Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
pumping station and reservoir. The distribution lines only reached a small
portion of the southern and western divisions, while four-fifths of the city
continued to obtain its water from the polluted Chicago River or from
water carriers. In the wake of a cholera epidemic in 1852, city officials exer-
cised their option and assumed control of the system. Since the epidemic
was believed to have originated with the wells, the Lake Michigan supply
gained greater significance in the years after 1852.
28
Milwaukee's first recognized waterworks was built in 1840 for the
United States Hotel, while most citizens received their water from local
springs and wells. In response to citizen pressure, the common council
passed an ordinance in 1857 to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance
the Milwaukee Hydraulic Company. It also gave the company some prop-
erty for a water tower. The project was never completed, and a second
attempt by Hubbard and Converse of Boston (1859) was sidetracked by the
Civil War. In March of 1861, the state legislature passed a bill preventing the
issuance of new city bonds. Serious progress on a waterworks did not com-
mence until 1868.
29
The St. Louis Water Works was built in the 1830s.As early as 1821, how-
ever, general concern about fire hazards led to demands for a better water
supply. In 1823 the mayor began promoting the idea for a city-wide sys-
tem, and finally in 1829 the city council offered a $500 prize for the best
plan. A committee also made inquiries in other cities, especially Philadel-
phia and New Orleans.
30
Within a short time, St. Louis officials signed a
contract with Wilson and Company. The work began in 1830, but, as the
historian Richard Wade noted,“no water moved through the pipes until the
next decade.”
31
In the South, municipal water systems were rare in this period. In
Reconstruction-era Atlanta, plans moved ahead for a new waterworks, but
its primary thrust was to serve business and industrial needs and fire pro-
tection, not to supply potable supplies. Without a creditable municipal
water supply, the more affluent turned to purchasing spring water or other
pure sources, or depended on their own wells. In black neighborhoods,
however, drainage was poor, sewer outfalls often dumped wastes there, and
wells were badly polluted. Likewise in Memphis, little attention was given
to residential water service.
32
As changes in the administration of waterworks were slowly evolving
after the middle of the nineteenth century, far less subtle changes were tak-
ing place in water-supply technology. New sources of supply became nec-
