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| Middle Atlantic States | New York | New York City |
New York City was first settled by Europeans when the Dutch arrived 1624. The early city was limited to Manhattan Island and had three separate water systems.
Christopher
Colles Water Works - 1774
The first water works were built by Christopher Colles in 1774, but the
arrival of the British Army in August 1776 ended the project while the
works were being tested.
Manhattan
Company's 1799 Water Works and the Quest for a Better Water Supply
In 1799, the Manhattan Company was chartered to distribute water in
Manhattan, and distributed well water through wooden and later cast iron
pipes. The quality and quantity of their supply was never adequate
and several proposals were made to implement a better water supply for the
city. The City of New York built a water tank filled from a well in
1831 for fire protection, and after considering several alternatives chose
to take water from the Croton River.
New York City's Water
Works
After years of study and planning, city voters
approved the Croton Aqueduct in elections held on April 14-16, 1835, by
a vote of 17,330 to 5,963. The following year, John
B. Jervis was chosen as the chief engineer on the Aqueduct.
Construction began in 1837 and this first, or Old Croton, Aqueduct, was
placed in service on June 22, 1842 at a cost of just under $9
million. A grand celebration was held on October 14, 1842. A receiving reservoir was built in
Central Park south of 86th Street (discontinued in 1925) and a
distribution reservoir was located in
Manhattan's Murray Hill between 41st and 42nd Street on Fifth
Avenue. The water was withdrawn from the distribution reservoir on
December 18, 1897 and it was torn down to make room for the New
York Public Library. Some foundations of the reservoir are
still visible on the lower level of the library building.
|
|
| Croton Water Celebration 1842 | Also see | View of the Distributing Reservoir | Also see Murray Hill Reservoir | |
 |
| New York Crystal Palace adjacent to Murray Hill Reservoir (1853). |
This reservoir held 20 million imperial gallons or 24,006,000 U.S. gallons, and when full, the water level of 114 feet, 10 inches above mean tide was enough to theoretically supply water to the top floors of every building in the built up area of the city south of that location. Unfortunately, during periods of high water demand the water would often not even reach to the second floor of many buildings at a time when taller buildings were being constructed. This forced building owners to install wood cisterns on roofs to insure a supply of water to upper floors, which are still common in the city. Water was forced into the cisterns by pumps driven by water motors, hot air engines, manufactured and natural gas, and eventually electricity. One company in 1870 proposed using windmills, but apparently only advertised once.
 |
| Profile
and Ground Plan of the Lower Part of the Croton Aqueduct,
by John B. Jervis (1843), |
The aqueduct was 41 miles long and was designed to deliver a maximum of
60 million imperial gallons (72,018,000 US gallons) with an area of
53.34 square feet. The capacity was increased to 95 million US gallons
by raising the water level above the spring line. At one point
about 103 million gallons passed through the aqueduct in a single day,
but damaged the structure.
 |
 |
| Illustrations
of the Croton Aqueduct by F. B. Tower (1843), Page 84. |
Department
of Public Works, Report for the Quarter ending March 31, 1881.
Page 27. |
The
Harlem River crossing was one of the most contentious issues of the
original aqueduct construction. Major Douglass had proposed a high
bridge over the river, while John Martineau planned an inverted syphon
using an 8-foot diameter wrought-iron pipe. Jervis considered both
options and recommended a syphon using four 36-inch cast-iron pipes
installed on a low bridge, but strident opposition arose about the
perceived threat to navigation. The state legislature solved the
dilemma by passing a law in 1839 mandating either a high bridge or
tunnel under the channel of the river. Jervis and the Water
Commissioners chose the bridge due to uncertainties about the cost and
practicality of the tunnel. Jervis designed a 1,460 foot bridge
with 15 stone masonry arches. He designed it to carry two 48-inch
pipes, but as an economy measure installed two 36-inch pipes as he felt
that the additional capacity would not be needed for fifty years.
A temporary pipe was installed to allow water to flow until the massive
High Bridge was completed in late 1848. The two smaller pipes
reached their capacity soon after the bridge opened, and in 1861 a 90½
inch wrought-iron pipe was installed above the two smaller pipes.
Improved navigation of the river showed that the original arches
obstructed the passage of vessels, and five of the original arches
across the river were replaced by a single steel span in 1927. The water pipes were taken out
of service on December 15, 1949 and a popular pedestrian
walkway was reopened across the span in 2015.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The
high bridge at Harlem, N.Y., by N. Currier (1849) |
High
Bridge during construction of the large main (1861) |
Transverse Section of the High Bridge (1882) | Aerial
View of the High Bridge showing 1927 steel arch. |
New reservoirs were constructed to increase supply: Boyds Corner in 1873 and Middle Branch in 1878. A supply was brought in from the Kensico Reservoir on the Bronx River 1884, which was supplemented by additional water from the Byram River in 1896. Studies by Ellis S. Chesbrough and others showed that additional supplies were necessary and in 1883 a commission was formed to build a second aqueduct from the Croton watershed as well as additional storage reservoirs. The Second or New Croton Aqueduct was first used on July 14, 1890. Both the old and new aqueducts are shown in this map, along with the Bronx River pipeline:
 |
| Map
of the route of the new Croton Aqueduct, present aqueduct and
Bronx River pipe line also the watersheds of the Croton, Bronx
and Byram rivers, by Benjamin Silliman Church (1887) |
The
City decided to develop the Catskill region as an additional water
source in the early 20th Century and proceeded to plan and construct
facilities to impound the waters of the Esopus Creek, one of the four
watersheds in the Catskills, and to deliver the water throughout the
City. This project, to develop what is known as the Catskill System,
included the Ashokan Reservoir and Catskill Aqueduct and was completed
in 1917.
The construction of the Schoharie Reservoir and
Shandaken Tunnel was completed in 1928.
New York City studied the potential to take water from the Delaware River watershed in the mid-1920s, and the project was approved in 1928. After delays caused by New Jersey appealing to the U.S.Supreme Court, construction began in March 1937 with the Delaware Aqueduct opening in 1944, Rondout Reservoir in 1950, Neversink Reservoir in 1954. Pepacton Reservoir in 1955 and Cannonsville Reservoir in 1964. The Delaware System includes an Aqueduct completed in 1944 and several reservoirs to deliver water from the Delaware River.
 |
 |
| Map of the Catskill Aqueduct, from The Catskill Aqueduct and Earlier Water Supplies of the City of New York (1917), Page 8. | Map of New York City's Water Supply System from New York City Department of Environmental Protection |
New York City acquired
two other municipal water systems from the 1898 consolidation,
including Brooklyn and Long
Island City. Several other private water systems continued to
operate for many years.
Water is currently provided by the City of New York, which has provided a History of New York City's Water Supply System and a map of New York City's Water Supply System.
References
| Earlier references |
1835 City voters approved the Croton Aqueduct in
elections held on April 14-16, 1835, by a vote of 17,330 to 5,963.
A breakdown of the vote by ward is shown here.
| also here
|
1835. David B. Douglass was hired as Chief Engineer for the Croton Aqueduct at an annual salary of $5,000 on June 2, 1835.
1836 Board of Aldermen, February 15th, 1836: the following communication was received from his Honor the Mayor, enclosing a communication from Stephen Allen, Esq., Chairman of the Water Commissioners, and from D.B. Douglass, Esq., Chief Engineer, N.Y. Aqueduct, in relation to the practicability and probable expense of forcing by steam engines a sufficient quantity of water from the North or East River to a reservoir to be erected on Murray Hill, in aid of the present means for extinguishing fires, which was referred to the Committee on Fire and Water | also here |
1836 An act to amend an act, entitled "An act to provide for supplying the city of New-York with pure and wholesome water," passed May 2, 1834. May 26, 1836.
1836 Report of the Water Commissioners, August 1, 1836
1836. David B. Douglass fired as Chief Engineer on October 11, 1836.
1836 John B. Jervis hired as Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct on October 20, 1836.
1836 Report of the Water Commissioners, August 1, 1836 to January 1, 1837.
1837 "Expected Riot and
Bloodshed," Evening Post (New York, New York), August 23, 1837,
Page 2.
The laborers upon the New York Aqueduct at Croton, a few miles above
Sing-Sing, made a strike for higher wages on Monday last. It appears
that they received heretofore about seventy cents per day, which was
insufficient for their support, having to pay twenty shillings a week for
board, and frequently losing two, three and four days in a week on account
of bad weather. We learn that the contractors objected to advance their
wages, and the most of the numbers, (about three hundred,) refused to work
at the former prices. After loitering about the works during
yesterday, some seemed inclined rather to work that be idle, but others
refused to let them, and towards evening a general battle commenced among
themselves.
The store and the life of one of the contractors was threatened, and
appearance seemed to indicate a general riot. Information was soon
communicated to the inhabitants of Sing Sing, when the military was
ordered out and many of the citizens armed themselves with muskets from
the State Prison, and marched, about eight o'clock in the evening to the
scene of the action. On hearing the sound of music the laborers
departed, so that peace prevailed during the night. The Sing Sing
Guards had not yet returned this morning when the Telegraph left that
village; but we hope that no further disturbances took place.
Several individuals were much bruised, and one man barely escaped death by
the discharge of a pistol by one of the contractors, the ball passing
through the collar of his coat and grazing his breast. It was
rumored that two men were killed, but we believe there was no foundation
for that report.
1837 Semi-annual Report of the Water Commissioners: From the 1st of July to 30th December, 1837,
1838 "Meeting of the citizens of the County of Westchester, in relation to crossing the Harlem River with the Croton aqueduct, by an inverted syphon," The Evening Post (New York, New York) March 9, 1838, Page 2. Also a memorial to the state legislature asking for a higher bridge to facilitate navigation on the river.
1838 "Croton Aqueduct," New-York American, March 13, 1838, Page 1. Anonymous letter faults the idea of a syphon to cross the Harlem River.
1838 "Croton Aqueduct," The Evening Post (New York, New York) March 13, 1838, Page 2. Two letters, the second offering support of Frederick Graff for the proposed syphon.
1838 "Croton Aqueduct," New-York American, March 16, 1838, Page 2. Written by "a friend of the present Chief Engineer."
1838 "Croton Aqueduct," New-York American, March 27, 1838, Page 3.
1838 "City Affairs," The Evening Post (New York, New York) March 29, 1838, Page 2. Letter from "Sixteenth Ward" saying "I am led to believe that no vessel ever has, or ever will, navigate that river, or, more properly creek."
1838 "Laborers want'd 7
shillings per day," Westchester Herald, April 24, 1838, Page 4.
200 laborers will find immediately employment, on the 21st and 22d
sections of the Croton Aqueduct, in the Village of Sing-Sing, at the above
wages. Sing-Sing, April 16, 1838. [A New York shilling was worth 12½
cents or one-eighth of a dollar.]
1838 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for supplying the city of New-York with pure and wholesome water," passed May 2, 1834. March 29, 1838. Additional $3 million.
1838 Report of the Committee on Grievances, on the memorial of sundry inhabitants of the county of Westchester, in relation to crossing the Harlaem river with the Croston Aqueduct, April 5, 1838.
1838 An act to revive the charter of the Harlaem River Canal Company, and extend the time for its construction. April 18, 1838.
1838 The Committee on Roads and Canals, to whom was referred such much of the report of the Water Commissioners, as related to the construction of the Aqueduct across the Harlaem River, presented the following report. April 13, 1838. Document No. 88
1838 The following report was presented from the minority of the Committee of Roads and Canals, on the report of the Water Commissioners, relative to the construction of an aqueduct across the Harlaem River, May 7, 1838. Document No. 89.
