NEW WATER SUPPLY FOR BUFFALO.

NEW WATER SUPPLY FOR BUFFALO.

An expenditure of $1,300,000 for the improvement of the waterworks system of Buffalo, N. Y., is being planned by Colonel Francis G. Ward, commissioner of public works. Of this amount, $250,000 is for a new tunnel, with an inlet in the Emerald channel; $550,000 is for a new pumping station, and the remaining $500,000 to replace the present pumping station building with a fireproof structure and to extend trunk mains in various parts of the city. To do this work, Commissioner Ward contemplates the issue of bonds. The legislature has already authorised an issue of $550,000, with which to build a second pumping station. That action was taken two years ago. The last legislature authorised a bond issue of $500,000, which Commissioner Ward says was intended to be used in rebuilding the present pumping station and to extend the trunk mains. That bill failed to receive the governor’s signature as it was one of the thirty-day bills sent to the clerk of the senate by mistake. A similar bill will be introduced early this winter. The remaining $250,000 will be taken care of by a third bond issue, yet to be authorised by the legislature. Commissioner Ward says the issuing of these bonds will not burden the city with any additional taxation, as they will all be cared for by the receipts of the water bureau. The act already passed is only an enabling bill as will be, also, the two proposed bills, and action by the common council will he needed before the bonds can be issued. Not only will the receipts of the water bureau be sufficient to care for the bonds, but the proposed improvements will extend over a term of years, so that all the money would not be paid out at once. The tunnel work and the second pumping plant will be the first begun, and it is hoped they will be started by next spring. Col. Ward’s plan for the tunnel is to have the inlet in the Emerald channel, as recommended by the expert engineer, at a point northeast of the dummy light. The commissioner would favor putting it close to the dummy light, were it not for the fact that the lighthouse is iu Canadian waters. The dummy light, or Horseshoe Reef light, as it is variously called, is owned and operated by the United States government, but it is within the Canadian line. The colonel would haye the tunnel run from the proposed new inlet in a northeasterly direction to the proposed second pumping station at the foot of Vermont street. From there a tunnel under land would connect with the old pumping station. To build the tunnel, which will be two and one-half miles long, will take a year or two, and will cost $100,000 a mile. The second pumping station would be built in sections at the rate of $100,000 a year for five years. The $500,000 bond issue enabling act, to be again introduced at Albany this winter, will he for rebuilding the old pumping station. The old shell that houses the boilers and pumps will be torn down, and for it will be substituted a fireproof building of steel and glass. The present pumping station has a nominal capacity of 187,000,000 gallons a day. Its effective capacity is 160,000,000 gallons. The second pumping station would have about the same capacity—giving an effective capacity of 320,000,000 gallons.

An expenditure of $1,300,000 for the improvement of the waterworks system of Buffalo, N. Y., is being planned by Colonel Francis G. Ward, commissioner of public works. Of this amount, $250,000 is for a new tunnel, with an inlet in the Emerald channel; $550,000 is for a new pumping station, and the remaining $500,000 to replace the present pumping station building with a fireproof structure and to extend trunk mains in various parts of the city. To do this work, Commissioner Ward contemplates the issue of bonds. The legislature has already authorised an issue of $550,000, with which to build a second pumping station. That action was taken two years ago. The last legislature authorised a bond issue of $500,000, which Commissioner Ward says was intended to be used in rebuilding the present pumping station and to extend the trunk mains. That bill failed to receive the governor’s signature as it was one of the thirty-day bills sent to the clerk of the senate by mistake. A similar bill will be introduced early this winter. The remaining $250,000 will be taken care of by a third bond issue, yet to be authorised by the legislature. Commissioner Ward says the issuing of these bonds will not burden the city with any additional taxation, as they will all be cared for by the receipts of the water bureau. The act already passed is only an enabling bill as will be, also, the two proposed bills, and action by the common council will he needed before the bonds can be issued. Not only will the receipts of the water bureau be sufficient to care for the bonds, but the proposed improvements will extend over a term of years, so that all the money would not be paid out at once. The tunnel work and the second pumping plant will be the first begun, and it is hoped they will be started by next spring. Col. Ward’s plan for the tunnel is to have the inlet in the Emerald channel, as recommended by the expert engineer, at a point northeast of the dummy light. The commissioner would favor putting it close to the dummy light, were it not for the fact that the lighthouse is iu Canadian waters. The dummy light, or Horseshoe Reef light, as it is variously called, is owned and operated by the United States government, but it is within the Canadian line. The colonel would haye the tunnel run from the proposed new inlet in a northeasterly direction to the proposed second pumping station at the foot of Vermont street. From there a tunnel under land would connect with the old pumping station. To build the tunnel, which will be two and one-half miles long, will take a year or two, and will cost $100,000 a mile. The second pumping station would be built in sections at the rate of $100,000 a year for five years. The $500,000 bond issue enabling act, to be again introduced at Albany this winter, will he for rebuilding the old pumping station. The old shell that houses the boilers and pumps will be torn down, and for it will be substituted a fireproof building of steel and glass. The present pumping station has a nominal capacity of 187,000,000 gallons a day. Its effective capacity is 160,000,000 gallons. The second pumping station would have about the same capacity—giving an effective capacity of 320,000,000 gallons.