Documentary History of American Water-works

Report of Water Works Committee, May 20, 1831

St. Louis Beacon, May 26, 1831.

Extract from the proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis, May 20, 1831.
The Committee on Water Works, submitted the following Report, which was read, and on motion of Mr. Simpson, ordered that the Register cause the same to be published, To wit:-
The Committee appointed by the Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis, on the subject of the Water Works now in progress near said City, Report:  That is appears, that on the 17th day of September, 1829, an agreement was entered into, between the corporate authorities of the city and Messrs. John C. Wilson and Abraham Fox, by which the authorities aforesaid, in behalf of the city, engaged to furnish said Wilson & Fox with a lot of ground, on the bank of the river Mississippi, of forty by one hundred and twenty feet, and with half an acre of ground of some eminence, not further than the large mound on the land of Gen. William H. Ashley, or thereabouts; and to pay said Wilson & Fox the sum of three thousand dollars, whenever the water should have been delivered to the reservoirs; and that the said Wilson & Fox were to have the sole and exclusive privilege of supplying the city of St. Louis with water, and were to receive all the emoluments to be derived therefrom for the term of twenty-five years from that date; that said Wilson & Fox were to deliver water in the reservoirs, and supply part of the hydrants that were to be erected, within fifteen months, and were to supply the residue within eighteen from, from that time. The first of these periods elapsed on the 17th day of December, 1830, and the later on the 17th of March, 1831.
On the 17th day of August, 1830, the said John C. Wilson sold out and transferred to said Fox, all his right, title and interest in the said Water Works, and the contract then become between the city and the said A. Fox, as sole contractor.  In pursuant of the contract on the part of the city authorities, they, on the 3d day of April, 1830, purchased from William H. Ashley, for the sum of $500, a lot, including the mound, near the northwestern corner of the tract of land on which is the residence of said Ashley.  On the 29th of June, in the same year, they also purchased from Col. Geo F. Strother, as agent of the United States, four lots, forming a Block or Square on the bank of the river Mississippi, for the sum of $2265--the former of which lots was intended and appropriated for a reservoir for the clarified water, and the latter for a reservoir for the water when first drawn from the river, and as a site for the erection of an engine-house.  It appears also that the city authorities have advanced to said contractor, as per his receipt of November 4th, 1830, the sum of $1000, as part of the sum of $3000 which was to have been said when the water should have been delivered in the reservoir--for which he agreed to pay interest, at the rate of 8 per cent. per annum, until the contract should have been complied with on his part, by the delivery of the water in the reservoir, as before mentioned.  It further appears, that an additional sum of $500 has been advanced to said contractor out of the funds of the city, making a total of advances made to him, of $1500.  The Mayor and a Committee of the Board of Aldermen, on the 2d day of April last, also gave to Messrs. A. W. Vanleer and Co. their note, in behalf of the city, for the sum of $2309.60 cents for iron pipes furnished by them, for the use of the Water works, which will become payable on the 1st day of April, 1832.  On the 29th day of March last, a contract was entered into by the Mayor, on the part of the city, in virtue of a Resolution of the Board of Aldermen for the 22d of the same month, with Messrs. Vanleer and Co. for a further supply of iron pipe; and the city, is by that contract, responsible for 2000 feet of six-inch iron pipe, and 5000 feet of iron pipe four inches in diameter --the probable amount of which, calculating the pipe of six inches in diameter at $1.90 cents per foot, and that of four inches at $1.40 cents per foot, will amount of ten thousand eight hundred dollars.
Your Committee would here observe, that (if it can be procured) it will be necessary to purchase from Gen. Ashley, a small portion of ground to the south and east of that already bought from him, which may be estimated to cost some two or three hundred dollars, say $300; so that the advances made by the city on account of the sites for the Water Works, for what it will be necessary to purchase, are--

So that if the Board should agree with the Committee in thinking it necessary to purchase the additional piece of land from General Ashley, and he should agree to sell, there will be an additional sum of $300 required for that purpose, and the sum expended by the city for the purchase of land, on which to erect the buildings and reservoirs of the Water Works, will then amount to $3065.00.

