16 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



CAMAGUEY'S WATERWORKS. 



Wells Discarded — Great Care Taken in Selecting a Location — Ample Supply 



Promised. 



The island of Cuba is rather a hard 

 proposition from a waterworks stand- 

 point. It is long and narrow, at some 

 places getting down to a width of from 

 15 to 30 miles. For this reason large 

 streams are few and far between, with 

 the further probability that they are 

 polluted. It is not difficult to find 

 streams that will supply the average 

 town during the wet season. 



A very thorough study was made of 

 the water supply, two or three years be- 

 ing taken up in preliminary work, study 

 and design. Congress first appropriated 

 $200,000 for the work; and after a de- 

 sign for a system had been completed, it 

 then appropriated $600,000 more, mak- 

 ing $800,000 in total, and the system was 

 then re-designed and enlarged to its 

 present size. 



Great care was taken in the location of 

 the supply. The country was searched 

 for a radius of 20 to 25 miles, and a 

 study was made of the three or four 

 deep wells in the vicinity, which were 

 finally discarded and it was finally de- 

 cided to draw upon the "Rio Pentezuela 

 Grande," a good-sized creek, about 14 

 miles (23 kilometers) north of town. 



This creek is not polluted because there 

 is absolutely no one living in the area. 

 The surrounding hills are composed 

 mostly of a poor class of iron ore and 

 the sabana is fit for little but grazing, 

 so there is little danger of immediate 

 pollution. Dtiring the ordinary dry sea- 

 son, past records show that there is suf- 

 ficient flow in the creek to supply the 

 present needs of the town; but during 

 the protracted drought of last year and 

 the succeeding drought of this year the 

 creek has shrunk to such an extent as to 

 prove that the proposed dam and reser- 

 voir will be needed sooner than was orig- 

 inally expected. There is, however, a 

 fine site for a dam, on a rock bottom; 

 and it will be comparatively easy to im- 

 pound a three-months', or even a four- 

 months' supply, which will carry the city 

 over the dryest of dry seasons. As there 

 is no other creek or river of any size 

 nearer than 20 miles to the city, and 

 such smaller creeks as are nearer are all 

 polluted, it will be seen that the only 

 course open has been taken, and when 

 the dam is built there can be no danger 

 from lack of supply. 



In designing the system a consump- 

 tion of 60 gal. per capita per 24 hours 

 has been allowed, which for the present 

 population, about 30,000, means a con- 

 sumption of 1.800,000 gal. per 24 hours. 

 To provide for the future, the population 



was increased 54 per cent., or to 46,200, 

 which the town will not reach for years 

 to comCj as the district is a cattle dis- 

 trict, with little chance of manufactur- 

 ing. For the future population the sup- 

 ply will have to be 2,772,000 gal. Fur- 

 ther, in getting at the size of main sup- 

 ply pipe, an increased consumption of 

 50 per cent, was assumed during the 

 hours of maximum consumption, or at 

 the rate of 90 gals, per capita per day, 

 or a total rate of 4,158,000 gals, per 24 

 hours. 



The complete system as laid out con- 

 sists of a reservoir at the head-works, a 

 pump house at the same location, six 

 kilometers of 18-inch cast-iron force 

 main, leading to a covered double-tank 

 reinforced concrete reservoir, holding 

 1,800,000 gals., or a day's supply, 17 kilo- 

 meters of 20-inch cast-iron supply main 

 leading to the city, and the distributing 

 system within the latter. Every endeav- 

 or has been made to furnish the city 

 with a modern and up-to-date water- 

 works. 



In laying out the city distributing sys- 

 tem it was found to be impossible to 

 place a pipe on every street, as the 

 money would not hold out. It was there- 

 fore determined to pipe the business part 

 of the town and run a skeleton system in 

 the outskirts in such a way that this 

 could be filled in during the future. The 

 system consists of four mains running 

 across the city on San Fernando, Cis- 

 neros, Hospital and Bembeta streets. 

 The two first-named mains will be built 

 now, and the last two at some future 

 time. 



The depositos on the Punta de Garcia 

 consist of two tanks, each 30 meters 

 square, and together they hold a day's 

 supply, or 1,800,000 gals. The structure 

 is reinforced concrete throughout, be- 

 cause there is no suitable large stone in 

 the vicinity for masonry; no suitable 

 brick is made in the locality, and the 

 stone that is available can only be found 

 in small deposits and hardly in sufficient 

 quantities for heavy concrete. 



The first contract has been let and 

 work has been in progress for some time. 

 This contract includes everything but the 

 ' pump house, machinery and proposed 

 dam at the head works, and came to a 

 total of $664,756.50.— Henry A. Young 

 in the Engineering Record (N. Y.) 



A subscription has been started in El 

 Caney, Oriente province, by the citizens 

 for the purpose of building an aqueduct, 

 which will furnish water to this town. 



