton Canal,	166	Spencerville, Lock 15. Allen County,	274.
Troy,	270
Piqua,	360	Lock 13. St. Marys, Auglaize County,	291.25
Sidney,	428	Lock 10.“ “	313.
Principal Summit,	430	Lock 9. “ “	319.
Wapakoneta,	318	Lock 4. “ “	361.
Lima,	302	Lock 3. “ “	367.50
Cairo,	241	Lock 1. Bremen Summit, Auglaize Co.,	386.30
Weston,	103	Near Sidney,	376.00
	—	Troy,	257.00
Perrysburgh,	64	D. & M. R.R. crossing Dayton,	166.00
Toledo,	12	Basin at Hamilton,	37.00
	—	Upper level of canal at Cincinnati,	23.00
	—	Low water in Ohio River, below lake,	133.

The actual crest of the divide forms a singularly tortuous line with remarkable variations of altitude. The water-sheds, with which we are particularly interested, are found in the counties of Shelby, Mercer, and Auglaize, where we have the water-gap of the head-waters of the St. Marys and Auglaize, as feeders of the Maumee River with the Wabash and Big Beaver Rivers on one side, and the Great Miami on this side; with another gap, between the Miami and Mad Rivers, and the Scioto River, found in Logan and Hardin Counties, in which the highest points of the State are found viz., 1,000 feet above low water in the Ohio River. These streams descend very rapidly to the level plateau (500 feet above the Ohio River) passing over lime and magnesia rocks, through swampy lands and “cat-head prairies,” the latter composed largely of vegetable accumulations. The population, through which the Great Miami and Mad rivers flow, is approximately 360,000.

The available resources of the Big Beaver, Wabash, and St. Mary’s water-sheds are collected in St. Mary’s Reservoir, a lake of 47,000 acres, for feeding the Miami Canal north; while Lake Laramie in Shelby County, and Lewistown Reservoir in Logan County gather the waters of the Miami, and being at the summit level, feed the canal both north and south. This level is 519 feet above low water in Ohio River, St. Mary’s 424 feet, Eden Park Reservoir at Cincinnati 235 feet, and Third Street Reservoir 173 feet. The distance in air line from Cincinnati to St. Mary’s is about 95 miles, to Lewistown over 100 miles.

The waters of all the streams named present those features that experience considers most objectionable for a gravity supply, namely:

“1st. In the calcareous nature of the soil, producing hardness of water.

“2d. In the low and level plateau of water-sheds from which a minimum surface flow can be realized, requiring storage reservoirs of large surface area, that are objectionable, because; 1. The loss of water by evaporation: and 2. The liability to stagnation of water and propagation of vegetation.

“3d. The streams are fed by the drainage from richly manured farms, and the water polluted by vegetation of the swampy lands, and the sewage of a large and growing population. This condition is intensified, when we consider the proportional size of the streams to the amount of pollution, and the fact that the most perfect means of filtration would not suffice to make the water wholesome.

“4th. The available resources of these water-sheds are now used for feeding the Miami Canal, from which a number of mill-owners secure their power, whose rights must be protected.

“5th. The insufficient elevation of the sources for securing a fair hydrostatic water pressure, and their extreme distance, causing loss of head by long conduit, and enormous cost for construction, for conveying unwholesome water.”

RIPARIAN RIGHTS.

The compensation to millers by the Manchester and Liverpool Water-Works was fixed by Parliament at one third of the available rain-fall. Nearly one-half of the present capacity of the Glasgow supply is used by mill-owners.

On this subject John W. Erwin, resident engineer of the Ohio State Board of Public Works, says:

“The riparian right of water-users are great, and could not be purchased for $2,000,000. The water for this purpose can not be spared. The canal is fed as far as Middletown, by a feeder from Mad River. At Middletown we feed it from the Miami, which furnishes its supply of water to Cincinnati, a distance of forty-four miles. The Middletown Hydraulic Company have owned their rights since 1808, long before the canal was constructed; and when the canal was built there was no surrender of such right, merely common consent to the use of the water, but since that time more than double the amount of water is used than was contemplated.

