ARBORICULTURE 



345 



pure water furnished per capita to the popula- 

 tion, the smaller the percentage of disease and 

 consequent death rate. 



Water contaminated by alkaline or other ob- 

 jectionable mineral solutions, or from the sav- 

 age discharge from other great cities, is recog- 

 nized to be the cause of innumerable diseases 

 and great efforts are made to avoid the use of 

 water from such contaminated streams, or by 

 some means to purify the water. 



The editor of Arboriculture in the capacity 

 of a civil engineer. Svindry times been called 

 upon to examine sources of water supply of 

 several cities, and upon several occassions as- 

 cended Pikes Peak and visited the resefvoirs 

 where the pure snow water is collected and 

 furnished to Colorado Springs and vicinity, at 

 one time passing through the tunnel under 

 Pikes Peak. 



There are few cities which possess a water 

 system of such magnitude with water of great 

 purity and in such abundance as has the City 

 of Indianapolis, Indiana, equaling as it does 

 that of the melting snow of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. 



It seems strange that the citizens of India- 

 napolis should know so little of the character 

 and magnitude of the works which furnish 

 them so amply this water; which at present is 

 obtained from thirty-four ten inch wells, sunk 

 350 feet into trenton rock, having in the start 

 passed through 90 feet of river gravel and sand. 



The ordinary demand of the city is for fifteen 

 million gallons daily, although during the hot 

 summer months, while much sprinkling of 

 lawns requires a larger quantity and twenty 

 million gallons are used. 



There are now 200,000 people in Indianapolis 

 and this daily consumption is 100 gallons for 

 each inhabitant. 



Three enormous pumps, the largest 2 have 

 ever seen in any city, 33 inches diameter 

 wiih five feet stroke, each throwing 666 gallons 

 at every plundge, are operated by three com- 

 pound, tripple expansion engines. This pump 



combination discharges twenty million gallons 



daily into the city mains with a pressure of 



forty-five pounds per square inch, increase to 



one hundred and twenty pounds during every 



alarm of fire. 



l>esides there is another pump with fifteen 



million gollons capacity, and one of seventeen 



million gallons which are operated as reqaired. 



The Water Company is erecting still a larger 

 pump, to be completed in November, which 

 will have a capacity of thirty million gallons 

 every twenty four hours. 



These figures are astounding but yet abso- 

 lutely correct. 



There is in process of construction an im- 

 mense filtering system which will be the most 

 perfect and complete filtration plant of the 

 world. 



There are three filter beds, each having an 

 area of one six-tenths acres, with a capacity 

 of mire to ten million gallons. In the bottom 

 of these beds are hollow, perforated tiles over 

 which there will be seventeen inches depth of 

 coarse gravel, screened and warhed Upon 

 this gravel is to be spread four and a half feet 

 depth of pure clean sand, and four feet depth 

 of water will cover this. 



As the water slowly filters through this bed 

 of sand, gravel and perforated tiles it will be 

 cleaned from every impurity, all bacteria being 

 removed. 



The water then will flow into closed collect- 

 ing galleries which are eight feet lower than the 

 filter beds. There are two of these galleries, 

 each containing two and one half million gal- 

 lons. These are covered, being arched with 

 concrete and from which all bacteria and im- 

 purities will be excluded. 



From here the water will pass directly to the 

 pumps and into the mains. 



As the filter beds become clogged one bed at 

 a time will be emptied of the water and the 

 impure surface sand will be removed. This 

 will be replaced with fresh, clean washed sand. 



A trainway engine and car2 is busy transport- 

 ing the gravel and sand from the river where 

 it is screened and washed by machinery, a 



dredge taking the material from the river. 



Besides the regular supply of water which 

 will be most ample for all purposes of the city, 

 five million gallons may be at once turned into 

 the pumps in case of fire. 



It is safe to say that when these plants shall 

 be completed, and that within a few months, 

 there will be an abundance of pure water to 

 supply a city of half a million people. 



The grounds are kept in excellent condition, 

 the buildings are handsome and substantial, 

 and the plant is uns:urpassed by any in exist- 

 ence. 