1838 Communication from the Water Commissioners to the Common Council, May 7, 1838, Document No. 2.
1838 Semi-annual
Report of the Water Commissioners: From the 1st of January to 30th
June, 1838, July 2, 1838. Document No. 5.
Page 57: The work was somewhat retarded, early in the present
season, by a turn-out of the laborers for an advance of wages. It
commenced on section 15, under contract to Timothy N. Ferrell. The per
diem pay, during the winter months, was 68½ to 75 cents; and the
contractor posted a notice, that the pay, for the month of April, would be
from 75 to 81½ cents. The demands of the men, however, was 87½ to
100 cents per day; and the contractor, refusing to comply with these
terms, the laborers on that section, (for it did not extend to the
mechanics,) quit the work in a body, and proceeded along the line of
aqueduct in a tumultuous manner, from the Croton Dam to Sing Sing;
compelling those who were willing to work to join them, until they
amounted to several hundred persons. The prompt interference of the
Magistrates of the town of Mount Pleasant, however, prevented the mob from
proceeding further than the said village; and in a few days thereafter,
such of the men as the contractors were willing to employ, returned to the
works; while the leaders, and the most riotous of the men, were refused
employment, and they accordingly left the place. The wages now paid
is 87½ cents to laborers, and 150 cents to mechanics, per day.
1838 "The High Bridge," The Evening Post (New York, New York), August 15, 1838, Page 2. Letter by "Westchester Farmer."
1838 "The Question of a High Bridge over the Harlem River," The Evening Post (New York, New York), August 16, 1838, Page 2.
1838 "Harlaem
River Navigation," New-York
American, November 9, 1838, Page 3.
"The circumnavigation of the island of New York, derived from the God of
Nature,- may it never be interfered with by any rude hand," toast by
Richard Riker, president of the Harlaem River Canal Company.
1838 Semi-annual Report of the Water Commissioners: From the 1st of July to 30th December, 1838, December 31, 1838. Document No. 25.
1839 An act prescribing the manner in which the Croton aqueduct shall pass the Harlem river. May 3, 1839.
1839 Semi-annual report of the Water Commissioners from January 1, to June 30, 1839. July 1, 1839. Document No. 10.
1839 "The
Croton Aqueduct," Morning
Herald (New York, New York), July 18, 1839, Page 2. |
also here
|
The whole cost of the works, according to the contracts, including that
for the low bridge at Harlem (the first plan) is 8,500,000 dollars; and
now an additional 400,000 dollars is added for the high bridge, the
contracts for which are to be completed the 29th of this month; making,
according to these estimates, a little than 9,000,000 dollars, exclusive
of the pipes from the distributing reservoir. There is little doubt,
however, in the minds of the contractors that, before the water is
delivered in the houses of our citizens, the sum of at least 12,000,000
dollars will be expended on the work. The low bridge was estimated to cost
450,000 dollars; the high bridge, 850,000 dollars, and the tunnel under
the river, (the entire breadth of the stream, and not merely the channel,)
differing from the Thames Tunnel by being worked through a coffer dam, was
to cost 350,000 dollars. The whole of the iron pipes to carry the water
across the river have been constructed for by Mr. Gouverneur Kemble, for
350,000 dollars.
The water is to be carried over Harlem River in two three feet pipes at
present; which it is thought will suffice to supply the city with water
for fifty or one hundred years to come, when they are to be taken up and
replaced by four feet pipes. The high bridge will be composed of fifteen
arches, eight of eighty feet span, and seven of fifty feet span. The
aqueduct, where it crosses the Harlem River, will be very nearly one
hundred and twenty feet above the level of tide water. At the dam above
Sing Sing, the surface of the water is forty feet above the original
surface of the river, (which rises in Putnam County, and has several
sources from ponds and small lakes in the mountains,) and the bed of which
has an average width of one hundred and fifty feet. The grade of the
aqueduct at the dam is one hundred and sixty-six feet above tide water at
New York, and the surface of the dam is twelve feet above the grade of the
aqueduct. The pond of water caused by the dam will cover more than four
hundred acres of ground; and the water will enter the aqueduct at the dam
through a tunnel one hundred and fifty fret long. When the aqueduct is
full, the water will move through it at the rate of nearly two feet a
second, the conduit having an uniform descent of thirteen inches to the
mile, from the dam to the distributing reservoir: where it will be able to
discharge forty-nine and a half millions of imperial gallons of water
every twenty-four hours. And calculating that every man, woman, and child
in this city will each consume five gallons of water every twenty-four
hours, (a fair estimate) the aqueduct can supply a population of ten
millions, or more than the island of Manhattan will contain at the day of
judgment.
Along the entire line of this truly noble work, the hydraulic cement is
exclusively employed. This is obtained from different parts of the state,
along the river and is made from a species of subcarbonate of iron, which
is found in a state of close mechanical mixture with sulphate of lime,
magnesia, and a small portion of silex. This stone when found is burned,
like common limestone, and then ground instead of being slacked with
water, put in barrels, and carefully excluded from the air; and none is
allowed to be used that has been ground more than a month.
The quantity of brick used along the line may be estimated from the fact,
that about 2,000,000 are required to form a mile of the aqueduct, making a
total of about from 85,000,000 to 90,000,000 of brick for the entire work.
1839 "Sections
of the Croton Aqueduct," Morning
Herald (New York, New York), September 4, 1839, Page 2. | also
here
|
Therefore let the rallying cry next election be– "The removal of the Water
Commissioners!"
1839 "The Water Commissioners and the Croton Aqueduct," Morning Herald (New York, New York), September 26, 1839, Page 2.
1839 "Account of the Croton Aqueduct for Supplying New York with Water," The Mechanics' Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal and Gazette, 32:24-26 (October 12, 1839). Reprinted from the Morning Herald of July 18, 1839, Page 2. (above)
1839 Semi-annual report of the Water Commissioners from July 1, to December 31, 1839. January 6, 1840. Document No. 42 | Also here |
1840 Whig Governor William H. Seward replaced the four Democratic Water Commissioners with Whig replacements. March 17, 1840. The last appointee, William W. Fox, was a former Whig but resigned less than two weeks later.
1840 "Reminiscences
of the late Washington Irving," from The Knickerbocker: Or,
New-York Monthly Magazine, 55:439-444 (April, 1860)
Pages 442-443: Greenbush, March 17, 1840.
My DEAR SIR: In consequence of not sending to the post-office for several
days, I did not receive your letter calling so lustily for help, until
yesterday (Monday) after post-hours. I have nothing at hand to send to
you; and I fear if I had, it would come too late. We have nothing new in
these parts, excepting that there has been the deuce to pay of late in
Sleepy Hollow, a circumstance, by-the-by, with which you of New-York have
some concern, as it is connected with your Croton Aqueduct. This work
traverses a thick wood, about the lower part of the Hollow, not far from
the old Dutch haunted church: and in the heart of the wood, an immense
culvert, or stone arch, is thrown across the wizard stream of the
Pocantico, to support the Aqueduct. As the work is unfinished, a colony of
Patlanders have been encamped about this place all winter, forming a kind
of Patsylvania, in the midst of a ‘wiltherness.' Now, whether it is that
they have heard the old traditionary stories about the Hollow, (which, all
fanciful fabling and idle scribbling apart, is really one of the most
haunted places in this part of the country,) or whether the goblins of the
Hollow, accustomed only to tolerate the neighborhood of the old Dutch
families, have resented this intrusion into their solitudes, by strangers
of an unknown tongue, certain it is, that the poor Paddies have been most
grievously harried, for some time past, by all kinds of apparitions. A
wagonroad cut through the woods, and leading from their encampment past
the haunted church, and so on to certain whiskey establishments, has been
especially beset by the foul fiends: and the worthy Patlanders, on their
way home at night, beheld misshapen monsters whisking about their paths;
sometimes resembling men, sometimes boys, sometimes horses; but invariably
without heads: which shows that they must be lineal descendants
from the old Goblin of the Hollow. These imps of darkness have grown more
and more vexatious in their pranks, occasionally tripping up or knocking
down the unlucky object of their hostility. In a word, the whole wood has
become such a scene of spuking and diablerie, that the
Paddies will not any longer venture out of their shanties at night: and a
whiskey-shop in a neighboring village, where they used to hold their
evening gatherings, has been obliged to shut up, for want of custom. This
is a true story, and you may account for it as you please. The corporation
of your city should look to it; for if this harrying continues, I should
not be surprised if the Paddies, tired of being cut off from their
whiskey, should entirely abandon the goblin regions of Sleepy Hollow, and
the completion of the Croton water-works be seriously retarded.
Yours Very Truly, Washington Irving
1840 "Supplemental Report of the Late Water Commissioners," March 20, 1840. Document No. 65.
1840 "The Croton Aqueduct," Morning Herald (New York, New York), March 31, 1840, Page 2. | also here |
1840 "Report of the Water Commissioners of the City of New York, April 4, 1840," Assembly Doc No. 289.
1840 The diary of
Philip Hone, 1828-1851, edited, with an introduction by Allan
Nevins. (1927)
Page 472: April 7, 1840. – Riot on the Water Works.
There has been a flare-up amongst the Irish laborers on the Croton
Aqueduct occasioned by the contractors reducing their wages from one
dollar to seventy-five cents a day. Large numbers turned out, and marching
down from Westchester to Harlem prevented others from working, and
committed some acts of violence upon the workers.
1840 An act further to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for supplying the city of New-York with pure and wholesome water," passed May 2, 1834. April 27, 1840. Additional $3 million.
1840 "Communication of the Water Commissioners in Relation to Laying Down the Distributing Pipes," May 4, 1840. Doc. No. 72.
1840 An act to regulate the place and manner of assessing and taxing the Croton aqueduct. May 7, 1840.
1840 "Report of the Joint Special Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, June 29, 1840," Document No. 8.
1840 "Major Douglass's Work on the Last War," New-York American, July 18, 1840, Page 2.
1840 An ordinance to organize the Croton Aqueduct Department, August 5, 1840.
1840 "Message from the Mayor and Communication from the Water Commissioners", October 7, 1840. Document No. 70.
1840 "Correspondence between Samuel Stevens and Major David B. Douglass," Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, October 28, 1840, Page 1.
1840 "Editorial comment," Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, October 28, 1840, Page 2.
1840 "Letter from John B. Jervis," Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, November 3, 1840, Page 2.
1840 "Letter from Stephen Allen," Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, November 12, 1840, Page 2.
1840 "Report of the Special Committee to whom was referred the Communication from the Water Commissioners, a Report of the Croton Aqueduct Committee and an Opinion of the Counsel in relation to the power and duties of the Water Commissioners, together with accompany documents." December 22, 1840. Document No. 32
1840 "Report of the Majority of the Special Committee, on the Subject of the Ordinance creating the Aqueduct Department, December 14, 1840," Assistants' Document No. 31 | Also here |
1840 "Report of the Minority of the Special Committee on the Subject of the Croton Aqueduct, December 14, 1840," Assistants' Document No. 32. | also here | and here |
1841 The Croton dam was partially breaches during a freshet on January 7-8, 1841 and was rebuilt..
1840 Report of the Croton Aqueduct Commissioner, for the quarter ending December 31, 1840. January 11, 1841. Document No. 41
1840 Semi-annual report of the Water commissioners from 20th March, 1840, to the 31st December, 1840, January 11, 1841. Document No. 39.
1841 "Communication from the Water Commissioners with a copy of a Memorial presented by them to the Legislature," March 22, 1841. Document No. 83.