“By taking water to Cincinnati from the river, you injure the power supplied by the river at all points between Middletown and Cincinnati, and you would find great objections raised by users of power along the canal. The power derived from the canal is the life-blood of the town of Middletown, and of the mills along its banks—at Excello, Woodsdale, Rockdale, Hamilton, Rialto, Port Union, Crescentville, Lockland, and other places. The mills have large interests, and would not surrender their rights without a struggle.

“A large portion of the water of the Miami, and at the present time we might say half the volume of the water of the river is carried into Cincinnati by the canal. This is more than was ever contemplated, and is destined to injure the water-power of the river itself.”

The abandonment of the canal in the city, will no doubt be accomplished within a short time, when provisions should be made to provide a better use for this surplus water than turning it into Millcreek.

Monthly and annual quantity of water from rain and snow reduced to water, in inches and hundredths, at Cincinnati, Ohio. Latitude 39° 6′ north, longitude 84° 29′ west.

YEARS.	JAN.	FEB.	MAR.	APR.	MAY.	JUN.	JUL.	AUG.	SEP.	OCT.	NOV.	DEC.	SUM OF THE YEAR.
1856	1.	2.49	1.51	.73	1.23	2.24	3.43	.61	3.62	1.74	2.09	2.19	22.88
1857	.54	1.98	.76	2.73	5.53	3.09	2.50	2.92	.75	4.92	5.36	3.82	34.90
1858	2.50	1.74	1.05	4.34	8.32	5.69	3.01	7.97	.85	4.66	2.57	6.41	49.17
1859	2.58	5.92	4.38	7.53	2.32	3.22	1.74	3.79	2.10	1.28	4.46	3.75	42.57
1860	1.43	1.56	.41	5.32	3.68	1.55	7.97	.92	4.34	1.28	3.53	1.85	33.84
1861	2.68	1.81	2.08	3.88	5.91	3.80	3.62	7.10	2.93	3.77	3.62	1.10	41.30
1862	4.74	2.36	5.84	6.30	3.32	3.02	3.05	1.49	.93	.80	3.97	3.01	38.83
1863	5.55	3.05	4.37	2.13	2.84	3.11	3.21	2.99	3.10	3.85	2.05	3.80	40.05
1864	1.85	.99	.90	2.43	2.34	3.43	1.25	3.42	8.66	2.92	3.40	2.94	34.51
1865	2.45	2.43	4.40	3.89	7.72	2.59	7.77	2.26	5.76	.86	.56	3.89	4.53
1866	2.74	1.26	5.06	2.03	.94	4.44	6.94	2.75	1.055	1.85	3.06	1.98	43.60
1867	1.41	3.56	2.71	2.74	3.80	3.73	1.60	1.57	0.47	2.05	2.20	3.07	28.91
1868	3.72	.57	4.87	2.72	6.09	5.60	1.21	4.64	7.19	1.32	1.70	2.07	41.60
1869	1.60	2.51	5.06	2.87	5.93	3.60	5.36	1.20	3.20	2.75	3.30	2.46	39.84
1870	5.35	1.55	3.26	1.59	1.74	4.84	2.38	0.58	.30	2.77	1.50	2.17	28.03
1871	2.34	3.53	3.57	1.23	4.66	2.02	4.30	5.22	1.08	.98	3.40	3.31	35.64
1872	3.118	4.18	2.438	4.890	4.362	3.442	7.129	2.191	3.170	2.852	.868	5.55	35.433
1873	2.808	3.717	1.90	2.098	3.856	3.291	3.935	4.766	2.340	3.212	2.521	6.843	41.193
1874	3.95	5.91	3.65	4.06	1.38	2.58	3.42	1.03	2.33	1.31	5.35	2.58	37.55
1875	1.59	1.83	3.69	2.12	3.92	4.83	9.63	3.17	.65	3.05	4.35	3.75	42.58
1876	9.49	2.92	5.07	3.26	1.25	6.53	6.91	6.38	3.17	4.26	2.36	.88	52.48
1877	2.33	.67	5.47	2.32	1.26	5.24	4.25	2.26	1.66	1.85	3.49	3.35	34.65
1878	4.33	2.33	4.03	3.05	2.53	5.03	4.32	4.11	2.84	2.39	2.77	3.89	41.62
1879	2.20	2.22	5.30	2.14	4.23	5.22	2.75	1.172	4.01	.65	4.05	7.11	51.60
1880	5.14	4.50	4.15	5.82	5.70	9.86	2.46	4.01	1.37	2.98	4.42	4.26	54.67
1881	3.76	4.95	3.51	3.25	2.23	7.82	3.12	.76	2.10	6.01	4.06	5.67	47.24

1856 to 1871 the observations were taken by Prof. G. W. Harper; 1872 to 1874 by the City Water-Works, and the last years by the Signal Service.

