With Discussion by Messrs. Maurice C. Couchot, L. J. Mensch, A. H. Markwart, and A. Kempkey, Jr.
The City of Victoria is situated on the southern end of Vancouver Island, in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, and is the capital of the Province.
In common with all cities of the extreme West, its growth has been very rapid within the last few years. The population of the city proper, together with that of the municipality of Oak Bay, immediately adjacent, is now about 35,000.
The Victoria water-works are owned by the city and operated under the direction of a Water Commissioner appointed by the City Council. By special agreement, water is supplied to Oak Bay in bulk, this municipality having its own distributing system.
The rapid increase in population, together with the fact that in recent years very little had been done toward increasing the water supply, resulted in the necessity for remodeling the entire system, and there are very few cities where this would involve as many complex problems or a greater variety of work.
Water is drawn from Elk Lake, situated about five miles north of the city; thence it flows by gravity to the pumping station about four miles distant, and from there is pumped directly to the consumers.
The remodeling of the system, as recently completed, provided for:
1.—Increasing the capacity of Elk Lake by a system of levees.
2.—Increasing the capacity of the main to the pumping station by replacing about two miles of the old 16-in., wrought-iron, riveted pipe with 24-in. riveted steel pipe.