1841 "Water Commissioners vs. Common Council," Commercial Advertiser (New York, New York), April 7, 1841, Page 2.
1841 To the editors of the New York Commercial Advertiser, by S.R. [Samuel Richards]; J.R. [Jesse Richards]; J. R.
1841 "Correspondence,"
Commercial Advertiser (New York, New York), April 23, 1841, Page 2.
We received yesterday morning a communication in the form of a printed
pamphlet, addressed to us from Philadelphia, in reply to an article
published in the Commercial of the 7th instant, under the head of "Water
Commissioners vs. Common Council." The last-mentioned article,
it may be remembered, contained the opinion of a committee of the American
Institute, favoring the use of re-melted iron for castings, stop cocks and
water pipes, in preference to castings directly from the ore. The
Philadelphia pamphlet sustains a contrary theory, and a personal friend in
Philadelphia requests us to publish the whole, or such part thereof as may
suit our convenience. Now we should very much like to oblige our
friend; but according to our perceptions of the case, it appears that
there is a rivalship between certain iron founders, which shall furnish
certain articles to the New York water commissioners. Both parties,
we think, intend to make a good deal of money by contracts with the
commissioners; and in our humble opinion, if we are called upon to act
between between them, we ought to have a chance to make a little money
too. In other words, we will re-publish the pamphlet upon the
customary advertising terms. We "grind axes" for pay.
1841 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for supplying the city of New-York with pure and wholesome water," passed May 2, 1834. May 26, 1841. Additional $3.5 million; also confirmed that the city is responsible for distribution piping south of the Murray Hill distributing reservoir.
1841 "Report on the Organization of the Engineer Department of the Croton Aqueduct," June 4, 1841. Document No. 8
1841 Semi-annual report of the Water Commissioners from January 1, to June 30, 1841. Document No. 17
1841 Semi-annual report of the Water Commissioners from July 1, to December 31, 1841. Document No. 55
1842 An act for the preservation of the Croton Water Works in the city of New-York. April 11, 1842.
1842 "Croton
Water," New York Tribune, April 21, 1842, Page 2.
The Commissioner of the Croton Aqueduct gives notice that the water will
probably be let into the distribution pipes on or before the Fourth of
July next. The following is the Tariff of prices fixed for the
privilege of using the Croton Water:
| Annual Charges | |
| Dwellings of two stories | $10 |
| " of more than two stories | 12 |
| " on the back of lots | 5 |
| " with workshop or stores | 12 to 20 |
| Privilege of washing pavements | 3 |
| " bath, where there are fixtures | 5 |
| Warehouse | 15 |
| Boarding house | 10 to 20 |
| Stables, private per stall | 5 |
| " livery " | 2 |
| Charge by measure | |
| Hotels, breweries, tanneries, public baths, maufactories, salting or packing houses, steam engines, and large consumers generally per hhd. of 100 gallons | 5 cts |
| Shipping | 25 cts |
1842 "Report on the General State of the Work on the Croton Aqueduct," July 12, 1842, by John B. Jervis.
1842 Semi-annual Report of the Water Commissioners, August 1, 1842. Document No. 9
1842 "The
Croton Water Debt," New York Tribune, August 3, 1842, Page
2.
How can this money be most conveniently and equitably raised? Three
modes have been suggested, viz;
1st. By increasing the general tax on real and personal property
sufficient to raise the whole amount, and allow the water to be free.
2d. By allowing as many as soon to take the water at an annual, rent
and raising the balance by an increase of the general tax.
3d. By assess upon the houses and lots in all streets where
distributing pipes are, or may be laid, a sufficient amount to pay the
whole of the interest and other charges.
1842 The
Evening Post (New York), August 12, 1842, Page 2.
The Public Health - Mineral Poisons - The Croton Water - Lead Pipe and
Lead Colic by Theobald Mathew, Jr.
1842 An ordinance to regulate the Water Works of the City of New York, September 7, 1842.
1842 "Report
of the Joint Croton Aqueduct Committee on the Rules and Regulations for
the Supply of the Croton Water," September 26, 1842.
Pages 189-190: Rules
and Regulations (in part) respecting the Distribution of the Croton
Water.
Public Hydrants shall be erected or prepared, under the direction of the
Croton Aqueduct Board, subject to the approval of the Joint Croton
Aqueduct Committee, and with due regard to prudent despatch and reasonable
expenditure, at proper locations in the city, for the purpose of freely
dispensing the water for personal and domestic use.
These Hydrants shall first be introduced into Districts containing the
greater proportion of poor inhabitants.
Private families, who wish to be supplied with the water, shall be at the
whole expense of leading the same into their dwellings, under such
regulations as the Croton Aqueduct Board may determine; and shall pay in
advance, for the use of the water, at and after the following rates per
annum:
For an ordinary two-story Dwelling House, ten dollars.
For an ordinary Dwelling House of three stories or more, twelve dollars.
For an ordinary Dwelling House, not exceeding $1,500 in value, situated on
the rear of a lot, five dollars.
The reasonable use of the water for a Bath, and for cleaning the street,
windows and yard, will be permitted to private families, paying the above
rates, without additional Cost.
Private families who have paid beyond these rates, will be credited for
the excess on their future contracts.
By order of the Croton Aqueduct Board:
(Signed) JOHN L. LAWRENCE, President.
September 21, 1842.
1842 Description of the Croton Aqueduct,
October 14, 1842, by John Bloomfield Jervis, Chief Engineer
Page 31: The supply of the Croton, from its daily flow, aided by
this reservoir, may therefore be taken with taken confidence at 35,000,000
gallons; which will be very ample for a long time to come; and when the
day arrives that it will require a larger quantity, it may be obtained by
constructing other reservoirs further up the stream, where there are
abundant facilities for such purposes.
1842 Report of the Croton Aqueduct Board in Relation to the Ways and Means of Paying the Croton Water Debt, December 27, 1842, Document No. 58.
1842 "Croton Aqueduct", from Memoirs of the Most Eminent American Mechanics: Also, Lives of Distinguished European Mechanics ; Together with a Collection of Anecdotes, Descriptions & Etc. Relating to the Mechanic Arts by Henry Howe
1843 Resolution providing for the erection of free hydrants, April 15, 1843, from By-laws and Ordinances of the Mayor, Alderman, and Commonalty of the City of New York (1845)
1843 Journal and Documents of the Board of Assistants of the City of New-York, Volume 21, November 2, 1842 to May 18, 1843. Includes several reference and proposals for Croton water rates.
1843 Annual
Report of the Croton Aqueduct Board, Presented, May 29th,
1843.
Page 32: The free hydrants, contemplated when the erection of the
Water-works was sanctioned by the vote of the electors of the city, are
now in rapid progress of introduction, about sixty being laid down each
week, and a number equal to that of the public pumps will probably be
placed in proper positions throughout the city, during the present season.
1843 Illustrations of the Croton Aqueduct by
F. B. [Fayette Bartholomew] Tower of the Engineer Department | also here
|
Page 78: The Aqueduct is calculated to convey 60,000,000 gallons in
twenty-four hours.
Page 93: The height of the interior of the Aqueduct is 8 feet 5 1/2
inches, and the greatest width is 7 feet 5 inches. The sectional
area of the interior is 53.34 square feet.
1843 The mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of New York, plaintiffs in error, vs. James Bailey, sen., John Bailey and Abraham Bailey, defendants in error : case made by defendants in error. | also here |
1844 Semi-Annual Report of the Water Commissioners, January 3, 1844.
1844 "Message from His Honor the Mayor, returning with his objections, the resolution abolishing the Superintendent of the Croton Aqueduct Works, adopted by this Board, January 22, 1844," February 5, 1844, and responses from the Croton Aqueduct Board, Superintendent, Water Purveyor, and Comptroller.. Board of Assistants Documents, Volume 23. This provides a detailed summary of the distribution system.
1844 "The Croton Aqueduct," by William Beach Lawrence, from Hunt's Merchant Magazine and Commercial Review 10(5):434-441 (May, 1844)
1844 Annual
Report of the Croton Aqueduct Board May 1, 1843 to April 30, 1844,
June 17, 1844.
The number of free hydrants is about six hundred, and of fire hydrants
about fifteen hundred; the latter have large orifices with a copious
discharge, and were not intended to be opened except in case of fire.
1844 Semi-Annual Report of the Water Commissioners, July 1, 1844. Document No. 8.
1844 Semi-Annual Report of the Water Commissioners, January 6, 1845. Document No. 43.
1844 Reminiscences of the City of New York and Its Vicinity
1845 An ordinance in relation to the use of the Croton Water in the City of New-York, and for other purposes. Proposed.
1845 Semi-annual Report of the Water Commissioners, June 30, 1845.
1845 Annual
Report of the Croton Aqueduct Board, for May 1 1844 to April 30, 1845.
July 7, 1845.
Pages 125-126: One fact, susceptible of the fullest demonstration,
needs to be mentioned: it is, that every person, who pays tax on real or
personal estate, actually pays less money now, than he did previous to the
introduction of the water; and this arises from the reduction of the rates
of insurance. The tax to defray the interest of the Croton Water Debt is
20 cents on the 100 dollars, and the average reduction on the rates of
insurance is at least 40 cents on the 100 dollars; and it is fair to
presume, that with the number of fires that take place, even with so
copious and abundant supply of water to quench them, with small loss and
injury, the old rates, without this supply, would of necessity have
largely increased. In illustration of the above, the Board mention the
following: One of our most intelligent merchants and largest tax payers,
who pays at this office water rent for near forty houses, relates the
result of a calculation he made, viz.: He placed in one column the rate of
insurance he paid on this property previous to the introduction of Croton
Water; in another, the rate of insurance he pays at present, and added to
it the Croton water tax, and subtracting the two last from the first, the
result is a clear saving of 25 per cent. Another merchant states, that he
insures on his stock 30,000 dollars; previous to the introduction of the
water he paid 85 cents on the 100 dollars; he now pays for the same amount
of property 35 cents on the hundred dollars, a saving of 150 dollars. If
he paid the Croton water tax on the above amount it would be 60 dollars,
leaving a nett gain of 90 dollars.
1846 Semi-annual Report of the Water Commissioners, January 5, 1846.
1846 Quarterly Report of the President of the Croton Aqueduct Board, ending January 31, 1846.
1846 Annual
Report of the Croton Aqueduct Board for the year May 1, 1845 to April
30, 1846, June 22, 1846. Document No. 7.
Page 78: The large increase of the revenue is owing in a great
degree to the abandonment of the public hydrant system.
1846 Semi-annual Report of the Water Commissioners, July 6, 1846. Document No. 8.
1846 Quarterly Report of the President of the Croton Aqueduct Board, to the first of August, 1846. September 14, 1846. Document No. 13
1846 Description of the New-York Croton Aqueduct: In English, German and French, by Theophilus Schramke
1846 A
Picture of New York in 1846, by Edward Ruggles
Pages 70-72: Croton Aqueduct. The introduction of the Croton water
has had the effect of reduces the rates of insurance about 40 cents on the
100 dollars.
1846 Semi-annual Report of the Water Commissioners, January 4, 1847. Document No. 25
1847 Quarterly Report of the President of the Croton Aqueduct Board. February 1, 1847. Document No. 30
1847 Annual Report and Quarterly Report of the Croton Aqueduct Board, September 6, 1847. No copy of this has been found.
1847 "Revenue
of the Croton Aqueduct," Hunt's Merchant Magazine and Commercial
Review 17:531-532 (November, 1847)
The Croton Aqueduct Board, on the 6th of September, made their annual and
quarterly reports from May 1, 1847 to August 31st, 1847.