[ click here for larger image.]

DAILY STAGE OF THE OHIO RIVER FOR 1880.

No. 4.
KIRKWOOD’S SURVEY.

In 1865 the common council appointed a special commission to investigate and report upon the best method of obtaining an abundant supply of pure and wholesome water. The committee consisted of L. A. Harris, mayor; Thos. H. Weasner, president of council; D. T. Woodrow, Henry Pearce, and Henry Kessler, trustees of water-works, Geo. F. Davis, Wm. P. Wiltsee, and Chas. Brown, who succeeded R. B. Moore, members of council; and A. W. Gilbert, city engineer. They secured the services of the most eminent of engineers, John P. Kirkwood, of New York. His instructions were to ascertain the most economical and practical mode of supplying pure water, either from the gathering grounds by gravity, or by pumping from the Ohio River. No scheme was to be considered that would not provide at least thirty millions daily, with resources for future necessities. This limitation rejected Lick Run and Ross Run entering Millcreek; West Fork and East Branch of Millcreek, Duck Creek and Sycamore Creek entering Little Miami River. Those that presented fair prospects for the collection of water as regards quantity were:

		SITUATION AT CONNECTING POINT.		DRAINAGE AREA, SQ. MILES.		REMARKS.
		ELEVATION ABOVE LOW WATER AT CINCINNATI, FEET.	DISTANCE FROM CINCINNATI, MILES.	DEGREE OF HARDNESS, IN U. S. GALLONS.
I. The great Miami Valley—
	Clear Creek	270	49	39.9	15.51
	Gregory Creek	220	38	16	13.31	after boiling.
	Dick’s Creek, below Middletown, was found to be very unfavorable for reservoirs
II. Little Miami Valley—
	Muddy Creek	222	32	10.25	9.83
	Turtle Creek	220	33	27	11.35
III. Valley of Millcreek—
	West branch of Millcreek	196	16	28.5	9.17

The objections to these waters were: 1. The hardness; 2. The contamination of richly manured farms; 3. The uncertainty of the availability of the water-sheds. To produce the thirty millions it required the combined area of Clear and Gregory creeks, besides large storage reservoirs for dry seasons. The distance of latter creek is 38 miles from the city, and 15 feet below flow-line of Eden Reservoir.

He considered the waters of the Ohio most preferable providing the water was taken above the city limits. The plan embraced a pumping service with two lifts, to be located in Pendleton, with storage and settling reservoirs and filter-beds. The elevation of reservoir was 200 feet above low water, and would not supply elevations above 175 feet. The estimates were:

Three settling reservoirs,	$381,436.02
Two filter-beds,	514,220.50
Storage reservoir of 39 acres,	635,386.50
Pumping house and foundations for low service works,	194,822.80
Pumping house and foundations for high service works,	77,285.75
Pumping engines—two for low service and two for high service, 30 millions capacity,	402,500.00
Force-main, with river inlets,	119,979.50
Forty-two-inch supply main to Third Street Reservoir,	457,355.00
Lands and damages, etc.,	105,225.00
Auxiliary pumping engine and reservoir for Walnut Hills,	150,000.00
	—————
Total,	$3,038,214.07

The majority of the committee in recommending the plan stated; “that they regarded the question, as to the source of supply, as definitely settled for all time, that the Ohio River is the only means from whence this city should derive her supply of water. The site is as high up the river as can well be obtained without crossing the Little Miami.” This latter consideration they thought would be demanded fifty or one hundred years hence. The minority report recommended the retaining of the present system, and the construction of a new reservoir in Eden Park,—the minority report was adopted. Had the Eden Reservoir been completed within a reasonable period it would have served the purpose intended, at least for a few years, but before it was ready for use the consumption of water increased from five, to seventeen millions daily.

