The Water Supply of Albany. 



175 



"do not include the water power on the streams below 

 which it is believed would amount to a heavy item. 



In relation to this large available supply the Commission- 

 ers say ; " These large quantities have been given by 

 gauging the several streams ; but from the experience of 

 the Patroon's creek supply, comparing the amount given 

 by measurement in 1850 with that actually furnished dur- 

 ing the past season, too great caution cannot be exercised 

 before seeking a supply from these streams. It cannot be 

 questioned that both the Patroon's creek and the Norman's 

 kill, with its affluents, are diminishing in their volumes. 

 When Mr. McAlpine submitted his report on the Patroon's 

 creek he gave the flow above Tivoli from June 19th to 

 July 15th, and July 23d to July 30th, at a daily mean of 

 12,018,831 gallons; and from July 30th to August 24th, 

 at a daily mean of 11,660,268, making from July 19th to 

 August 22th, a daily mean of 11,899,300 gallons ; and yet, 

 during a portion of the past winter, although all the water 

 of this city was distributed thrugh the city mains, it fell far 

 short of the quantity required for use. Rensselaer lake 

 failed while the flow of Tivoli receded two feet. In 1871, 

 the waste gate from Rensselaer lake was never opened. 



Now, here the Commissioners quote Mr. McAlpine's 

 gauge of water during specified summer months when water 

 is known to fall in copious showers, and complain of a de- 

 ficiency during winter, without having made provisions for 

 storing the same at proper seasons. Mr. McAlpine's re- 

 port does not need any defense ; on the contrary, it is 

 accepted as authority. In a London edition of a work pub- 

 lished in 1872 (Samuel Hughes, F. S. G.), on the subject 

 of water works the following notice of this subject is made : 



" Experiments were made at two stations on the drain- 

 age ground of the Albany Water Works. At the first 

 station, having a water shed of 2,600 acres, it was found 

 that from May to October, inclusive, only 41J per cent of 



