486 



WATER SUPPLY AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL 



Central Square water works of that city constructed in the 

 year 1800. Its crudeness is evident when compared with a 

 modern city water plant. The boiler was constructed of 5-in. 

 pine plank with iron firebox and flues (Fig. 298). The dis- 

 tributing pipes were also of wood, being logs with the center 

 bored out. The system was never very satisfactory; the 

 boiler leaked steam and the pipes leaked water. In 1804, 

 Philadelphia began laying iron pipes and is believed to have 

 been the first city in the world to do so. New York City's 

 water system, as well as modern plumbing in America, really 

 dates from the completion of the Croton Aqueduct about 1850. 

 m . ^ g3 



-/4ft- 



m M 



Top view. Side view. End view. 



FIG. 298. Boiler of the Central Square water works, 1800. From History of 

 Sanitation, Cosgrove. 



569. Water System of New York City. Many of our larger 

 cities have spent immense sums of money in obtaining an ade- 

 quate water supply. In 1842, New York City first began using 

 water from the Croton Reservoir. An immense dam had been 

 constructed across the Croton River forming the reservoir. 

 An aqueduct, the Croton Aqueduct, conveyed the water to 

 the city. In 1890 this water system was enlarged. The cost 

 of the Croton Aqueduct and Reservoir is said to have been $160,- 

 000,000 and the labor required in their construction was equal 

 to that of 600 men working for 10 years. In spite of the im- 

 mensity of the Croton supply, about 500,000,000 gal. daily, 

 the city is outgrowing its water system. At the present time 

 a second source of supply is nearing completion. The city 

 acquired possession of an area of 900 sq. miles of mountainous 

 land in the Catskill Mountains and is constructing an aque- 