The total length of pipes now laid and in use in 171 miles.
1848 Semi-annual Report of the Water Commissioners, July 24, 1848. Document No. 7
1848 Annual
Report and Quarterly Report of the Croton Aqueduct Board,
September 4, 1848.
Annual report May 1, 1847 to April 30, 1848
Quarterly report from May 1, 1848 to July 31, 1848
1848 Quarterly Report of the Croton Aqueduct Board from August 1, 1848 to October 31, 1848, November 6, 1848
1848 Report of the Committee on Croton Aqueduct Department, with draft of an act for reorganization of, December 14, 1848
1848 Semi-annual
Report of the Water Commissioners, January 15, 1849. Document
No. 32
The first line of pipes on the Aqueduct bridge across Harlem river, was
completed, and the Croton water passed through it, on the 30th of May
last. The second line was completed on the 15th of July, and the water
passed through it soon afterwards.
The contractors then proceeded diligently with the covering of sand and
earth, and with the turfing and flagging over all. This work, with the
embankments and masonry around the gate-houses, &c., cleaning off and
pointing such parts of the masonry of the bridge as required it, and
various other items, occupied them till the end of October, at which time
it was considered they had completed the work embraced in their contract.
1849 Quarterly Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department, from November 1, 1848 to January 31, 1849. February 12, 1849
1849 An
act to amend the charter of the city of New-York. April 2,
1849.
§ 15. There shall be an executive department, under the denomination of
the Croton aqueduct board, which shall have charge of the Croton aqueduct,
and all structures and works and property connected with the supply and
distribution of water to the city of New-York, and the underground
drainage of the same, and of the public sewers of said city, and the
collection, of the revenues arising from the sale of the water, with such
other powers and duties as shall or may be prescribed by law. The chief
officers thereof shall be called the president, enginneer and assistant
commissioner, who together shall form the Croton aqueduct board, and hold
their offices for five years.
There shall be a bureau in this department for the collection of the
revenues derived from the sale of the water, and the chief officer thereof
shall be called the “water register.”
1849 An
act to create the "Croton Aqueduct department" in the city of New-York.
April 11, 1849.
§ 18. The common council of said city may by ordinance establish a scale
of annual rents for the supply of the Croton water to be called the
"regular rents," and apportioned to different classes of buildings in said
city in reference to their dimensions, values exposure to fires, ordinary
uses for dwellings, stores, shops, private stables and other common
purposes, number of families or occupants or consumption of water, as near
as may be practicable and modify, alter and amend and increase such scale
from time to time, and extend it to other descriptions of buildings and
establishments. Such regular rents when so established, shall be collected
from the owners or occupants of all such buildings respectively, which
shall be situated upon lots adjoining any street or avenue in said city in
which the distributing water pipes are or may be laid, and from which they
can be supplied with water. Said "regular rents" shall become a charge and
lien upon such houses and lots respectively as herein provided.
§ 19. Hotels, factories, stables, livery stables and other buildings, and
establishments which consume extra quantities of water, may in addition to
the regular rents be charged with additional rents to be called the "extra
rents."
§ 20. The regular annual rents which are not paid at the Croton aqueduct
department before the first day of August in each year, shall be subject
to an additional charge of five per cent., and those rates not paid before
the first day of November in each year, shall be subject to an additional
charge of ten per cent.
1849 First
Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1849,
January 7, 1850.
Page 34: The necessity for a more rigid police, and more stringent
rules regulating the use of water, will be apparent, when it is stated
that very nearly the whole volume of the Croton river has been delivered
in the city during many weeks of the past summer, amounting to at least
sixty imperial gallons [72 wine gallons] each twenty-four hours, for every
inhabitant; a supply three times greater than any legitimate use of it,
would demand. It is true that the quantity may be increased at will, by
the construction of new reservoirs, but before incurring this expense,
economy requires that an effort be made to compel the observance of
existing ordinances regulating its use. This will not b« an impossible
duty, if the power of this Board be not, (as now), rendered nugatory, by
the too willing action of individual members of the Common Council, and
other city officers, in granting permission to keep open street hydrants
for the use of favored persons and neighborhoods. The operation of the new
law in relation to "water rents," which goes into effect on the first day
of May next, and through which every improved lot will be charged, whether
the house be supplied with water or not, renders it more than ever
necessary that the whole subject be left within the control of this
Department, inasmuch as it is expected that thereafter much will be
claimed as a right, which has hitherto been received as a favor.
In the proper administration of the water police, the comfort, as well as
the interests of all are directly involved.
1849 Minutes of the Croton Aqueduct Board of the City of New York: July 18, 1849, to April 9, 1870 New York Croton Aqueduct Board
1850 "A New Project," Dollar
Newspaper (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), March 6, 1850, Page 2
It is proposed in the New York Common Council, to confer insurance powers
on the Croton Aqueduct Department. It is estimated that the premiums
paid for fire insurance to companies and agencies in the city, amount to
about three millions of dollars annually.. The Sun of that city
says, this measure, if successful, will carry with it the Croton water
free to every inhabitant of the city. The premiums to be thus
received by the Croton Aqueduct Department, will be sufficient not only to
pay the interest on the Croton water debt, but eventually to pay the
principal. At present the water rents do not pay one-half this
interest.
1850 Second
Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1850,
December 31, 1850.
Page 48: Under these direct and sufficiently onerous
responsibilities, this Board now warns the Common Council, and through it
every citizen, that the last drop of water which the works in their
present state can supply is now daily delivered in the city, — a
supply more than equal to any, and all the legitimate wants of a
population of a million and a half!
1851 An Ordinance: Establishing a Scale of Water Rents for the Croton Aqueduct Department, March 20, 1851, reprinted in Ordinances of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York revised A.D. 1859
1851 "The Croton Aqueduct: Its Present Condition and Finances," Report of Nicholas Dean, Esq. President of the Croton Aqueduct Department, made to the Common Council of the city of New York, from Hunt's Merchant's Magazine and Commercial Review 25(6):704-715 (December, 1851)
1851 Third Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1851, December 31, 1851.
1852 "The Croton Water -- Its action on lead, &c." from Scientific American 7(22):173 (February 14, 1852)
1852 Fourth Annual Report of the Croton
Aqueduct Department for the year 1852, January 3, 1853.
Pages 15-16: It was assumed by the Commissioners that twenty-two
gallons per day for each inhabitant would be a liberal allowance, at which
rate a city, containing a population of two and a half millions, might be
supplied by an aqueduct of the proposed dimensions.
An experience of ten years enables us to contrast these preliminary
calculations with actual results, and thus to see, with great certainty,
the requirements of the future.
During the summer months, for two years past, the whole flow of the Croton
river has been turned through the aqueduct, and in 1851, "for many
consecutive weeks, not a drop of water passed over the dam, and the lake
formed by it was gradually drawn down two feet seven and a half inches."
The daily delivery in the city for a large portion of these two years, has
been about thirty millions of gallons a day — often in the past year at
least five millions more, drawn from the reservoirs on the island—giving
to each inhabitant within the water district, (not more than four hundred
and fifty thousand,) a daily supply of nearly ninety gallons.
To claim that such quantity of water is necessary for any useful purpose
is simply preposterous; but assuming that no reduction in the rate is to
happen, it may be well to see how long before that daily supply will begin
to be diminished by want of capacity in the aqueduct itself.
Pages 23-25: No satisfactory estimate of the consumption of water at
some of the manufactories and leading hotels, can be made without the
intervention of a water meter. Of these, the best hitherto offered to the
Department, is the invention of Samuel Huse, of Boston, ten of which are
now in use in the city. To withstand the pressure, they must be made very
strong, and to register accurately require to be adjusted with great
precision and nicety of workmanship. They are consequently too expensive
ever to come into general use for ordinary dwellings. Some of those now in
operation here, costing four hundred and fifty dollars each, and ranging
down to the smallest, at thirty-five dollars, exclusive of the cost of
fixtures, and setting them. The expenditures for meters during the year
amounts to three thousand six hundred and and fifty dollars and fourteen
cents, all of which, and more, will be returned to the treasury within the
first year, by the increased charges against the establishments to which
they have been affixed. Such being the result, the Department considers it
a duty to extend their application till all the most important consumers
are brought under this satisfactory test, and to that end have inserted a
moderate sum in their estimates for next year.
Meters are now in operation at the following places, and show the average
daily consumption of water as set forth.
1853 Annual Report of the Board of Water
Commissioner of the City of Detroit. In 1853, the new Board
of Water Commissioners of the City of Detroit sent superintendent Jacob
Houghton, Jr. to visit and report on water works in other cities,
including New York.
Pages 23: New York - Is supplied with water from the Croton river, across
which a dam forty feet in height is constructed, forming the Croton Lake,
covering an area of four hundred acres, and containing, at the depth of
six feet, an available supply of 500,000,000 gallons of water. From thence
the water is carried, by means of a brick aqueduct, (except at the
crossings of the Harlaem river bridge, and the Manhattan valley, where
inverted siphons of the respective dips of twelve and one hundred and five
feet are used), about thirty-eight miles in length, and having a total
fall of forty-four feet, to the receiving reservoir, which covers
thirty-seven acres of ground, and has a capacity of one hundred and fifty
millions of gallons. From this reservoir the water is conducted through
iron pipes to the distributing reservoir, from whence it is distributed in
the usual manner.
This reservoir is built of stone, covers an area of four acres, and
contains 21,000,000 gallons, when full to the top water line. These works
are capable of supplying thirty millions of gallons per day, have cost
between thirteen and fourteen millions of dollars, and supply water to
more than half a million of people.
An enlargement of the works is now in contemplation, by which the quantity
of water delivered daily will be materially increased.
1853 Fifth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct
Department for the year 1853, January 2, 1854.
Page 23: Water Meters. As stated in the last annual report,
these instruments have increased in favor, and the consumer who could not
be convinced of the quantity of water used in his establishment has now a
certain and impartial umpire to determine the difference in estimates
between him and the Department; and though the result in almost every case
is against the consumer, yet the decision of this small, but costly
apparatus, is very generally acquiesced in.
The only instrument yet in use is that of Mr. Samuel Huse, of Boston, and
is believed by the Department to be accurate; and, as far as can be
ascertained by the action of a working model, deposited in the office for
some months, known to be so. The only objection to their far more
extensive use is the expense of the apparatus, and some loss in the head
of water to those who require its use, at high elevations; and, it is to
be hoped, that the ingenuity of some practical inventor may yet overcome
these difficulties, and render their adoption more extensive. The
difference in rate, made by the instruments now in use, demonstrates that
they are, notwithstanding the cost, the most valuable article for this
purpose yet introduced to their notice. That the difference between the
former estimated amount, and the quantity fixed by actual measurement, may
be understood by the reader, a few cases are subjoined, giving the amounts
paid for the six months previous to, and the six months after, the
attachment of the meter.
1854 "Caution to
Merchants," New York Herald, July 27, 1856, Page 8.
On Friday night last, John J. Morrow, private watchman, discovered two
stores in Warren street damaged considerably by the Croton water
overflowing the basins. The water will not rise to the upper floors
in day time, but at night it will, and by leaving the faucets open the
basins became overflowed. In this way four stores have been
overflowed in the last month.
1854 Manual
of the Corporation of the City of New York, for the Year 1854.
Pages 215-223: Water Chronology of the City of New York
1854 Sixth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1854, January 3, 1855.
1855 Report
of the Joint Standing Committee on Water, together with an appendix;
made to the City Council of Baltimore, September 3d, 1855.
