阅读和水库。

阅读和水库。

ON March 28, 1865, the city council of Reading, Pa., bought the plant of the Reading Water company for $400,000, and the total net cost of the system up to April 8, 1890, was $1,776,086.03; last year’s expenditure up to April 2, brought the total net cost up to $1,888,659.76. The Installation of the present system Involved no little difficulty, owing to the physical formation of the city, which is built on a slope, thereby causing a difference of something like 490 feet in elevation along the laid out streets. This made necessary the laying of three separate systems of pipe so as to afford each district a serviceable pressure. The high-service district comprises the area lyiug between an elevation of 390 feet and the foot of the hills to the east and south, with the distribution pipes so arranged as to convey the water from one service to pipes of the next lowest service. The district lying between an elevation of 275 feet and 390 feet (embracing the greater part of the city) comprehends the intermediate-service, while in the low-service is found the greater part of the area lying below un elevation of 275 feet. The source of supply is mountain streams and springs, led to the city by gravity, in addition to which water is pumped from the Maidencreek, a large tributary of the Schuylkill river.

The total storage capacity for the different services is as follow's: High-service, 3,700,000 gallons; intermediate, 186,210,000; low-service, 47,150,000—grand total, 187,060,000 gallons. The storage capacity of each of the reservoirs in use is as follows: Antietam lake, 101,000,000 gallons; Bernhart, 40,000,000; city (Penn street), 2,000,000; Hampden, 85,000,000; Egelman, 2,000,000; Buttonwood street, 1,200,000. Antietam lake is situated three miles east of the city limits, and is used for the'intermediute-service. The masonry face of the dam, which has earth filling in the rear, is built on a solid rock foundation with a slight curve up-stream, and the dam is built across a narrow valley. The chief improvement recently made at this supply consisted of the rebuilding of the Hinnershitz dam and the settling basin on the east stream at the upper end of the lake, called Settling basin No. 4. Each is illustrated in this impression. The cost of maintaining this Bupply, including that of pipe-scraping for tubercles, was $2,153.44. The Antietam pipe line is of 1,763 feet twenty-four-inch, 12,737, twentv-inch, and 493 feet, sixteen-inch cast iron water pipe.