No. 5.
OHIO RIVER.

The Ohio River above Cincinnati has a water-shed area, estimated by U. S. Census Bureau, of 100,000 square miles, one-tenth of which is of limestone formation. The hardness of the water varies in proportion to the contribution from this formation. The water, at the mouth of the Big Sandy, is .8 of a degree hardness; at Markley Farm, 4½ to 8; at Dayton sand-beach, 7 to 8; at pump-works, 6 to 8; Eden reservoir, 7 to 9; Eggleston Avenue sewer, 7 to 13; wells in the banks of the river at Dayton sand-beach, 32 to 39; and those at Sedamsville 50 to 60 degrees. The well water is upland surface water. In fact, all borings in the banks of the river secure, in more or less degree, this nature of water.

In the south-western part of this State, the river flows over the bedded rocks of the Cincinnati group, its waters alternately impinging on one side of its banks, and depositing its earthy matters, through the influence of sluggish currents and eddies, on the opposite side, and forming what might be termed accidental beds, as in the case of the Dayton sand-beach. The material deposited is an argillaceous substance; and, with the friction and influence of the water, is partly transformed into quicksand. The beds do not form a part of the river in low water, as depicted by the sketch in the last report of the Board of Health.

The sediment in the Mississippi water, at St. Louis, is nearly two per cent. of the bulk of the water; the largest portion (944 in 1,000) depositing itself within 24 hours. The Ohio River water, at this point, is, at times, almost as bad. The sediment forms a tenacious and impervious clay, so susceptible of solidification that conductors of river water are only kept open by a constant flow of water.

The volume of water passing down the Ohio River is an extremely variable one. No special gauging, however, has ever been made to ascertain the quality; but from the surface velocities, measured by the Chief Engineer of the Southern Railway, we can approximately arrive at the figures

At	3-foot stage,	by Water-Works mark,	the velocity was	.97	miles per hour.
“	6 “ “	“ “ “ “	“ “ “	1.125	“ “ “
“	18 “ “	“ “ “ “	“ “ “	3.51	“ “ “
“	21 “ “	“ “ “ “	“ “ “	3.20	“ “ “
“	27 “ “	“ “ “ “	“ “ “	4.70	“ “ “
“	31 “ “	“ “ “ “	“ “ “	4.30	“ “ “
“	41 “ “	“ “ “ “	“ “ “	5.002	“ “ “

The slope of water surface, from water-works to bridge, was .367 of a foot for low stage; for average stage, .403 of a foot; and .415 of a foot per mile for high stage. The approximate flow of water in cubic feet per second at the Southern Railway Bridge is 5,000 feet for minimum stage, 100,000 feet for mean stage, and 400,000 for maximum stage. The minimum flow of the Schuylkill is 378 cubic feet per second; the Delaware, 2,000 cubic feet; the Merrimack, 2,100 cubic feet; and the Thames River, 700 cubic feet.

Investigations of the influence on our climate, by the removal of the forests, develop the fact that streams, utilized for water-power, have become less constant in their flow than formerly. The Ohio River has of late years exhibited greater fluctuations of levels than ever known, and has lost its prestige as a reliable channel of navigation. Prof. Newburg, in Vol. I of the Geological Survey of Ohio, records an instant where a large rock, at Smith’s Ferry, has recently become so fully exposed that on its surface inscriptions were found, that are ascribed to a race which once populated this country anterior to the nomadic Indians.

There are about 78 villages and towns and 13 cities on the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, a distance of 460 miles. The population on this portion of the river, and its contributing streams, is over 3½ millions. The average population, per square mile of drainage area, on the Ohio River is 47; above Cincinnati, 35; on the Great Miami, 109; on the Delaware, 176; on the Hudson, 172; on the Merrimack, 92½; on the Susquehanna, 62; on the Connecticut, 78; on the Potomac, 54; on the Schuylkill, 45; on the Thames, above water-works, 300.