Page 19: January 30, 1855. Alfred Duvall testimony.
Visited New York in June last; found no water in any of the public
fountains, showing the supply from the Croton was exhausted; believes the
Croton works are represented to furnish 35,000,000 of imperial gallons a
day, equal to rather more than 42,000,000 wine gallons, as 100 imperial
gallons are equal to 120.0320 of wine.
1855 Description of the New-York Croton Aqueduct: In English, German and French, 2nd edition, by Theophilus Schramke
1855 Seventh Annual Report of the Croton
Aqueduct Department for the year 1855, January 7, 1856.
Page 13: Meters have been placed on sixty-eight large buildings, and
have operated beneficially in determining the quantity of water consumed,
and the Board propose to extend the system in special cases of hotels,
factories, &c., as circumstances may require, but have not yet become
convinced that the exercise of a proper discretion would allow of their
being introduced into private houses, because the expense for the whole
city, and in proportion for a port, would amount, at present prices for
meter and for putting up, to something like one million of dollars, and
for their repairs and superintendence to more than two hundred thousand
dollars per annum.
1856 Eighth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1856, January 5, 1857.
1857 "Ericsson's
Caloric Engine," advertisement in New-York Tribune, November
18, 1857, Page 2.
Motive engine requiring no water. For filling cisterns of private
houses in cities, a gas burner produces sufficient heat for actuaing the
engine.
1857 The origin of the Croton Aqueduct in the City of New York, by James B Murray
1857 Ninth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1857, January 5, 1858.
1858 Tenth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1858, January 3, 1859.
1859 "Croton Water and Its Inhabitants," Harper's New Monthly Magazine 18:451-466. (March, 1859) Examining Croton water through a microscope.
1859 "Water," by Col James B. Murray, from The American Gas Light Journal 1(2):26-27 (August 1, 1859) Reminiscences of the Common Council of 1832 and of the origin of the Croton Aqueduct, from 1857 pamphlet
1859 "Water,"
from The American Gas Light Journal 1(3):39 (September 1, 1859)
Something is the matter with the Croton. Everybody complains of the
musty, sickish small and taste it has acquired since the first of August.
The Croton Aqueduct Department have it in serious contemplation, we
understand, to introduce hydrometers into the houses of their customers,
to put a stop to the enormous waste of water that is now going on.
1859 "Bursting of the the Croton Water Main," from The American Gas Light Journal 1(5):80 (November 1, 1859) On Friday, October 12, 1859.
1859 "The Croton Water Analysis," from The American Gas Light Journal 1(5):86-87 (November 1, 1859)
1859 John
P. Treadwell and others vs. Myndert Van Shaick and others, 30
Barb. 444, November 13, 1859, Supreme Court of the State of New York
The Croton aqueduct board has full power under the statutes, and the
ordinances of the common council, to make special charges, or fix extra
rates, to be paid for the use of the water, varying in each case,
according to the quantity used; and to regulate the terms on which extra
allowances shall be made, and the conditions on which the water shall be
used.
The board has a right to make every such arrangement, respecting an extra
supply of water, a matter of agreement, subject to such terms and
conditions as it shall deem necessary to impose.
The proper construction of the 27th section of the act of 1849,
establishing the board, is that the legislature intended the water should
not be furnished to those who would not pay for it; and that the power
should exist, in the board, to withhold the supply, if the terms on which
the supply was furnished were not complied with.
The board therefore has power to cut off the supply of water, for
non-payment of the water-rate; whether it be the regular rents,
apportioned by the size, character and use of the building, or the extra
rents chargeable, in addition to the regular rents, upon buildings which
consume an extra quantity of water.
1859 "Waste of Croton Water," by Thomas B. Tappan, November 12, 1859, Commissioner, Croton Aqueduct Department from The American Gas Light Journal 1(6):98 (December 1, 1859)
1859 "Waste of Croton Water," from The American Gas Light Journal 1(6):107 (December 1, 1859)
1859 Sketch of the Civil Engineering of North
America, by David Stevenson
Page 200-203: Croton Water Works
1859 Eleventh Annual Report of the Croton
Aqueduct Department for the year 1859, January 3, 1860.
Page 20: St. Nicholas Hotel. The protracted suit which was
commenced in the latter part of 1855, by an injunction procured by the
proprietors of this immense establishment, to prevent the water being shut
off for non-payment, for their extraordinary consumption, was this month
argued in the Supreme Court, on appeal from the decision of the Court
below, and again decided in favor of the city. The arguments of the Court
established the principles contained in the sections of the law of 1849,
which relate to this matter, and assign the reasons on the strength of
which they were drawn. They constitute a perfect justification of the
proceedings of the Board, in relation to the application to buildings, of
wa termeters, and of the price which was charged for the water, according
to ordinance.
1860 "The
Croton," The New York Times, January 4, 1860, Page 11,
The powers of this Board are very extensive. It has charge of the Croton
aqueduct, reservoirs, works and property connected with the supply and
distribution of water in the city; of the construction, repair and
cleaning of the sewers; of paving, repaving and repairing streets; or
digging and constructing wells and the collection of revenue arising from
the sale of Croton water. These duties comprehend great public interests,
and affect the health and comfort of the citizen to an incalculable
extent, and yet the Mayor is clothed with no power to supervise, much less
direct them.
The Croton Board, constituted by a President, a Commissioner and an
Engineer, compose a managing triumvirate, who are in no way amenable to
any chief executive. Though those officers in the first instance derive
their authority by appointment from the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, yet
the tenure of office being for five years, without any provision for
removal, however great the necessity, they are totally independent of the
creative power. The large sums expended by this Board and the subordinates
appointed by it are matters over which the Mayor has no control. It is
conducted comparatively upon the same close corporation principles the
Almshouse Department.
Many of its present duties having been conferred upon it by the charter of
1857, it is impossible to give a fair statement of the amount of the
appropriations for it during the past ten years, nor is it possible to say
with what economy it is now being administered.
1860 "Water Supply in the City of New York," from The American Gas Light Journal 1(7):137-138 (January 1, 1860) Continuation of August 1, 1859 article on the history of New York's water supply.
1860 "Temperature of Croton Water," from The American Gas Light Journal 1(10):209 (April 2, 1860)
1860 "Croton Aqueduct Department," The American Gas-Light Journal 1(10):210-211 (April 2, 1860). Underground vaults and water supply to Sing-Sing prison.
1860 Answer of A. W. Craven, chief Engineer Croton Aqueduct, to charges made by Fernando Wood, Mayor. New York, July 31, 1860, by Alfred Wingate Craven
1860 "Cheap
Water," The New York Times, October 9, 1860, Page 4. | Also
here
|
The only reasonable method of preventing waste, is to charge each house
with the water that goes into that house, and the only possible method of
ascertaining this quantity is to measure it, or rather, let it
measure itself, like gas, by passing through a meter.
1860 "The Croton Aqueduct," by T. Addison Richards, from Harper's New Monthly Magazine 22:18-30 (December, 1860)
1860 Twelfth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1860, January 7, 1861.
1861 "Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department," The New York Times, March 2, 1861, Page 8.
1861 "The Croton Aqueduct Department," New York World, March 4, 1861, Page 6.
1861 An act to supply Sing Sing prison with Croton water, and for the sale of certain lands of the state. April 17, 1861.
1861 "Water-Works of Philadelphia and New York," American Gas-Light Journal 2:347 (May 15, 1861).
1861 "New Contract for Croton Water Mains," American Gas-Light Journal 2:351 (May 15, 1861). Messrs. Colwell & Co. of Philadelphia for 4,200 feet of five-foot pipes.
1861 "Break in the Croton Mains," American Gas-Light Journal 2:362 (June 1, 1861). May 18th on Fifth avenue, not far from where the great break occurred in December of last year.
1861 "Still Another Break in the Croton Main," American Gas-Light Journal 2:369 (June 1, 1861). May 23d in Worth street, near Church.
1861 Photograph showing installation of the large conduit on High Bridge
1861 Thirteenth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1861 , January 6, 1862.
1862 Fourteenth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1862 , January 5, 1863.
1863 Fifteenth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1863 , January 4, 1864.
1864 Sixteenth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1864 , January 6, 1865.
1865 "The Croton Aqueduct Board Judgment for the Old Commissioners," The New York Times, July 1, 1865, Page 8. | Also here |
1865 "Hanson's Self-Acting Pressure Pump," advertisement from Commercial Advertiser (New York, New York), December 2, 1865), Page 2.
1865 Colton Map of New York City. Shows receiving reservoirs in Central Park and Murray Hill distributing reservoir
1865 Seventeenth
Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1865,
January 1, 1866.
1866 Eighteenth
Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1866,
January 8, 1867.
1867 "More Water Needed,"
Evening Post (New York, New York), July 27, 1867, Page 2.
At present cabinets and bath-tubs on the third floor all over town, and
those on the second floor in some parts of the city, are not only useless,
but worse than useless, as with the present deficient supply of water they
cannot be kept sweet and clean, even when not used. In some
situations the water flows into them for an hour or two soon after
midnight, filling the reservoir of the water-closets - but this is an
inadequate supply for an entire day's use.
1867 Nineteenth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1867, January 6, 1868.
1868 "Our
Water Supply," The New York Times, April 24, 1868, Page 8.
“If cleanliness be next to godliness, then judging from the quantity of
water consumed in New York, our citizens must be very near to being a
godly people. But it is to be feared that of the vast quantities of water
consumed daily in this City, a very large proportion is wasted. In how
many houses is the Croton constantly left running, because it is too much
trouble, or too treat an effort of memory to turn it off? How much water
is wasted in washing down engine houses, stables, &c., and how much in
our hotels and bar rooms? The Commissioners of the Croton Department say
that about one-fourth of all the water consumed in this City runs to
waste, and perhaps the estimate is not an exaggerated one. The present
consumption of water in New York averages sixty millions of gallons per
day, or sixty gallons for each inhabitant. This supply, after deducting
the quantity necessary for extinguishing fires, for washing and other
purposes, would appear to be liberal, though not equal, if we may believe
history, to that provided for the citizens of Imperial Rome, who were at
liberty to use something like one hundred gallons per day each. Our
supply, however, is larger, in proportion to the number of inhabitants,
than that of the British Metropolis, and also of some of the principal
cities of the Old World. At the same time our water surpasses theirs in
purity, a gallon containing but a trifle over four grains of solid matter.
It will scarcely perhaps be believed that New Yorkers, before the
introduction of the croton were compelled to drink water containing from
20 to 125 grains of impurities per gallon. Yet such was the fact.”
1868 Twentieth Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1868, January 4, 1869.
1868 Third
Annual report of the Metropolitan Board of Health of the State of New
York
Pages 615-621 : Report on the Quality of the Water Supply, during the year
1868, by C. F. Chamdler, Ph. D.
1869 Twenty-First Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department for the year 1869, January 3, 1870.
1870 "Croton Poisons," New York Daily Herald, April 11, 1870, Page 7. Dangers of lead cisterns and pipes.
1870 An act in relation to the Croton Aqueduct of the city of New York. April 15, 1870.
1870 An
act to make further provision for the government of the city of New York.
April 26, 1870.
