F. B. Tower.
Napoleon Gimbrede. sc.
DISTRIBUTING RESERVOIR.
The question may naturally be asked, why this Reservoir was built, when the receiving one, of such great capacity, is so near at hand? The reason for building it, was to obtain an efficient head of water near to the densely populated parts of the city, and had the formation of the island been favorable, the Receiving Reservoir would undoubtedly have been located farther down, bringing the store of water more nearly in the centre of the city.
[Plate XXIV]. is an isometrical view of the Distributing Reservoir showing the front on the 5th Avenue and on 42nd street.
The pipes which leave the Receiving Reservoir follow along the 5th Avenue until they reach 42nd street, where they turn and enter the Distributing Reservoir at the base of the central pilaster in that street, which in the drawing is shown on the right hand side. The pipes enter at the bottom of the Reservoir and the flow of water is regulated by stop-cocks: the door in the pilaster affords an entrance to the vault where these stop-cocks are situated. The Reservoir is divided into two separate divisions by a wall. It is designed to have three pipes, each 3 feet diameter, to lead from the Receiving to the Distributing Reservoir and arrangements are made to discharge water from two of them into one division of the Distributing Reservoir at a time, or the water may be divided into an equal supply for both divisions.
On the south side of the Reservoir a pipe of 3 feet diameter leaves each division and they are arranged with branches so as to draw from one or both divisions. The house standing across the division wall is directly over the mouth of the effluent pipes, and is constructed like those at the Receiving Reservoir, with a gate and screen frame of timber. The central pilaster on 40th street has an entrance (like that on 42nd street) to the vault where the stop-cocks are situated which regulate the discharge from the Reservoir. The pipes leave the Reservoir at the base of this pilaster and from 40th street, curve into the 5th Avenue, which they pursue until they reach a convenient point for diverging to the densely populated parts of the city.
This Reservoir is 420 feet square on the top, measuring on the cornice of the main wall; it is 425 feet square at the top of the cornice of the pilasters, and 436 feet square at the base, measuring from outside to outside of the corner pilasters, covering a little over four acres. The height of the walls is 45 feet above the streets around, and about 50 feet above the foundations.
The water is 36 feet deep when it reaches the level designed for its surface (which is 4 feet below the top of the walls) and the surplus, when the Reservoir is full, passes into a well in the division wall and is conducted by a sewer in 42nd street to the Hudson River, which is one mile distant.
The Reservoir is calculated to hold 20,000,000 gallons.