Considerable space has been devoted to River Pollution, to which attention is directed. The following remarks, however, afford comparative results for the Ohio River.

The comparative merits of river waters, as expressed in analytic results of pounds of sewage in each million gallons, are, for the Ohio water at Dayton sand-beach, .82; at Markley Farm, 1.00; at the pumping works, 1.81; at Eden reservoir, 1.78; at Eggleston Avenue sewer, 4.41; the Croton water, New York, .98; Glasgow, Scotland, water, .65; Thames River, 4.91; London supply, 1.33; Fresh pond, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1.50; Mystic River, Boston, 1.87; Schuylkill River, Philadelphia, 1.58; Merrimack, above Lowell, .93; above Lawrence, .90; below Lawrence, 1.03.

The Thames and Lea Rivers have been condemned by the Rivers Pollution Commission because, as they say, there is no hope of remedying their disgusting condition, notwithstanding the parliamentary laws for their protection against pollution.

The Schuylkill River is the principal source of supply for Philadelphia, but its water is very suspicious. Above Reading, it is unfit for manufacturing and culinary purposes, owing to the large amount of sulphuric acid. This acid is, however, neutralized and considerably reduced before the water reaches Philadelphia. The Fairmount pool is polluted by cess-pool and slaughter-house drainage. The following means to restore and maintain the purity of the Schuylkill water has been suggested by Dr. Cresson:

1. The diversion of all sewage, now flowing into the pool of Fairmount dam, into another channel.

2. The diversion of all sewage, containing fœcal and animal matter, flowing into the river below Flat Rock.

3. The filtration of the sewage from all mills, to exclude solid matter, animal or vegetable.

4. The exclusion of ammonia waste and surface wash from gas-works, cemeteries, etc.

5. The cultivation of fish and of suitable plant life in and upon the waters of the river.

6. The erection of suitable cascades over the reservoirs, so as to secure the benefits of aeration to as great extent as possible.

7. The employment of proper prophylactic and curative agents as occasion may require.

Boston obtained legislative power to protect Pegan Brook from sewage pollution. Test cases, to compel manufacturers to provide some other means of disposing of their drainage, were carried to the Supreme Court, and decided in favor of the city. Similar cases will be brought against other offenders. In the meantime the pollution continues. The same authorities procured a law to protect Mystic Lake, and provide other channels for sewage. The provisions of the act were held to be impracticable, and the law is now a dead letter.

The self-purification of river water is not recognized by some authorities, but equally good authorities value its merits. The following observations on this subject are particularly applicable to Cincinnati:

“The most efficacious means to get rid of the sewage is not to put it into the river at all.

“A chemist can tell you the amount of organic matter contained in the water, but that covers an infinite variety of matters. He has no means of discrimination as to what is really the ferment—the infectious material—of cholera from a great number of other organic matters.

“The question is, not whether the chemist would find out the organic matter, so much as it is, whether the germs that disseminate the disease still have their property further down the river. This can only be solved by the effects. You might go on using the water for years, and it might not be discovered until some outbreak of disease occurs directly attributable to the water.”

The practical sanitary experiment would then be solved, but at the expense of a number of lives.

Dr. Klob, of Vienna, has discovered, in the evacuations of cholera patients, millions and millions of microscopic fungi similar in form to a mushroom.

There are, above the Cincinnati pumping works, six sewers discharging their filth into the Ohio River, besides the fœcal drainage of no less than five thousand privies, all within a radius of less than three miles. Now, the quality of such water is readily established, for we are putting the sewage into the water knowing there are no means to get rid of it.

OHIO RIVER STATEMENT, SHOWING THE HIGHEST, LOWEST, AND AVERAGE STAGES FOR EACH YEAR AT CINCINNATI WATER-WORKS.

