1844.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



307 



times, the sizes of the pipes mny be reduced to one-half, and the chief item 

 in the expenditure in new worlds may consequently be reduced one-half, and 

 thus iess capital will be required ; and, as it often happens that it is more 

 convenient to spend a small sum annually than a large sum at once, this is a 

 matter of great importance. And again, in many, if not most towns where 

 the worlcs have been established for a long period, and the length of pipeage 

 has gradually been much increased, the pipes originally laid down become 

 inadequate to afford the increased demand, the consequence of which is, that 

 the extremities of the district are generally supplied most miserably. Instead 

 of having to lay down new and large mains, the erection of the new engine, 

 by which the head of water may be increased at tlie same cost of coals, in- 

 creases the utility of the old mains, and prevents the necessity of a large out- 

 lay in new ones." 



How are the settling reservoirs constructed and arranged ? — We take the 

 ■water in by a canal about two miles in length ; that comes into a wide canal 

 or small reservoir, at the end of which there are two sets of gates ; one com- 

 municating with one reservoir, the other communicating with another reser- 

 voir. We admit the water into both reservoirs. We then draw it out of one 

 reservoir while the second one is kept closed ; the next day we draw it out of 

 the second one and fill up the first one. During the time of floods we have 

 the means of shutting ofi the water altogether for four or five days from those 

 reservoirs. 



How do you get quit of the matter that settles below ?— The deposit accu- 

 mulates very slowly. About 12 or 13 years ago we cleaned out two small 

 basins; I think they had not been cleaned out before for 15 or 16 years; 

 with regard to our large reservoirs, which have been made since 1836, 1 have 

 no idea that in my time we shall have to clean them out. The area of the 

 large reservoirs is one CJ and the other 5J acres. 



Are you aware of any diBerence in the quality of the water passed through 

 iron pipes, as compared with the quality of that passed through lead?— Both 

 in iron pipes and lead pipes a coating very rapidly takes place in our district ; 

 that coaling is, I believe, a carbonate of iron and sulphate of lime in one case, 

 and, I believe, carbonate and sulphate of lead in the other, which forms a 

 thin crust round the inside of the pipes, about the thickness of a thick sheet 

 of paper, and as soon as that is formed, being an insoluble salt, and no further 

 corrosion takes place ; hut the corrosion is upon the outside of the pipe wlien 

 it is of iron, and that depends upon the qualify of the ground. 



Advantages of a Constant Supply of Water instead of Alternate. 



Thomas Hawksley, Esq., Civil Kngineer, stated that he designed and con- 

 structed the Trent Water-works at Nottingham in the year 1830-31, and is 

 resident engineer at this time, and has also been employed by several other 

 Companies.— The number of bouses to w hich water is supplied from the works 

 ■«hich he superintends at Nottingham is aljout 8000, containing a population 

 of about 35,000 persons. 



The greatest pressure at which water is kept upon the i>ipes supplied is 

 about 120 feet, and that on a considerable portion of the town. The average 

 pressure may be stated to be about SO feet, there being in Nottingham great 

 variations in altitude.— The high pressure is kept upon allclasses of pipes and 

 at all times. The extra cost of pumping to raise the water to the highest 

 points for which it is ordinarily required is very slight. There is but one 

 pressure at Nottingham, and that is the same at all limes, and is found to be 

 economical. If the water were lifted only half the height the saving would 

 not amount to more than about l-20th of the total charge. 



With the tenants' service pipes lull at all times, and in constant communi- 

 cation with the mains and chief reservoir, it dispenses with the necessity of 

 the tenants having water-tanks. All the houses thathave been supplied since 

 the Trent Water Company has been established, whicli are very numerous 

 (indeed, probably amounting to 5000 or more out of 8000)are without water- 

 butts. In the houses taken by the Trent Company from the former Company, 

 the tenants of which became tenants of the Trent Water Company, there were 

 brick cisterns under tht- lloors already existing ; of course we only attached 

 the old communication pipes to the service pipes of the new Company, and so 

 far as the majority of those tenants are concerned we do supply the tanks, for 

 they existed before ; but even in many of those cases the tanks have been 

 abandoned, and the tenants take their water in the same way as others. 



In answer lo the question — " It is stated that under the common arrange- 

 ment of having water " on" for such a time on alternate days as may fill butts 

 and tanks, that of the total capital invested in the complete machinery, the 

 portion of the tenant's outlay consisting of the house butts or tank, ball-cocks 

 and pipes, involves the expenditure of a capital equal to that invested by the 

 Company ; for example, if the Company's capital amount to £50,000 for en- 

 gines, mains, &c., tlie tenants' capital invested for tanks, ball-cocks, and 

 pipes will involve an equal expenditure, and that half perhaps of the tenant's 

 portion will consist of the expense of the tank, butt, and ball-cock?" Mr. 

 Hawksley said — ^" The expense of the tank or Luit will in general be more 

 than half the tenant's expense considered exclusively of the cost of the com- 

 munication pipe used in the Street, which is at Nottingham provided and 

 maintained by the Company, but probably not otherwise.") 