§ 13. The commissioner of public works is hereby authorized in his
discretion to cause water meters of approved pattern and suitable for the
purpose, to be designated by said commissioner, to be placed in all
stores, workshops, hotels, manufactories, public edifices, at wharves,
ferry-houses, stables, and in all the places in which water is furnished
for business consumption by the department of public works, so that all
water so furnished therein or thereat may be measured and known by the
said department, and for the purpose of ascertaining the ratable
proportion which consumers of water should pay for the water therein or
thereat received and used. Thereafter, as shall be determined by the
Commissioner of public works, the said department shall make out all bills
and charges for water furnished by them to each and every consumer as
aforesaid, to whose consumption a meter as aforesaid is affixed, in
ratable proportion to the water consumed, as ascertained by the meter on
his or her premises or places occupied or used as aforesaid. All expenses
of meters, their connections and setting, water rates, and other lawful
charges for the supply of Croton water shall be a lien upon the premises
where water is supplied as now provided by law. Nothing herein contained
shall be construed so as to remit or prevent the due collection of
arrearages or charges for water consumption heretofore incurred, nor
interfere with the proper liens therefor, nor of charges, or rates, or
liens hereafter to be incurred for water consumption, in any
dwelling-house, building or place which may not contain one of the meters
aforesaid.
1870 "Water Meters - Their Usefullness and Danger," The New York Times, May 1, 1870, Page 3 | part 2 |
1870 "Experiments for making brick masonry impervious to water, tried on the walls of the back bays of the gate-houses of the new Croton Reservoir in New York, and on the brick arch of High Bridge, in 1863," by William L. Dearborn, a paper read before the Society May 4, 1870. Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers 1:201-208 (1872)
1870 "The
Water Supply," The New York Herald, July 13, 1870, Page 12.
The Water Supply. July 12, 1870. You are hereby notified that within
the city limits no connection will be allowed with the Croton water pipes
of any water ram, Hansom pump, or any other machine or machinery, by which
the Croton water is to be used as a motive power, without first having a
permit from me to make such connection.
You are also notified not to place tanks anywhere, into which the Croton
water will run by its head, or be pumped or forced into by machinery
driven by Croton water, with an overflow pipe, without a permit as above
noted. William W. Tweed, Commissioner of Public Works.
1870 "Croton
Water," advertisement from The New York Times, July 20,
1870, Page 6.
Raised to the upper floors without waste and without cost. No
objections by the Croton Board, successfully used in this City, ad
indorsed by Architects and Property-Owners. Continental Windmill
Co., No. 5 College-place, N.Y.
1870 Real
Estate Record and Builders' Guide 5(123):16 (July 23, 1870)
Page 16: Hanson's Self-Acting Pumps. These pumps are allowed
to be used by the Croton Board.
1870 "Notice
to Manufacturers and Inventors of Water Meters," The Sun
(New York, New York), August 8, 1870, Page 4.
The Department of Public Works, City of New York, will on and after the
20th of August next, be prepared to examine and test the capacity and
accuracy of any water meter that may be presented to it for that purpose.
William M. Tweed, Commissioner of Public Works.
1870 "Water Meters," The New York Herald, November 2, 1870, Page 12.
1871 An act to extend the distribution of Croton water through the city of New York, and to lay the necessary mains to deliver it at higher elevation; and also to provide for the expense of water meters. March 29, 1871.
1871 First annual report of the Department of Public Works of the City of New York for the year 1870-71, April 11, 1871
1872 "The
Water-Meter Job," The New York Times, February 10, 1872,
Page 4. | also here
|
Mr. Navarro's Claim for $283,500 - A protest that is to be laid before the
Board of Audit Today - How Water-Meters were tested by the ring.
1872 Second annual
report of the Department of Public Works of the
City of New York for the year ending April 10,
1872
Pages 11-13: Except where water-meters are employed, the amount of
water-rent charged to consumers is based upon estimates of the
quantities consumed. There are at present in use upwards of two hundred
water-meters of the Worthington patent, which is now substantially the
same as when first patented some ten years ago. The establishment and
application of means to ascertain correctly the quantities of water
consumed is a subject of great importance to the city, as thereby the
revenue from water-rents would be greatly increased, and any excessive
use of Croton water would readily be detected and prevented. Under the
direction of my predecessor in office some forty different inventions
and patents in water-meters were examined and tested. The following is a
copy of the report of the Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct upon the
subject :
To Hon. William M. Tweed, Commissioner of Public Works : Sir — I
have, under your instructions, erected suitable fixtures for testing
water-meters, and examined and tried forty-eight (48).
In the examination, the qualities sought for were accuracy of
measurement, strength, and durability, with simplicity, cheapness of
construction, and which afford but little impediment to the flow of
water.
A great amount of mechanical capacity and skill has been shown in the
construction of the meters presented for trial, many of them being
beautiful specimens of works of art, and fulfilling most of the
requirements.
The meter presented for trial by Mr. J. F. De Navarro, called the
vibrating single-piston meter, is a very compact machine, simple in its
construction and easily repaired or adjusted. It takes but a small force
to run it, measures the water with great accuracy, and, in my opinion,
answers the requirements more nearly than any other meter presented for
trial.
Respectfully yours, EDW. H. TRACY, Chief Engineer Croton Aqueduct.
On the 23d of August, 1871, the Department entered into contract with
J.F. De Navarro for 10,000 water-meters, at $70 each. Of this
number 4,050 have been delivered, one estimate on account of the
contract being in the Comptroller's office awaiting payment. On
another estimate, now in this office, the approval of this Department
has been withheld, in order that the legality of said contract could be
ascertained and determined.
1872 The
People of the State of New York ex rel. Jose F. Navarro, Appellant,
against George M. Van Nort, Commissioner of Public Works of the City
of New York, Respondent, Papers on Appeal from Order, New
York Supreme Court, City and County of New York.
1873 Third
annual report of the department of public works of the
city of New York : for the year ending April 10, 1873.
Pages 20-21: As stated in the last annual report, this Department
refused to approve the bills for, or receive meters furnished by J. F.
Navarro under a contract made previous to my administration, whereupon
Mr. Navarro commenced legal proceedings to compel the Department to draw
its requisition upon the Comptroller for payment of $285,000, with
interest, for 4,050 meters delivered under that contract; the decision
of the Supreme Court in Chambers was in favor of the Department, but in
January last, upon an appeal by Mr. Navarro, the Supreme Court in
General Term reversed this decision, and issued a writ of peremptory
mandamus, commanding me, as Commissioner of Public Works, to draw a
requisition upon the Comptroller for the full amount claimed, with
interest. Upon the opinion and advice of the Counsel to the Corporation,
no further resistance could be made by this Department, but the Finance
Department is now contesting the validity of the claim, in a suit
brought by Mr. Navarro against the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty.
1873 New
York World, May 30, 1873, Page 4.
The bill incorporating "The Salt-water Supply Company of the City of New
York" is now depending on the Legislature.
1873 An act to extend the distribution of Corton water through the city of New York, and to lay the necessary mains therefor, and to deliver it at higher elevations. June 28, 1873.
1873 "Supplying New York with Water from Poughkeepsie," The Evening Gazette (Port Jervis, New York), July 31, 1873, Page 2.
1875 "American
Institute Fair," The Manufacturer and Builder 7(11):248
(November, 1875)
Thomas Hanson, of Brooklyn, exhibits a noiseless water-pressure
pumping-engine, which uses the force of the water drawn in the lower
portion of the house to force water into a tank to supply the upper
part. This avoids wasting water for the purpose of driving the pump,
as is often the case with hydraulic motors.
1876 "Utilization of Salt Water," The New York Times, March 4, 1876, Page 8.
1876 "Utilizing Salt Water," New York Daily Herald, March 4, 1876, Page 8.
1876 "No Salt Water," New York Herald, April 8, 1876, Page 11.
1876 Lockport
Daily Journal, November 8, 1876, Page 2.
There is great danger of a water famine in New York. Unless there is
rain, the supply will be exhausted within 10 days. The Graphic advises the
authorities to cut the water off peremptorily from all factories,
refineries, breweries, livery stables and concerns which use much water
for the ordinary transaction of business. Hotels and mercantile
houses should be put on short allowance till the rains come. Ships and
steamboats should be sent to Brooklyn and Jersey City for their
water.
1876 The
Worthington Steam Pumping Engine: History of Its Invention and
Development, by Henry R. Worthington
Pages 60-61: AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN P. TREADWELL.
John P. Treadwell, of lawful age, being duly sworn, says:
I reside in New Milford, Connecticut. I was a proprietor of the St.
Nicholas Hotel, New York, from 1858 to 1868.
When I opened that house, in 1858, I supposed that our own arrangements
for supplying the hotel with water were most complete. But as we had to
supply the building above the second story by Steam Pumps, I soon found
that while we could elevate the water, we were creating a great
disturbance with our guests by using the Pumps in the night, as we were
obliged to, in order to furnish a sufficient supply. There was a continual
"thump," which extended along the whole line of the building, on the south
side, for six hundred feet in length.
In order to remedy this evil, I tried other Pumps then in use, but had no
better success, until finally I had to order the Pumps shut off at nine
o'clock at night, and take the risk of a supply until the morning. But
that did not
answer, as the supply would give out before we could start the Pumps in
the morning. I finally called on Mr. Worthington, and he made for me one
of his Pumping Engines, which was set up in the hotel in the fall of 1857,
and relieved me of all my troubles. When it was put in position, it was
set right to work and run all night, and I never heard a word thereafter
of complaint from the guests of the house. You could stand alongside of
this Pump when in operation, and, if not looking at it, you would not know
it was working. It is noiseless.
Knowing, as I do by experience, its merits for hotel use, I would sooner
pay the price of it twice over than not to have it, as compared with any
other Pump I know of.
I have no interest in the subject of this application. JNO. P: TREADWELL.
AFFIDAVIT OF A. B. DARLING.
A. B. Darling, of lawful age. being duly sworn, says:
I reside in New York, and am a proprietor and manager of the Fifth Avenue
Hotel. In this capacity I require to use Steam Pumping Engines of various
sizes, for supplying the upper rooms of the hotel with water and for
extinguishing fires. For these purposes I have never seen a Pumping Engine
that I consider equal to the Worthington. It is sure in its operation and
practically noiseless. Many other Pumps that work very well otherwise, are
so noisy as to keep guests awake in that part of the house through which
the pipes run. I am not a mechanic, and do not know to what these valuable
effects are owing; but I can say that the action of this Engine is
superior to that of the numerous other Pumps I have been acquainted with,
so much so as to more than justify the higher price which it commands.
I have no interest in the subject of this application for extension.
A. B. DARLING.
1876 "A Memoir of American Engineering," A paper read by John B. Jervis, C.E., Honorary Member of the Society, Read October 18th, 1876, from Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers 6:39-67 (1878)
1877 "Croton Water," from Scribner's Monthly, 14(2):161-176 (June, 1877)
1878 Address In Favor of Retaining the Present Murray Hill Reservoir, by George B. Butler, delivered November 5, 1877.
1878 Report
of the Special Committee of the Board of Aldermen Appointed to
Investigate the "ring" Frauds, Together with the Testimony Elicited
During the Investigation: Board of Aldermen, January 4, 1878
Pages 180-183: Tweed's testimony on the Navarro water meter
1878 Croton Water, its Nature, Properties and Impurities, with Original Microscopical Drawings of the Organic Deposit, by John Michels.
1879 "How
to Fight Flames," by William J. McAlpine, New York Daily Herald,
February 1, 1879, Page 2.
A ponderous scheme for the protection of property. Fire Engines
Displaced. The Water to Come from a Tank 350 Feet above the ground.
Proposed a water storage tank 100 feet in diameter and 350 feet high, more
than twice the height of the Western Union building.