YEAR.	HIGHEST STAGE.			LOWEST STAGE.			AVERAGE FOR THE YEAR.
	DATE.	FEET.	IN.	DATE.	FEET.	IN.	FEET.	IN.
1832	February 18	62	11½
1847	December 17	62	3½
1858	June 16	43	10	October 3d	2	5	12	10
1859	February 22d	55	5	September 19th	3	3	17	7
1860	April 16th	49	2	October 3d	5	4	16	—
1861	April 19th	49	5	July 13th	5	1	19	1
1862	January 24th	57	4	October 31st	2	4	17	5
1863	March 12th	42	9	October 6th	2	6	15	—
1864	December 23d	45	1	August 6th	3	1	16	8
1865	March 7th	56	3	October 19th	5	8	21	10
1866	September 26	42	6	August 17th	4	9	19	2
1867	March 14	55	8	October 19th	3	—	17	—
1868	March 30th	48	3	July 21st	5	1	18	8
1869	April 2d	48	9	August 21st	5	4	19	8
1870	January 19th	55	3	October 4th	3	10	17	10
1871	May 13th	40	6	October 12th	2	8	11	10
1872	April 13th	41	9	October 14th	3	—	11	8
1873	December 18th	44	5	October 1?th	3	8	18	5
1874	January 11th	47	11	September 22d	2	4	15	8
1875	August 6th	55	4	September 19th	4	3	18	9
1876	January 29th	51	9	September 4th	6	2	18	2
1877	January 20th	53	9	October 9th	3	3	15	—
1878	December 15th	41	4	October 24th	4	4	16	9
1879	December 27th	42	9	October 23d	2	6	14	6
1880	February 17th	53	2	October 28th	3	9	17	—
1881	February 16th	50	7	September 18th	1	11	16	11

A recent examination of the currents of the river passing the inlets was conclusive that the Eggleston Avenue sewer, 1,000 feet below, could have no effect on our water supply. Be this as it may, its proximity taxes our delicate tastes. The location of the inlet of the Shield aqueduct is not a desirable one, being at the revetment wall, past which all the shore water flows. The small aqueduct certainly can not be improved, its inlet being sixty feet beyond the wall, where the currents produce the best water obtainable.

The value of changing the location of the intakes can be illustrated to a good advantage by the experience of London during the cholera epidemic of 1854. After the epidemic of 1849, the Lambeth Water Company moved their intakes to Teddington, beyond the range of London sewage; while their competitor, the Southwark Company, continued to take its water close to one of the sewers. Their respective water-pipes interlaced each other; and of the 26,000 houses supplied by the Lambeth Company, there were only 294 deaths in 1854, while in 40,000 houses, supplied by the other company, there were 2,284 deaths.

SCOWDEN’S SURVEY OF MARKLEY FARM.

On the 29th of April, 1871, the Trustees of Water-Works, in response to the Council, submitted a report to them upon the necessity of a new water supply. On the ensuing 9th of June, the Council ordered that a competent engineer be employed to examine sites, and report upon the most suitable location for water-works, with plans, estimates of cost, etc. Mr. T. R. Scowden was accordingly appointed; and, on the 9th of September of the same year, he submitted a supplemental report, recommending, in the highest terms, the “Markley Farm” site. Upon his recommendation, the property was purchased for the sum of $22,321.50, consisting of 146 acres, with a river frontage of 2,000 feet. The principal points upon which the recommendation was based were:

“The site known as Markley Farm is a point where the water of the Ohio River is deep and free from drainage or any other vitiating influence to affect its quality, perhaps for a century to come, if ever. The shore is bold, and, with the bed of the river, is of gravel and rock formation, washed clean by an active current at all seasons of the year. Pumping works may be located at this point without any objectionable and expensive inlet-pipe; while the adjacent hills afford an excellent site for a storage reservoir, 307 feet above extreme low water, and 75 feet above the Garden of Eden Reservoir. On the lower level there is a fine plateau for locating, not only the pumping house, but subsiding reservoirs and filtering basins.

“The force-main extending from the pump house to the storage reservoir will be short, or about 1,450 feet long, whereas, works located on the second site, or any other sites examined, would require force mains several thousand feet in length. By the first site, water from the river would be lifted by the pumps and forced to the reservoir with the least amount of power, friction, and expense of fuel to do the work. This site also commands an excellent and safe landing for boats supplying the works with coal.

“The analyses of waters lately taken at the Water-Works and at the Markley Farm clearly indicate the superior quality, purity, and healthfulness of the latter.