In the capital of a Company the pipe to each of the Individual houses is 

 not included. In general that would be the tenant's charge ; but in the case 

 of Nottingham it constitutes only a small portion of the expense of works, it 

 costs the Company about a shilling a foot on the average, includmg taking up 

 the street, putting down the pipe, and enclosing it, and may amount to 

 between £2000 ami £3000. The cost of each of the Company's branches may 

 possibly average 15s., but as one branch will in the majority of instances sup- 

 ply a wliole court, the cost per tenement supplied will not exceed 6s. or 7s. 

 The expenditure at Nottingham for the supply of 8000 houses amounts to 

 about £30.000. The cost of butts or cisterns fitted wiih a ball-cock, pump 

 or draw-ofl' cock, and other appurtenances would (if required) amount to 

 £30,000 at the least, if, as the questions imjily, each of the £000 tenants were 

 to be provided with a separate cistern or tank capable of containing water for 

 two days supply after the present rate of consumption, and that of more than 

 half this cost the public is disburthened by the introduction of the system of 

 constant delivery. By this arrangement of keeping the pi|]es constantly full, 

 dispensing with the necessity of tanks, more than half the tenants' expense 

 is got rid of, or more than one-third of the then total expense of introduc- 

 ing water into houses. 



Where butts or receptacles for water are used they become sources of im- 

 purity ; they are not properly covered ; soot and dust get in ; in summer time 

 they are frequently exposed to the action of the sun, and the wooden butts 

 are apt to decay. All labour of cleansing these causes of impurity is prevented 

 by the arrangement of keeping the pipes constantly full. The effect of the 

 arrangement is to substitute one large reservoir or tank well situated and 

 under effectual care, for the many thousand ill placed butts and tanks lequi- 

 site lo afford a copious supply on the common arrangement. 



There is also the saving of the room occupiec} by the lank, which is in some 

 districts of much importance ; tliere is the avoidance of the damp from the 

 evaporation of a body of water in the house, the sa ing of accidents and of 

 leakage, and of the inconvenience from having the tank sometimes empty. 

 In many houses where there is no convenience for a tank in the upper part of 

 the house it is jilaced in a lower apartment, and the water must be borne up 

 stairs for use; the labour incurred necessarily restricts the free employment 

 of the water for many purposes to which it might be beneficially and health- 

 fully employed. In such places, too, the expense of a force-pump to charge 

 tanks for water-closets, and of waste and warning-pipes, is sometimes necessary, 

 Th's apparatus for the middle and higher class houses is not only very expen- 

 sive but liable to be often out of repair, constantly bringing the plumber into 

 the house. Another and a very serious inconvenience affecting the habits and 

 sanatory condition of the population attendant on the system of partial or 

 occasional supply is that it creates an inconvenience and an obstacle to the 

 use of baths. With a constant supply of water at a sufficient pressure baths 

 might be supplied in private houses with little difficulty or expense, so little, 

 indeed, that he believes it to be practicable, and hopes yet to see baths intro- 

 duced into the houses of labouring men for the use of themselves and families. 

 There may be a saving in the tenants' outlay for pipes. In the metropolis 

 and other places, where the Companies' supply is only occasional, the pipes 

 are larger than necessary that the water may be delivered within a short time. 

 In towns the usual size of the tenants' pipes is | inch, and in the larger 

 houses I inch; whereas with the constant supply * inch pipes will serve the 

 same purpose. If necessary we can have stronger pipes of the same weight. 

 Pipes of i inch diameter and 2| lb. weight per foot are found to be securest 

 the strongest pressure employed in Nottingham. 



In answer to a question respecting the actual waste of water at the Not- 

 tingham works Mr. Hawksley said—" A judgment may perhaps be best 

 formed as to the small extent of waste from a statement of the actual amount 

 of supply. The actual amount of supply at Nottingham is not more than 

 from 80 to 90 gallons per house per diem ; this is taken by about 8000 tene- 

 ments and works of every description, amongst which are bre\\ cries, dye- 

 works, steam-engines, and inns, and other places of large consumption." 



The system of constant supply diminishes the rate of delivery in the ser- 

 vice-pipes and sub-mains very materially, distributing over a greater number 

 of hours the quantity of water which otherwise must be delivered in a very 

 short period.— It is spreading the water over the 12 hours of the day ; and 

 with the advantage tliat as the water travels more slowly through the pipes, 

 smaller pipes will be equivalent to larger. 



The constant supply is also the means of a large economy of men. The 

 Nottingham Company has maintained its supply by night and by day ever 

 since its establishment, except during a period of one month, when for the 

 purpose of experiment the water was shut off at 10 in the evening, and Vurned 

 on again at 5 in the morning. It was then found that it would be more ex- 

 pensive to keep extra turncocks, do extra repairs to valves, draw plugs to 

 cleanse the pipes, and attend to complaints. The original plan was therefore 

 resumed. We find that one expeiienced man, and one boy of about 18 years 

 of age are, on the system of constant supply, quite sufficient to manage the 

 distribution of the supply to about 80CO tenements, and keep all the works of 

 distribution in perfect repair, including cocks, main pipes, service pipes, and 

 tenants' communication pipes, to the extent they are laid under the pubiig^ 



