Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the study of bacteriology, seeking new supplies (as opposed to purifying the
old ones) was the only alternative to tainted sources.
18
After examining various options, the committee accepted the proposal of
Benjamin Henry Latrobe.The English-born engineer recommended build-
ing a steam-powered pumping plant—soon to be called the Centre Square
Waterworks—that would distribute water to the city from the still-
protected Schuylkill River, located more than one mile away. Latrobe began
the task in 1799 and completed it in 1801. In 1811 the city's Watering
Committee replaced the Centre Square Waterworks with a larger plant.The
engineer Frederick Graff, Latrobe's former assistant, called for pumping
water to a reservoir and then releasing the water by gravity to the city.The
Fairmount/Centre Square Waterworks served Philadelphia until 1911.
19
Though not without its flaws, Philadelphia's waterworks was considered
by many to be the most advanced engineering project of its time. Especially
after its construction, Philadelphia had a system with a much greater capac-
ity than existing demand (until the 1870s at least), unlike comparable cities
such as NewYork, Boston, and Baltimore.
20
To promote its use, citizens were
initially offered free water for several years. Despite the fear of epidemics,
many citizens had not been completely convinced to give up “their cold
well water for the tepid Schuylkill water.” But 2,850 dwellings were receiv-
ing water from the new system by 1814.
21
The construction of a major waterworks in Philadelphia was widely
publicized, but a national trend of adoption was not evident until late in the
century. Inexperience in dealing with such a major project, in part at least,
helps to explain why urban population growth exceeded construction for
so many years. Despite the limitations of the new water systems, the few
American cities that turned to community-wide approaches set patterns for
the modern sanitary services of the near future. Proto-systems offering
rudimentary distribution networks, pumping facilities, and new sources of
supply were precursors to more elaborate centralized city-wide systems
adopted by many cities and towns by the late nineteenth century. As in
England, the application of these new technologies ran ahead of an effec-
tive understanding of the causes of disease and pollution; nevertheless, they
attempted to enhance the healthfulness of the city and provide better pro-
tection against fire.
Early in the nineteenth century, a few water-supply proto-systems began
to appear in major American cities.
22
However, the number of waterworks
multiplied at an increasingly accelerated rate from 1830 to 1880. At first,