In a Report made by a Committee of the preceding Board of Aldermen in conjunction with the Mayor, which Report is endorsed 25th March 1831, it was recommended that the city should take three-fourths of the stock of the Water Works, and of course pay three-fourth of the stock of their erection -- which was, as your committee were informed, asked for by Mr. Fox, and agreed to by him and by the Board of Aldermen, and approved of by the Mayor; and a written contract has been made between the city authorities and Mr. Fox, in conformity with the recommendation of that Committee.  The Board of Aldermen also passed a Resolution authorizing the Mayor to contract for a loan of $20,000, to provide the means of carrying into effect their parts of the agreement; but to give the Mayor legal authority to contract for the loan, an ordinance for that purpose will be necessary.  Your Committee are not informed whether Mr. Fox has given any security that his part of the agreement would be complied with, other than is contained in the articles of agreement before referred to.
The Contractor, on his part, has excavated the reservoir on the mount, which is intended to be 64 feet by 58 in the clear, and 12 feet in depth--has built the surrounding stone wall to a height of above 5 1/2 feet, and is now paving the bottom thereof, having laid the plank flooring underneath, supposed to be necessary.  The engine-house, on the lot of the bank of the river, is built, and the engine, and part of the necessary machinery appurtenant thereto, has been fixed therein.  The reservoir on the bank of the Mississippi, and near the engine-house has been excavated to the rock, which is about 6 feet from the surface of the earth.  It is intended to blow the rock, so as to make said reservoir to the depth of 12 feet, at least; and it is to be 40 by 80 feet in the clear.  The ditch in which the conduit or pipe is to be placed, communicating between the reservoirs, has been dug, and a considerable quantity of iron pipes, obtained from Messrs. Vanleer & Co., are on the ground; and, so far as the work has yet advanced, your Committee are of the opinion that it is faithfully executed, and, as well as they are capable of judging, calculated to attain the end desired.
Your Committee would remark that the reservoir on the river, being intended to be 40 feet by 80, and the walls 12 feet in height, will, when filled to a depth of 10 feet, contain about 239,000 gallons.  The reservoir on the mound is 64 by 58 feet, and, if filled to the same depth, will contain about 278,000 gallons.  The contractor states, that the forcing pump provided will raise about 400 gallons of water per minute, so that the forcing pump would fill the largest reservoir, to the depth of 10 feet, in about eleven hours and a half; and were the reservoir on the mound filled to the height before mentioned, it would supply 9266 families for one way, allowing each family to consist of 7 persons, and at the rate of 30 gallons of the family that period.
According to the present arrangement, it is intended that the main conduit shall extend from the mount no farther down Third-street than to a point near the corner of the old bastion; from thence a pipe is to be laid down the cross street, north of the bastion, into the Main-street, and then down Main-street 4367 feet.  Your Committee would suggest for consideration, the expediency of some alteration in this respect, so as to take the largest conduit in a straight line down Third-street, as far as it may at present be thought proper to extend it--say as far as the Hospital--and to place lateral pipes in such cross streets between Third and Main-streets, as may be thought necessary.  By placing the conduit in Third-street at this time, a great additional expence would be saved, which would necessarily have to be incurred should that measure be delayed until Third-street shall have been paved; and the immediate facility of supplying a much larger number of families with water would be afforded, which would of course greatly increase the revenue to be derived from it.  The contractor, in an estimate submitted to the Committee by him, and hereinafter referred to, estimates the cost of removing and replacing the stone pavement on Main street, as far as the pipe is intended to be placed therein, and inclusive of the cost of excavating the ditch, at the sum of $2095, which is rather more than one-third of the estimated cost of the iron pipes to be laid in the same distance.
Mr. Fox was requested by your Committee, to furnish them an estimate of the cost of the Water Works, from their commencement to their completion, so far as at present intended, which he has done, and is herewith submitted as part of this report, and is marked A No 1--by which it appears that he estimates that the whole cost at $30,441.96 cents, and that there has been expended the sum of $4,566.00.  As in estimates of expenditures to so great an extend, the contractor suggested, and your Committee concur with him in opinion, that some allowance ought to be made, we have thought it highly probable that the cost will be at least $35,000, and therefore estimate it at that sum.  To place the subject before you in as small a compress as we can, you Committee make the following recapitulation and statement of the estimated cost of the work, the sum necessary to be provided by the city to defray the cost of that part of the work agreed to be done by them; an estimate of the necessary expenditures per annum, after the work is completed as is at present intended; the estimated receipts therefrom, and the whole cost to the city:

If the expenditures made, and to be made in a partnership point of view, so far as they can be considered in that light, the estimated cost will be as follows: Estimated cost of Water Works, $35,000--three fourths of which to be paid by the city, $26,250; estimated cost of the city's part of superintendent's salary, 500; Total $26,570.  The sum advanced $1500; which deducted from that sum, leaves $25,250.
The one-fourth cost to be paid by Mr. Fox, is $8,750; the whole sum expended, according to contractor's statement, is 4566; from which take the sum advanced by the city, 1,500--leaves, at the sum advanced by Mr. Fox, 3,066, and the sum necessary on his part is 5,684.  
Statement of the estimated cost of the work, the sum necessary to be provided by the city to defray the cost of that part of the work agreed to be done by them; an estimate of the necessary expenditures per annum, after the work is completed as is at present intended; the estimated receipts therefrom, and the whole cost to the city:

 Your Committee have made no estimate for repairs, as they have no means of judging to what extent they may be necessary, or their probable cost.

Your committee suppose it is possible to derive some emolument from the application of the surplus power of the steam-engine to other purposes; but they have not been enabled to calculate how much power could be spared, nor to estimate the amount of the receipts to be derived from that source.

All of which is respectfully submitted. J. Warner, Chairman. St. Louis, May 20, 1831.

Agreeable to the request of a Committee of the Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis, I herewith submit an estimate of the probable cost of the Water Works:

It would be well to bear in mind, that, in executing a work of this magnitude, many contingent expenses will occur to a considerable amount, which, in making an estimate, it is impossible to enumerate.
Yours, respectfully, A. FOX. May 13, 1831.

Gentlemen of the Commmittee.  A true abstract.--Attest, J. A. Wherry, Register.

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