8 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE. 
MANCHESTER’S NEW WATER SUPPLY AND HIGH SERVICE SYSTEM. 
The extensive operations that have 
been in progress the past nine months 
toward giving Manchester a better water 
system have been completed, practically, 
and within the next ten days, probably, 
the new pumping station at Gravel Pond, 
one of the chain of ponds between Man- 
chester and Hamilton, will be putin ac- 
tive operation, and the new standpipe 
will be filled with water, thus giving a 
high pressure system. 
The cost of the new supply, which, 
by the way, is to be used only as an _ ad- 
dition to the system used for the past 
eighteen years, will cost very nearly 
$160,000. That was the amount appro- 
priated for the project and it is a matter 
of great credit to the water commission- 
ers, Frederick J. Merrill, Jeffrey T. 
Stanley and James Hoare, and to the en- 
gineer, Raymond C. Allen,—that the 
work will be accomplished well within 
the appropriation. 
“Lhe approximate cost of the new plant 
thus far has been: Machinery, $29,- 
000; standpipe, $29,150; construction 
of pipe line, $20,000; pipes, $25,000; 
other items $10,000. 
When the plant is completed Man- 
chester will have one of the finest water 
plants in the country. It will have one 
of the few gas producing power plants 
in New England, and its concrete stand- 
pipe, too, will be an improvement which 
very few towns in this state possess. 
In constructing the plant it was the 
idea of those in charge from thevery start 
to give the town the best; price was not 
considered; the result is that Manches- 
ter has one of the finest and best plants 
that could be constructed. 
‘The new station on the southerly side 
of Gravel Pond, as pictured on this page, 
is of brick, with cement floors, and its 
dimensions are approximately 58 feet 
square. It is of one story and stands 20 
feet high from the pump floor to the 
ceiling. It has an overhanging roof, 
slated on top. The gutters and copings, 
ventilators, and other appurtenances are 
of copper. ‘There are iron shutters on 
all the windows and the doors, too, are of 
iron. 
There is an opening from the road- 
way which allows of the dumping of 
coal on an elevation level with the top of 
the gas producers. And there is also a 
room on this level which is intended to 
serve as a horse and wagon shed. ‘The 
capacity of the coal shed is 40 to 50 tons. 
Beginning at this point it may be of 
interest to follow through the various 
stages from the time the coal is dumped 
at the station until the water is pumped 
from the station to the standpipe. 
The coal used is of the pea size, and 
comes from the anthracite mines. “The 
buck-wheat bituminous size could be 
used. The producer is filled once in 
ten hours, and it takes 500 pounds at a 
time for each producer. The coal is 
wheeled to the producers and every bar- 
rowful is weighed before using. The 
coal is put in through the top. 
The water from the producer, used in 
producing the gas, as is the case with all 
plex, with a million gallon capacity each, 
every 24 hours, which is at the rate of 
700 gallons every minute. A friction 
clutch between the engine and the pump 
is used gradually as the power is turned 
on, just as the ordinary clutch on a motor 
boat. 
Leaving the station at this point we go 
THE NEW PUMPING STATION AT GRAVEL POND 
dirty water about the station, is drained 
off to a cesspool and when this is full the 
contents is pumped to a point a quarter 
of a mile away, off the water shed. 
After passing from the producer the 
gas passes through a ‘“ washer’’ arrange- 
ment, where it iscleansed and purified 
before passing on to the engine. The 
producer is ten feet high and five feet in 
diameter. 
When the soft coal is used in place of 
the anthracite, there is another attach- 
ment which separates the tar from the 
gas and carries it back into the producer 
to burn over again. 
The ground floor of the producer room 
is reached by iron ladders and from the 
producer room one enters the pump and 
engine room. The Nash Gas Engines 
are used, made by the National Meter 
Co. These are resting on a solid bed 
of concrete. The engines are of the 
3-cylinder type and are 65h. p. each, 
but wich capacity of 75 to 80 h. p. 
As the gas enters the engine it is mixed 
in proper proportion with air. The ex- 
haust water from the engine passes 
through a smaller boiler and in turn to 
the producers the steam being needed for 
the proper formation of the gas. 
The engines are started by means of 
150-lb. compressed air tanks. From 100 
to 110 pounds are needed to start the 
engines; the tanks have a capacity of 
about 200 pounds. 
The pumps used are the Goulds’ Tri- 
to the edge of the pond. A 16-inch pipe 
has been run out into the pond some 60 
feet to a point where the water is 15 feet 
deep. The end of the pipe turns up- 
ward and there are 9 feet of water above 
it. A 1l-inch mesh screen is over the 
end of the pipe. ‘The pipe runs into a 
well on the edge of the pond, the end of 
the pipe being 12 feet below the surface. 
Two copper screens, each six meshes to 
the inch, are so arranged that one may 
be removed at a time for cleaning pur- 
poses. Both pumps in the station 25 
feet away, are connected to this well by 
a 16-inch suction pipe. The 16-inch 
pipe is connected directly to the pumps 
by a ten-inch pipe. When one pump 
is running ata million gallons a day the 
water in the well drops one inch. — 
As to the pond, it is 46 acres in area, 
and its deepest point is about 60 feet. 
The water is as clear as crystal. The 
pond has been raised a foot from its nor- 
mal condition, increasing its capacity 
some 16,000,000 gallons, and making a 
total capacity of about 350,000,000. The 
upper 9 feet of the water represents some 
140,000,000 gallons. A concrete dam 
12 feet deep, with 2-ft. sluice gate,- has 
been put in between Gravel and Round 
Ponds, for the purpose of keeping the 
water from the latter pond out, or for 
letting it inif needed. ‘The gate is large 
enough to let the water in at the rate of 
40,000 gallons a minute. 
The water after being pumped from 