“It has been suggested that the offal from one or more distilleries, said to be in operation at New Richmond, some ten miles above the Markley Farm, would leave its taint in the water reaching the latter point. My answer is, that in this case the river, so slightly affected at New Richmond, and flowing ten miles to reach the Markley Farm, would, from agitation and dilution, and from the well-known self-purifying property of water, become pure.”

Regarding the other sites surveyed he said:

“The second, but objectionable, site for water-works was found some three miles above the Garden of Eden reservoir, and about the same distance below the mouth and offensive discharge of the Little Miami River. This location, although favorable in many respects, intercepts the drainage of the upper portion of the city, and all of that from the Miami Valley emptied into the Ohio River, which renders that site wholly inadmissible for water-works purposes.

“The valley of the Miami forms a water-shed of several hundred square miles in area. Upon the surface of this vast plain is deposited the dead carcasses of animals, and the droppings from cattle of all kinds. The ground is covered with decayed vegetable matter, and the soaking of stable-yards, hog-pens, slaughter-houses, distilleries, stagnant pools, etc. The refuse is washed off by rain storms into the Miami, which is the common receptacle, and thence into the Ohio River.

“It is only necessary, first, to disease the water, then disease the man; and it is clear, therefore, that water-works located below the Miami would, by wholesale pollution, disease the whole community.

“There is no city in the civilized world so regardless of the cleanliness and health of its citizens as to adopt a plan of water supply to foist upon them the concentrated filth from sewerage and the impurities of a stream, the water of which is only fit for mill-power, manufacturing purposes, and for cattle to drink; and I did not think that Cincinnati was emulous of setting the example.

“With regard to intermediate points between the county line and the mouth of the Little Miami River, I found the Ohio River lined with sand-bars, some of which projected from the shore nearly to the middle of the river, miles in length; while the bottom or bed of the river was, for the most part, covered with logs and craggy stones.”

His plan embraced the construction of pumping works for raising the water, first, from the river into subsiding and filter reservoirs, and then pumping it a second time into storage reservoirs. The water was to flow, through 10⅓ miles of 42-inch supply mains, into Eden Reservoir. The capacity of the pumps was estimated at 60 millions daily. The recapitulation of cost was:

For Engine-House and Grounds	$312,790.00
For Pumping Engines	750,000.00
For Force Mains	92,130.00
For Storage Reservoirs	521,529.45
For Subsiding Reservoirs	560,252.00
For Clear-Water Well	14,669.60
For principal Supply Main, two lines	1,811,078.00
Miscellaneous expenses	60,500.00
	—————	4,131,949.05
Add ten per cent		413,194.90
		—————
Total cost		$4,545,143.95

In conclusion, he said:

“I, therefore, regard the first and best site, known as the Markley Farm, as one commanding all the advantages sought, where works may be erected combining greater simplicity of construction, economy of cost, and maintenance when put in operation, than could be built at any of the other points mentioned.”

No. 7.
MOORE’S SURVEY.

On the 23d of January, 1882, Mr. A. G. Moore, Superintendent of the Cincinnati Water-Works, submitted a communication to the Board of Public Works relative to the present condition of the pumping works and its future requirements. From it we arrange the following:

“The present pumps are deficient; that during the summer of 1881 the daily demands exceeded, at times, their capacity; and on one particular day there was a deficiency of over six million gallons. The engines are generally of light construction, and not sufficient for any increased loads. They are expensive in operation and maintenance. First-class engines of to-day would save two-thirds of the fuel used. The principal reliance, during the summer, is the large “Shield” engine, which is most extravagant on fuel, and has a wrought-iron force-main, of weak material, intrenched 35 feet below the surface of the street. Some of the boilers are of an age that require them to be treated with the greatest care, and should be condemned. The principal buildings do not afford protection or access to the pumps in case of derangement during average high water. The hill-top service is inadequate, and a larger and more comprehensive system should be adopted for the supply of the increasing territory.

“The subject of increasing capacity requires immediate attention; and should the removal of the works be deemed inadvisable, it will become essential to at once proceed with the erection of machinery, buildings, aqueduct, and aqua-fort at the old works. The cost of these improvements is placed at $1,394,000; reserve engine for 1884, $618,000; and sewer in Front Street, to carry the sewage below the works, $1,600,000. Total, $3,612,000.”

