Cleveland.—The water-works were constructed in 1853 after the plans of T. R. Scowden, civil engineer. The system is pumping through stand pipe with reservoir distribution. The source is Lake Erie, where the water is taken through a crib located in lake, 1¼ miles from shore, and conducted through tunnel under lake to the pump wells. The pumping stations contains two Cornish, a “Henderson” compound duplex, and a 10 million Worthington. The combined capacity is 28 million gallons. Another Worthington engine is being added to the service. The stand pipe is 148 feet high and 36 inches in diameter. The reservoir is made of earth embankments, 21 feet deep, with a capacity of 8 million gallons.
The population for 1880 was 160,142; miles of pipe, 125½; daily consumption of water, 10.18 million gallons.
Total cost of works to January 1, 1878, was $2,402,000. Bonded indebtedness, $1,725,000. Cost of original works, $523,000.
Portland, Maine, is supplied with water from Lake Sebago, which has storage capacity sufficient to supply the largest city of the world. The total area of water-shed is 520 square miles. The annual receipt of moisture, including rain and snow, is 51 billion cubic feet, while the discharge is 20½ billion cubic feet. The water is conveyed partly through a box conduit, 3′ 9″ by 3′ 6½″, an oval brick conduit 5,440 feet long, 2½′ by 3½′, to a gate-house, whence two wrought-iron mains, lined inside and covered outside with best quality Rosendale cement, each 16 miles long, distribute the water to the city. One of the mains is 20 inches in diameter for the whole length, the other 26 and 24 inches, and respectively 4 and 12 miles long. The water system is owned by the Portland Water Company.
Cincinnati.—The permanent system of water supply was commenced in 1817, when city council granted to the Cincinnati Manufacturing Company the privilege of supplying the city with water for ninety-nine years at an annual consideration of $100—the water to flow three feet above the first floor of James Ferguson’s kitchen, on west side of Vine, between Sixth and Seventh Streets, by 1820.
The first water was drawn from a wooden penstock at Sycamore Street and Lower Market, July, 1821, being raised by horse-power from Ohio River at the present site of pumping works, and forced into a wooden reservoir, and from thence delivered through wooden pipes to water consumers.
The Cincinnati Manufacturing Company transferred its privileges, in 1820, to Samuel W. Davis, and by him sold to Cincinnati Water Company in 1825. The entire works were purchased by the city in 1839, for the sum of $300,000, and consisted of 19 miles of wooden pipes, 3½ miles of iron pipe, reservoir in three compartments of 1,700,000 gallons capacity, two high pressure pumping engines with a capacity of 4,200,000 gallons per twenty-four hours.
The management of the water department was vested first with a board of directors composed of one councilman from each ward. In 1847 this power was given, by act of legislature, to a board of three trustees elected by the people, and in 1876 the Board of Public Works was established, which assumed entire control of all the public works, including the water-works.
The city is supplied by pumping and reservoir system, with a main and two auxiliary pumping works, and four distinct reservoir or distributing services.