WATER FOR MANILA.

WATER FOR MANILA.

霍乱和其他疾病在马尼拉,p . I。点to the necessity for a proper water supply. At present the water is contaminated and unwholesome. When the United States took possession of Manila the city’s water supply was drawn from four sources—the Maraquina river, by way of the pumping station and pipe-line, from wells, from cisterns and from the Pasig river. By order of the board of health, the wells and cisterns have been closed, and, the natives having been taught the danger of drinking Pasig water, the Maraquina supply is taxed to its utmost. The Maraquina river rises in the mountains some forty miles above Manila. Before reaching the pumping station at Santolan the river flows through a thickly populated valley containing the towns of San Mateo, Montalban and Maraquina, the combined population of which is estimated at 18,000 persons. The people living along the stream above the pumping station use the water for domestic purposes. In the rainy season the filth along the entire valley is washed into the river. In the dry season the flow of the Maraquina river is about 36,000,000 gallons a day, 6,500,000 gallons of which are pumped to two subterranean reservoirs on a hill above Manila. These reservoirs are hewn from the solid rock; but their combined capacity, 14,500,000 gallons, is sufficient for only a two-day supply for the city. Cleansing by sedimentation is impossible, and the water reaches Manila in little better condition than when drawn from the river. It is absolutely thronged with bacteria. The new site for the city’s water supply is the best possible within a reasonable distance from Manila. Before deploying into the Maraquina valley, the Maraquina river passes through a long, narrow canon, across which a dam is to he thrown. The water will be impounded in this reservoir, whence by gravity it will cover the fourteen miles to Manila, where it will have sufficient head to throw a stream over the highest building in the city. Above this canon is a mountainous watershed covered with primitive forest and practically uninhabited, so that the water will be much purer unfiltered than the present supply. The new system, in addition to its many advantages, will not be so likely to be an object of attack in case of insurrection. In 1899 the insurgents made repeated attacks on the Maraquina pumping station, and once succeeded in capturing it and disabling the machinery, the parts of which, after they had hidden them in a coal pile, were found by the U. S. troops.

霍乱和其他疾病在马尼拉,p . I。点to the necessity for a proper water supply. At present the water is contaminated and unwholesome. When the United States took possession of Manila the city’s water supply was drawn from four sources—the Maraquina river, by way of the pumping station and pipe-line, from wells, from cisterns and from the Pasig river. By order of the board of health, the wells and cisterns have been closed, and, the natives having been taught the danger of drinking Pasig water, the Maraquina supply is taxed to its utmost. The Maraquina river rises in the mountains some forty miles above Manila. Before reaching the pumping station at Santolan the river flows through a thickly populated valley containing the towns of San Mateo, Montalban and Maraquina, the combined population of which is estimated at 18,000 persons. The people living along the stream above the pumping station use the water for domestic purposes. In the rainy season the filth along the entire valley is washed into the river. In the dry season the flow of the Maraquina river is about 36,000,000 gallons a day, 6,500,000 gallons of which are pumped to two subterranean reservoirs on a hill above Manila. These reservoirs are hewn from the solid rock; but their combined capacity, 14,500,000 gallons, is sufficient for only a two-day supply for the city. Cleansing by sedimentation is impossible, and the water reaches Manila in little better condition than when drawn from the river. It is absolutely thronged with bacteria. The new site for the city’s water supply is the best possible within a reasonable distance from Manila. Before deploying into the Maraquina valley, the Maraquina river passes through a long, narrow canon, across which a dam is to he thrown. The water will be impounded in this reservoir, whence by gravity it will cover the fourteen miles to Manila, where it will have sufficient head to throw a stream over the highest building in the city. Above this canon is a mountainous watershed covered with primitive forest and practically uninhabited, so that the water will be much purer unfiltered than the present supply. The new system, in addition to its many advantages, will not be so likely to be an object of attack in case of insurrection. In 1899 the insurgents made repeated attacks on the Maraquina pumping station, and once succeeded in capturing it and disabling the machinery, the parts of which, after they had hidden them in a coal pile, were found by the U. S. troops.