1879 The inadequate water supply in New York, and its remedies : the Holly system of direct pressure on all mains and pipes ; water to be supplied at all times at the top of each building on Manhattan Island by the Holly system ; triple method as a whole or separately, by J.L. Douglass. May 15, 1879
1879 Report
of the Department of Public Works of the City of New York, for the
quarter ending June 30, 1879, with special report on the subject of
Water Supply.
Pages 14-15: There is, however, another defect in the aqueduct
itself. This perhaps cannot be called a defect in the original design when
it is considered that it was not contemplated that the water line of the
aqueduct would rise above the springing of the arch, so that at most the
depth of water would not exceed five feet. It was computed that this
volume would furnish sixty millions of gallons daily, and provision was
probably not made for delivering a greater quantity. The upper part of the
aqueduct, its arch, spandrels and sustaining walls, were therefore not
constructed with a view to the pressure of water raised nearly to the
roof. It is now eight or nine years since it was found necessary to carry
water in the aqueduct far above the springing line. It is evident this
must have been the case to meet the demand of ninety to one hundred
millions of gallons daily. This increased pressure, added to the
settlement of the lower walls, caused cracks in the arch, from which water
leaked, and, finding its way through the dry walls to the ground, caused a
still greater settlement of the embankment. Steps should have been
immediately taken at that time (if not earlier) to strengthen and repair
the upper portion of the aqueduct, in the manner pursued for the past
three years. Had this been done we would have been saved from great
anxiety, and from what might have resulted in a serious calamity.
1879 New-York
Tribune, August 12, 1879, Page 4
The Commissioners of Public Works has found it necessary, in view of the
growing demand upon the water supply, to require all persons using water
for business purposes to use a metre by which the amount they must pay the
city can be gauged. This, it is believed, will be useful, not so
much in gaining a revenue for the city as in checking waste. It is
noted as one incident in the increased drain on the supply, that the
elevated roads use half a million gallons of water a day.
1879 "The
Use of Water Meters," New-York Tribune, August 12, 1879,
Page 8.
A new order in reference to the Worthington metre - The Navarro suit.
Between 500 and 600 now being sued.
1881 New York City, Engineering News, 8:91 (March 5, 1881)
1881 The
City Record: Official Journal, Volume 9, Part 2 (April 11,
1881)
Page 583: Waste of water and Future supply.
During the year 2,604 water meters were placed, and on the first of
January 4,002 meters were in use.
The designers and constructors of the aqueduct and Croton water system did
not contemplate the necessity or demand that water be delivered by its own
pressure in the upper stories of tall buildings. As late as 1867 the
Commissioners of the Croton Aqueduct, in their annual report to the Common
Council, say on this subject: “We are satisfied that the great object in
the construction of the Croton works was obtained when abundant water was
brought to every door, and its convenient delivery assured. Its moderate
consumption and comparatively limited distribution during the early years
of the operation of the works drew lightly upon the capacity of the pipes,
and, of course, the temporary convenience of higher head was naturally
felt ; this has, unfortunately, led to unreasonable expectations on the
part of the first consumers, and now that the city has greatly increased
in area and population, with consequent increased demands upon the water
service, they are inclined to consider that an unjust deprivation, which,
after all, but moderates an excessive privilege.”
1881 New
York Water Supply, April 11, 1881. Report to Hubert O.
Thompson, Commissioner of Public Works, by Isaac Newton, Chief Engineer,
opinion of E.S. Chesbrough, Consulting Engineer.
Page 5: The utmost capacity of the aqueduct has been variously
stated, in different reports, at 90 million to 115 million gallons
daily. At one time when the flow was estimated was forced to upwards
of 103 million, the consequences were disastrous, for this rate caused
serious damage to the aqueduct, and it was therefore reduced.
Page 6: The distinguished constructor of the aqueduct did not
anticipate the great increase in the demand for water brought about by the
requirements of modern life, the enormous growth of manufactures in the
city, the use already probably between seven and eight thousand steam
boilers within the cit limits, the steam railways in operation already
consuming over one million of gallons daily, nor the provision in every
house of water fittings, – often including pumps, – from the basement to
upper floors.
1881 "The
City's Water Supply," The New York Times, October 30, 1881,
Page 5. | Reprinted in Engineering
News 9:449-450 (November 5, 1881)
What New-Yorkers Drank Before Croton Was Obtained.
It is but a question of time when the Metropolis will have to tap Lake
George or Lake Ontario.
1881 “How
Croton Water is Wasted.” Engineering News 8:450-451
(November 5, 1881)
How Croton Water is Wasted. “The inspectors of the Department of Public
Works are busy searching for houses where water is wasted. Their method is
to have a man enter a sewer in the night-time through a man-hole and apply
a gauge to the water flowing into the sewers from houses. In cases where
the flow is great an inspector is sent to the house the next day to
examine the plumbing. When a serious leak is found the water is cut off
summarily. In this way a number of houses have been deprived of water
within the last few days. The police have been notified to be especially
vigilant to prevent the waste or water, and the result of the order has
been that several houses have been reported. In one case yesterday the
water was cut off from a row of three houses on a police report. The water
will not be let on again until the owners or occupants take measures to
prevent waste. The officials of the Department of Public Works find the
most fault with apartment houses. One of them visited by inspectors had a
tank on the top floor containing 3,300 gallons of water. This was filled
and emptied twice a day, making the water supply 6,600 gallons a day. Ten
families live in the house, so that 660 gallons are used by each family,
which is considered an excessive amount. This does not include hot water,
which is supplied from boilers in the basement. The officials have no
power to limit the supply unless a waste of water can be shown. Some
trouble is experienced by the inspectors in gaining admittance to houses
in the daytime, as servants object to letting them in while their
employers are out.”
1881 "A
Reservoir Inexhaustible," Buffalo Morning Express, November
18, 1881, Page 2.
Suggests piping Lake Erie water to New York City and Chautauqua Lake water
to Buffalo.
1881 Report on a Water Supply for New York and Other Cities of the Hudson Valley, by John Thomas Fanning
1882 Report of John B. Jervis, constructor of the Croton aqueduct. On the plans proposed by Isaac Newton, chief engineer of Croton aqueduct. January 11, 1882
1882 New York Water Supply, January 20, 1882. Report of Isaac Newton, Chief Engineer of Croton Aqueduct. | Also here |
1882 "Water Supply from Lake George," Engineering News 9:80-81 (March 11, 1882)
1882 "Lake George Water Supply," Engineering News 9:104-105 (April 1, 1882)
1882 Report and Resolutions on the Subject of City Water Supply and Distribution: Showing the Danger of the Proposed Dam at Quaker Bridge, and Renewing the Petition to Appoint Commissioners to Decide Upon Plans and Construct Works. April, 1882 Union League Club (New York, N.Y.)
1882 A report of a plan for supplementing the Croton water supply to the City of New York from the Ramapo District, by William J. McAlpine. April 30, 1882.
1882 Regulations Establishing a Scale of Water Rents for the City of New York. May 1, 1882. | also here |
1882 "The Water Supply of the City of New York," by E. Waller, Chemical News 45:202-204 (May 12, 1882) | also here |
1882 "New York Water Rates," Engineering News 9:182 (June 3, 1882)
1882 New York City from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.
1882 Report no. 2 on a water supply for New York and other cities of the Hudson Valley, by John Thomas Fanning
1883 "Water Supply of New York City," The Medical Record 23(3):70 (January 20, 1883)
1883 New York Water Supply, February 21, 1883. Report on Storage Reservoirs in the Croton, by Isaac Newton, Chief Engineer Croton Aqueduct. Opinion of Consulting Engineers.
1883 "The Great Water-Meter Job," Engineering News, 10:532 (November 3, 1883)
1883 John Biard, Plaintiff, Respondent, vs. The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, Defendants, Appellants, Case on Appeal, Record and Briefs, New York Supreme Court.| another copy or version |
1883 John Biard, Plaintiff, Respondent, vs. The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, October 26, 1883, Supreme Court of New York, First Department
1884 "High Service Water Supply for New York," Engineering News 11:102 (March 1, 1884)
1884 John Biard, Plaintiff, Respondent, vs. The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, Defendants, Appallents, 96 N.Y. 567, October 7, 1884, New York Court of Appeals.
1884 "The Navarro Meter," Engineering News, 12:176 (October 11, 1884)
1884 Report
of the Department of Public Works of the City of New York for the
Quarter ending December 31, 1884
Pages 14-15: By a decision or judgment of the Court of Appeals, the
city has become the owner of 10,000 "Navarro" water-meters, ordered by the
Department under the administration of Commissioner William M. Tweed, but
rejected by his successors on the ground that the price agreed to be paid
for them was exorbitant; 4,050 of them have been tested and regulated to
measure the water passing through them accurately, but all these meters
have been stored for so long a time (about fourteen years) that they will
require certain necessary repairs before they can be used. It is suggested
by the Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct that these meters be placed
on houses used exclusively as dwellings, where under the law, meters
cannot be placed at the expense of the owners, and where waste of water is
known or believed to exist; and he thinks that the cost of the meters,
putting them.in order and setting them would be returned to the city in
one year by increased revenue for water measured by them.
1885 Engineering
News, 13:285 (May 2, 1885)
The New York City Water Company has been incorporated by Charles Spear,
James H. Gould, William Ebbitt, Charles Crary, Samuel Carpenter, Joseph L.
Liscomb, Chester L. Williams, William A. Sweeney, and George F.
Gregory. It is to bore or dig for water, establish storage places of
it, and to conduct it through the city for power and fire-extinguishing
purposes. Its capital is $3,000,000, divided in 30,000 shares of
$100 each. The incorporators of the company are to be its Trustees
for the first year of its existence.
1885 Engineering Drawings and Data: The New Croton Aqueduct by Engineering News Publishing Company
1886 Specifications to Contractors for Building ... the New Croton Aqueduct, Volume 2
1886 Water shed of the Croton River
1887 Establishing a scale of water rents and rules governing the use of water, for New York City.
1887 Report to the Aqueduct Commissioners by the President January 1, 1887.
1887 Departmental
Estimates for Budget for the year 1888
Page 80: 3d. $17,500 for repairing 1,000 Navarro water-meters and
placing them at the expense of the City in buildings known as “flats," and
other houses, which, under the existing law, are not subject to the
compulsory use of meters at the expense of the owners, but in which there
are large opportunities for excessive consumption and waste of water, and
where unnecessary waste of water is known or believed to exist. This is
necessary as one of the most efficient measures to suppress excessive use
and waste of water, and it is the best use which the City can make of the
10,000 Navarro water-meters for which it has been compelled to pay by
judgment of the courts.
1888 "Bad Work on the New Croton Aqueduct: How Detected and How Repaired," Engineering News 20:280-281 (October 13, 1888)
1888 Map of the Passaic and Croton water-sheds, water courses, storage reservoirs and sources of supply for the cities, towns, & villages within a radius of 50 miles from the City of New York. Map to accompany John Bartlett's proposal (above). Also shows old and new Croton aqueducts.
1888 "New York City," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1889 "The New Croton Aqueduct," illustrated; by Charles Barnard, from The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 39(2):205-224 (December, 1889)
1889 "The New Aqueduct - The Sodom Dam," illustrated, from Harper's Weekly 33:994-999 (December 14, 1889)
1890 "New York City," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 The
Iron Age 47(2):712 (April 9, 1891)
It is said that Navarro's 10,000 water meters purchased under the Tweed
regime, and which cost the city over $1,000,000, will soon be advertised
for sale from the corporation yard as old junk.
