1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



176 



From ihe Transactions of tlie Institution of Civil Engineers. 



ON PROCUKIIVG SUPPMnS OF WATER FOR 

 CITIICS AXO TOWNS, BY BOUIMG. 



COMML'.NICATKD BY AIr. JoIIN SEAWAUn, M. IkST. C. E. 



A French ffentleman of our acquaintance hav- 

 ing recently addressed us upon a project ot'supi)!}' 

 ing the dillerent towns of France with water, by 

 means of boring in the earth, according to the 

 method which has come lately a good deal into 

 Jiishion in dill'erent parts of England, and thus hav- 

 ing brought the subject under our mature delibera- 

 tion, we otfer the Ibllowing remarks, which we 

 were led to give in rei)ly, with the hope that they 

 may be found not altogether uninteresting to the 

 Institution. 



In the first place, as respectsjjthe projpct"of fur- 

 nishing water to the different towns of France by 

 means of simply boring in the "earth; if by this is 

 intended that the variousUowns are to be supplied 

 with water economically, for all domestic and 

 manufacturing purposes, in the same abundant 

 manner that is furnished to the inhabitants of 

 London!and other towns of England, we nmst at 

 once declare without cany hesitation that, as a ge- 

 neral principle, the scheme will be abortive, and 

 if atteaipted, will infallibly end in loss and disap- 

 pointment. 



In stating thus explicitly our opinion, we do not 

 wish to be understood as being anywise unfavora- 

 ble to boring in general: on the contrary, as an 

 art when employed under suitable circumstances, 

 we know that it can be made, on various occasions, 

 highly subservient to the wants of man; but we also 

 know that with many persons, a very erroneous 

 opinion prevails as to the economy, and other me- 

 rits and advantages of the art. 



The method of "simple boring," as it is called, 

 is not adapted for all situations and places; it re- 

 quires a combination of circumstances not gene- 

 rally met with. London and the surrounding dis- 

 trict, wherein this art has been most successfully 

 practiced, is highly favored in this particular; the 

 stratum of soil is a bed of clay, varying from 100 

 to 200 tiiet thick, and is theretbre very easily bored 

 through. It is remarkable that the springs under 

 the bed of clay produce tlie finest and most salu- 

 brious water, while those above the bed of clay 

 produce water so impure as to be unfit even lor 

 the most ordinary purposes. It is therefore easy 

 to conceive, that this method would here meet 

 with the most favorable encouragement; but in 

 districts where the same circumstances do not 

 exist, there would not be the same inducement to 

 follow it. 



" Simple boring," is suitable only when the 

 quantity of water required is comparatively small; 

 thus if the object be to furnish a very superior wa- 

 ter for a nobleman's mansion, for a small village or 

 neighborhood, or even lor a single manufactory, 

 then this method is admirable, provided the cir- 

 cumstances are in any proportion as favorable as 

 in the district which surrounds London; but if the 

 question be to provide an abundant supply of wa- 

 ter for a large town or populous city, then certain- 

 ly in every case, the method of boring should, on 

 the score of economy, be the last that ought to be 

 resorted to for the purpose. 



That the bowels of the earth contain springs 

 of water in abundance, there can be no doubt; 



miners and colliers are aware of this fiict, to their 

 cost and sorrow: but wc know full well that those 

 same springs, if they have sullicient natural lorce, 

 must find their way to the surlhce of l he earth 

 somewhere, without any borinix, and then liirm 

 rivers and flowing brooks. Why then delve a 

 great depth at an infiniie expense, to procure that 

 which we can generally obtain so readily and eco- 

 nomically on the surface of the earth? 



Tliere is scarcely a city or town of any magni- 

 tude but what has some fine river or copious 

 brooks in its immediate neighborhood; these are 

 the natural sources whence we should obtain our 

 supply of water. But if the streams in the vicinity 

 are so impregnated with deleterious matter, as to 

 render the water unfit tor domestic or manufiictur- 

 ing purposes, and if no ready method can be 

 adopted for cleansing it, resource should then be 

 had to the water that tails from the heavejis; tanks 

 and reservoirs, (similar to those employed in feed- 

 ing navigable canals,) should he formed in con- 

 venient situations, to receive the rain-water which 

 falls on the adjacent hills: either of these means 

 would furnish an adundant supply of this necessa- 

 ry element, constantly and economically. 



It is perfectly true, that a populous town may 

 be so situated as to be at an inconvenient distance 

 from any salubrious I'iver or brook, whence to ob- 

 tain water; and local circumstances may be such as 

 to render it impossible or inexpedient to form in 

 the vicinity tanks or reservoirs to collect the rain- 

 water from the hills; in this case, there appears to 

 be no alternative but that of obtaining a supply 

 from the bowels of the earth; in such a case, it 

 will be necessary to sink very capacious wells or 

 shafts to a great depth, with suitable pumps and 

 steam-engines, to bring the water to the surface; 

 and even then the supply may be so scanty as to 

 render it necessry to drive (in various directions) 

 horizontal level or galleries li:om the bottom of the 

 wells or shafts, in order to break in upon the 

 springs which may exist at a distance; similar to 

 the method practiced in the salt-works of Eng- 

 land, to obtain a copious supply of the brine; but 

 in such a case, to expect that by simply boring 

 down into the earth, a plentiful supply of water 

 can be obtained for the domestic and manufiictur- 

 ing purposes of a populous town, is to expect 

 what rarely or never can be accomplished. 



The modern plan of boring to obtain water has 

 been, without any rational grounds cried up as a 

 new and wonderful discover}-; but the truth is, 

 that boring is an operation of great antiquity; the 

 miner and collier make use of it in a variety of 

 ways, and it has, from time immemorial, been a 

 usefiil auxiliary to the well-digger; he employs 

 this process to discover where springs of water 

 exist. By this means he can, at a comparatively 

 small expense, determine whether the situation is 

 favorable or not for forming a well; at the same 

 time he can ascertain the quality of the water 

 when obtained, and the probable ultimate expense 

 which must be incurred in order to secure a regu- 

 lar supply. 



In some instances it has happened that in boring, 

 fi-ora the cause just stated, tfie water has of its 

 own naturEil force risen up through the hole, and 

 flowed over"the surface in considerable quantity, 

 and thus, without much tijrther trouble or expense 

 a tolerably copious supply has been obtained. — 

 This circumstance it is that has brought into favor 



