By E. D. Hardy, M. Am. Soc. C. E.

With Discussion by Messrs. Allen Hazen, George A. Johnson,
Morris Knowles, George C. Whipple, F. F. Longley, and E. D. Hardy.

The Washington filtration plant has already been fully described.[2] At the time that paper was written (November, 1906), the filtration plant had been in operation for only about 1 year. It has now been in continuous operation for 5 years, and many data on the cost, efficiency, and methods of operation, have accumulated in the various records and books which have been kept. It is thought that a brief review of the results, and a summary of the records in tabular form, will be of interest to the members of the Society, and it is also hoped that the discussion of this paper will bring out the comparative results of operation of other filter plants. As a matter of convenience, the following general description of the plant is given.

Description of the Filtration Plant.—The Washington filtration plant was completed and put in operation in October, 1905. It consists of a pumping station for raising the water from the McMillan Park Reservoir to the filter beds; 29 filters of the slow sand type, having an effective area of 1 acre each; the filtered-water reservoir, having a capacity of about 15,000,000 gal.; and the necessary piping and valves for carrying water, controlling rates of filtration, etc.

[1 Presented at the meeting of February 15th, 1911.]

[2 "Works for the Purification of the Water Supply of Washington, D. C.," by Allen Hazen and E. D. Hardy, Members, Am. Soc. C. E., Transactions, Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. LVII, p. 307.]

In the pumping station, there are three centrifugal pumps, which are directly connected to tandem compound engines; two sand‑washer pumps; three small electric generating sets for furnishing electric light; and four 200‑h.p., water-tube boilers.

Each of the centrifugal pumps has a nominal capacity of 40,000,000 gal. per day when pumping against a head of 21 ft., and each sand‑washer pump has a capacity of 2,500,000 gal. when pumping against a head of 250 ft. The electric light engines and generators supply the current for lighting the pumping station, the office and laboratory and other buildings, and also the courts and interior of the filter beds, and for operating a machine‑shop.