Find Crude Water Mains of Seventy-Five Years Ago

Find Crude Water Mains of Seventy-Five Years Ago

A basis of comparison between the method of municipal water distribution of to-day and that of yesterday was established when laborers at work on street exvacations in North Adams, Mass., uncovered an old wooden pipe line of a past era, the date of which can only be estimated. It is known that some similar system must have been used to draw water from Blue Spring some 75 years ago. The mains in question are crude of construction, being merely logs of hemlock about ten inches in diameter and bored through the center to permit passage of the water. The bores are about three inches in diameter and the lengths are joined by bell and spigot ends. To-day there are 50 miles of mains in North Adams and 400 hydrants. On May 22, 1864, the North Adams Water Company was incorporated. In 1883 the sale of the franchise to the North Adams fire district was ratified. The year 1877 saw the construction of the present high service reservoir with a capacity of 5,687,000 gallons. In 1884, two 600-foot wells were added to the system which since have demonstrated their ability to furnish 800,000 gallons in a single day. In 1896 the Notch storage reservoir was built, 1,231 feet above sea level, with a capacity of 91,000,000 gallons. The Beaman reservoir of 200,000,000 gallons was constructed in 1915. The daily consumption of water in North Adams to-day is about 3,000.000 gallons. During the year 1917 the water department collected over $70,000 in water rents. In the year 1875 water rents paid in to the department amounted to $4,577. The cost to North Adams for the present day system was approximately $800,000. The gravity system is in use.

A basis of comparison between the method of municipal water distribution of to-day and that of yesterday was established when laborers at work on street exvacations in North Adams, Mass., uncovered an old wooden pipe line of a past era, the date of which can only be estimated. It is known that some similar system must have been used to draw water from Blue Spring some 75 years ago. The mains in question are crude of construction, being merely logs of hemlock about ten inches in diameter and bored through the center to permit passage of the water. The bores are about three inches in diameter and the lengths are joined by bell and spigot ends. To-day there are 50 miles of mains in North Adams and 400 hydrants. On May 22, 1864, the North Adams Water Company was incorporated. In 1883 the sale of the franchise to the North Adams fire district was ratified. The year 1877 saw the construction of the present high service reservoir with a capacity of 5,687,000 gallons. In 1884, two 600-foot wells were added to the system which since have demonstrated their ability to furnish 800,000 gallons in a single day. In 1896 the Notch storage reservoir was built, 1,231 feet above sea level, with a capacity of 91,000,000 gallons. The Beaman reservoir of 200,000,000 gallons was constructed in 1915. The daily consumption of water in North Adams to-day is about 3,000.000 gallons. During the year 1917 the water department collected over $70,000 in water rents. In the year 1875 water rents paid in to the department amounted to $4,577. The cost to North Adams for the present day system was approximately $800,000. The gravity system is in use.