His plan for Markley Farm provides for one lift of 305 feet, with three compound pumping engines of 100 million capacity, subsiding and storage reservoirs, and one effluent-main 62 inches in diameter.

The estimate is condensed as follows:

Aqua-fort and buildings		$410,000.00
Engines and boilers for 100 million capacity		1,255,000.00
Three subsiding reservoirs of earth and masonry embankments, with 90 acres of water surface	}	1,836,500.00
Effluent-main, including 55,000 feet of 62-inch pipe, from the Farm to Eden Reservoir, and 18,000 feet of 48-inch, from Eden Reservoir to Harrison Avenue	}	1,804,000.00
Contingencies		460,000.00
		—————
Total		$5,725,000.00

The important question is presented by him, which the public must decide, namely, whether it is a prudent policy to expend four millions of dollars to improve the old works, and retain all the expensive and unreliable machinery, and still supply an impure and turbid water; or to expend an additional two millions for an entire new system, from a source where a supply of pure and clear water can be secured, commensurate with the growing city.

He also embodies, by way of comparison, the following estimate for locating the works on the Kentucky side of the river:

For right of way and property, State and municipal	500,000
Aqua-fort and buildings	410,000
Three engines, with boilers complete	1,255,000
Subsiding Reservoirs	1,836,000
Effluent-mains, 23,000 feet	533,000
Tunnel for pumping main	270,000
Tunnel under the Ohio River, 3,000 feet	825,000
Thirty-inch main to Eastern Avenue, 22,500 feet	201,000
Contingencies	550,000
	————
Total for Newport plan	$6,381,000

CHAPTER VII.
COST OF CONSTRUCTING WATER-WORKS.

The cost of constructing water-works varies very much, according to local features, geological structure, and kind of scheme most suitable to the place. In Great Britain, gravitation schemes cost from $10 to $13, and pumping schemes from $7 to $10, per inhabitant. The average cost per head, for London, was $20; for Liverpool, $20; for Bradford, England, $35; for Halifax, England, $25; for Dundee, Scotland, $30; for Glasgow, $15; for Manchester and Sheffield (each) $12 per head.

The average cost for a supply of 20 imperial gallons per day, per head, for 66 towns of Great Britain having gravitation supplies, was $8; for 48 towns, with pumping system, $5.80; and for 11 towns, having both systems, $7. From the annual report of Chicago, for 1880, we take the following cost, per capita, for water-works construction: Detroit, $23.11; Newark, N. J., $19.08; Wilmington, Del., $20.73; Buffalo, $18.29; Cincinnati, $26.20; Milwaukee, $19.25; Columbus, O., $18.14; Louisville, Ky., $25.04; Cleveland, O., $16.84; Providence, R. I., $52.74; Boston (gravity supply), $44.46; Manchester, N. H. (water pumping power), $24.24; Hartford, Conn. (gravity), $35.60; New York (gravity), $34.38, St. Louis, $26.07; Chicago, $17.49.

The Engineering News, of New York, Vol. IX, No. 4, contains valuable tables on construction, and other valuable water-works statistics, from which the following is compiled:

Average cost of construction, per capita, for American cities having stand-pipe system, with 50,000 population, $20.70; for 30,000, $12; for 15,000, $16; for 10,000, $13.30.

Average cost of construction, per capita, for direct pumping system, for 75,000, $16; for 40,000, $13.40; for 25,000, $13.80; for 15,000, $21.70; for 10,000, $16.40; for 5,000, from $8 to $12.

Average cost of construction, per capita, for reservoir pumping system, for 100,000 population, $22.50; for 75,000, $21.50; for 50,000, $15.25; for 35,000, $22.50; for 25,000, $33.20; for 15,000, $22.40; for 10,000, from $10 to $32; for 5,000, from $8 to $40.

Average cost of construction, per capita, for gravitation works, for 50,000 population, $26; for 30,000, from $17 to $40; for 20,000, from $16 to $30; for 10,000, from $10 to $30; for 5,000, from $5 to $25; for 3,000, from $17 to $40.