1891 "New York City," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1893 Catalogue of the Illustrations of the Water-supply of the City of New York: Written for the Board of General Managers of the Exhibit of the State of New York at the World's Columbian Exposition by Edward Wegmann
1896 Artesian
Well Prospects in the Atlantic Coastal Plain Region, by Helson
Horatio Darton. USGS Bulletin No. 138
Page 38: New York City. List of wells in
New York City.
There are many deep wells on New York island which yield large volumes of
water, but it appears that the greater part of the water, contains either
mineral or surface contaminations which greatly diminish its usefulness.
The deep wells are in the granite-gneiss, mica-schist, or limestone, which
are near the surface north of Fortieth street, but southward are more or
less deeply buried beneath sands and clays of Pleistocene age, There are
also many wells 20 to 80 feet deep in the superficial beds. Nearly all the
data I have for the New York City wells were obtained through the kindness
of Mr. W. d'H. Washington, of New York, who has sunk many of these wells.
1896 The Water Supply of the City of New York, 1658-1895 by Edward Wegmann, extensive detail on the Croton System.
1897 The
New York Times, December 20, 1897, Page 1.
The water was drawn from the Bryant Park Reservoir on Saturday night, so
that it may be removed to make room for the City Library.
1897 "New York City," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1898 "Greater New York's Water Supply," by F. B. Thurber, The North American Review 167(500):90-99 (July 1898)
1898 First Annual Report of the Department of Water Supply of the City of New York
1899 "John B. Jervis," Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 41:612 (June, 1899)
1899 Second Annual Report of the Department of Water Supply of the City of New York
1900 Report Upon New York's Water Supply: With Particular Reference to the Need of Procuring Additional Sources and Their Probable Cost, with Works Constructed Under Municipal Ownership, Made to Bird S. Coler, Comptroller, March 23, 1900, by John Ripley Freeman.
1900 "An ordinance establishing a scale of water rents for The City of New York," April 10, 1900, from General Ordinances of the City of New York Under the Greater New York Charter
1900 Inquiry
Into the Conditions Relating to the Water-supply of the City of New
York, by Commerce and Industry Association of New York,
August, 1900
PLATE 1.- Map of New York City, showing areas
supplied with water by gravity, by high-service pumping stations, and by
private companies.
PLATE 2.-Map of New York City, showing areas
which cannot be supplied without additional pumping.
PLATE 3.-Diagram showing the depletion of the
Croton reservoirs for a daily draft of 280,000,000 gallons and 350,000,000
gallons, respectively.
PLATE 4.-Diagram showing growth of miles of
pipe, of population, water consumption, and number of taps in Brooklyn,
Manhattan and the Bronx.
PLATE 5.-Diagram showing record of
twenty-five water meters on residences in Manhattan.
PLATE 6.-Diagram showing record of twelve
water meters on residences in Brooklyn.
PLATE 7.-Diagram showing hourly rate of
consumption of water.
PLATE 8.- Diagram showing past and estimated
future rate of increase of population, number of taps, and miles of pipe
in Manhattan and the Bronx.
TABLE 3: Table of Details of Pumping
Stations in the Several Boroughs.
PLATE 9.-Map showing watersheds of Schroon
Lake, Catskill, Schoharie and Esopus Creeks, with proposed storage
reservoirs, aqueduct lines, distributing reservoirs, and pipe lines to
Brooklyn and Staten Island.
PLATE 10.-Map showing storage reservoir
system in upper Hudson watershed, designed to increase the low-water flow
of Hudson River; also aqueducts from proposed filter plants near
Poughkeepsie to New York City, one delivering the water at elevation 131.5
ft. and the other at 260 ft. above sea level.
PLATE 11.-Map showing the watershed of
Wallkill River, with location of proposed storage reservoir, filters,
aqueduct line, covered distributing reservoir and pipe lines to Brooklyn
and Staten Island; also watershed of present Croton system, and of Ten
Mile River.
DIAGRAM 1 - Minetta Brook Drainage Area
Above 6th Avenue; Sewer Gauge
Diagram Showing Waste of Water in Manhattan
and the Bronx
PLATE 12 .- Profile of Adirondack Aqueduct from Schroon Lake to New York
City.
PLATE 13 Same as above (continued)
PLATE 14 .- Same as above
PLATE 15.- Same as above
PLATE 16.-Same as above
PLATE 17.- Same as above
PLATE 18 .-Profile of Poughkeepsie Low Level Aqueduct from Poughkeepsie to
New York City.
PLATE 19 . Same as above (continued) .
PLATE 20 .- Profile of Poughkeepsie High Level Aqueduct from Poughkeepsie
to New York City .
PLATE 21 .- Same as above (continued ) .
PLATE 22 .-Profile of Wallkill Aqueduct from the Wallkill River to New
York City.
PLATE 23.-Same as above (continued)
PLATE 24. Map of a Part of the Borough of
Manhattan, Showing Proposed Installation of Sea Water Pipes.
PLATE 25. Map of a Part of the Borough of
Queens, Showing Proposed Installation of Sea Water Pipes.
Page 448: Water Rights Which Can
Exclude New York City From Entire Water Sheds
1900 The
History of Public Franchises in New York City (Boroughs of Manhattan
and the Bronx), by Gustavus Myers
Chapter III: Water Supply
1900 Third
Annual Report of the Department of Water Supply of the City of New
York
Pages 102-103: Table
showing yearly revenue from Croton water from October 5, 1842 to
January 1, 1901
1901 "New
York Water Works," Fire and Water 29:197-203 (June 15, 1901)
The Croton Dam and Watershed. Jerome Park Reservoir. The
Distribution System of Manhattan, with views of the principal works of
interest.
1902 "State
Forest Preserve," The New York Times, March 11, 1902, Page
7.
Protest by Merchants Against Proposed Amendments. The Question of
Water Supply.
Next comes the consideration of the important Question of water supply as
it is affected by the proposed changes. On this subject the committee
speaks as follows:
This question of a water supply is one whose importance is borne in upon
our attention with an irresistible and impressive force by a passing study
of the increase in population of New York City proper in the last century.
Starting in 1800 with 60,000 inhabitants, the increase has been equal to
an average gain every decade of about 11 per cent.; while in the last five
decades Brooklyn has surpassed this in her average growth.
But assuming that the average increase each decade of this metropolitan
district will be but 3O per cent., an annual increase of only about 3 per
cent., her population in 1920 would reach 6,000,000; and there are
thousands now living who will in 1950 see this metropolis, containing
13,000,000 people, or about twice the size of the present population of
the whole State.
Again the Greater New York is, and must continue to be, the greatest
manufacturing centre of the country, and her consumption of water,
therefore, will be much greater per head than it would be otherwise.
Placing this at the low figure of 150 gallons a day per capita in 1920,
and 180 gallons in 1950, the city would require at the former period
900,000,000 gallons, and a half century hence 2,340,000,000 gallons a day.
The daily use of such enormous volumes of water in the approximate future
raises at once the question as to their sources and the means by which
they are to be furnished.
To these everlasting hills of the Catskills and Adirondacks which seem to
have been upreared by an omnipotent and creative hand for this beneficent
purpose, and to the forests clothing their uplands and heights, and which
alone can draw from the inexhaustible reservoirs of the clouds the full
bounty of their life-giving springs we must turn for ths solution of this
problem and its kindred ones.
1902 "Concerning the Water Supply of New York," by Benjamin S. Church, formerly Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, The New York Times, November 30, 1902, Page 11.
1902 Concerning the Water Supply of New York, by Benjamin S. Church. Reprint of 1902 New York Times article with added material. Missing pages 4 and 5 were replaced using text from the 1903 Water and Gas Review article below.
1903 "Concerning
the Water Supply of New York," Water and Gas Review 13(7):43
(January, 1902):
Omitted Portions of Chief Engineer Church's Communication Presented.
Additional Interesting Facts and Figures
1903 Report of the Commission on Additional Water Supply for the City of New York: Made to Robert Grier Monroe, Commissioner of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity ... November 30, 1903
1904 "Salt Water Fire Protection for New York City," Scientific American, 90:170 (February 27, 1904)
1904 Sixty-six
Years Business Record For Family Reference, by José F. de
Navarro
Pages 37-: Fourth Business Enterprise. Ingersoll Rock Drill Company.
This Company grew out of my machine factory in Second Avenue, where I
manufactured the ten thousand water meters for the City of New York, under
contract with the Department of Public Works under W. M. Tweed. They were
built under the sanction and advice of Comptroller Andrew H. Green, who
afterwards turned around and opposed its payment for personal selfish
political reasons, keeping up a costly litigation for ten years, which
cost the city about $700,000 additional for 7 per cent. interest, costs,
and other incidental expenses. The Court of Appeals in their decision went
so far out of the ordinary as to clear me of any impropriety in the
matter, and my original bill of $700,000 (which swelled to over $1,400,000
when interest, costs and expenses were included) was paid me in full under
the administration of Mayor W. R. Grace.
I made up my mind then never again to deal with any political
corporations. With the experience acquired in manufacturing the water
meters and the tools and utensils on hand, Sergent and Collingworth, my
two late capable, honest foremen, and myself, formed a company for jobbing
purposes in the machinery line. Then, with the profits in that business,
we succeeded in picking up the whole of the capital stock of the Ingersoll
Rock Drill Company, a broken-down concern. After perfecting their
defective machines, we made an immense success.
1905 "300-mile
Waterpipe to Supply New York," The Minneapolis Journal,
March 13, 1905, Page 3.
Mr. Armstrong would run an immense pipe from Lake Erie, 300 miles away, to
New York, in which 1,000,000,000 gallons of water would be conveyed to the
city every twenty-four hours. The conduit would pass through some of
the most populous cities of the state, which, of course, would use the
water and pay part of the expense.
Mr. Armstrong would reduce the pressure of 200 pounds to the inch, which
he estimates would be the figure when the supply reaches the city, by
running it through waterwheels, generating power enough to light the city
of New York. The estimated cost of the whole project is estimated at
$150,000,000.
1905 "Come West for Water," Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, South Dakota, May 4, 1905, Page 2.
1905 "To Lakes for
Water," New-York
Tribune, March 16, 1905, Page 3.
New Apgar Bill would allow Any City to Tap New-York Mains
1905 "New York Water Supply," The Journal of Gas Lighting, Water Supply & Sanitary Improvement 90:458 (May 16, 1905)
1905 "To Take Water from Lake Erie," Fire and Water Engineering 38:120 (August 26, 1905)
1905 Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment: October 9, 1905 by New York Board of Water Supply
1905 Report on Filtration of the Water Supply of the City of New York by Thomas Darlington, M.D., Commissioner of Health
1906 Waste of water in New York and its reduction by meters and inspection. A report by James H. Fuertes, C.E., to the Committee on Water-Supply of the Merchants' Association of New York; also A Digest of Laws Governing the Use of Water-Meters in New York, by Alfred L. Marilley; and A Summary of Present Conditions Relating to the Water-Supply of New York, by J. Hampden Dougherty (June, 1906)
1906
Fire and Water Engineering 39(17):221 (April 28, 1906)
The “most glaring misuse of city water discovered in years” has just been
unearthed. The New York Central Railroad company, it is alleged by the
city’s water department, has used $200,000 worth of water during the past
twenty years, without paying a cent for it. Inspectors in that department
claim to have discovered fifteen Croton hydrants in the company’s freight
yards, none of which was metered. Another inspector declares that he saw
nine Central railway tugs and two of its floats filled with water from an
unmetered hydrant on pier 89, at the foot of West Fifty-ninth street.
Photographs have to be taken to be used in suits against the company to
recover damages.
1906 Annual report of the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity of the City of New York
1906 First Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York | Volumes 1-68 at Hathitrust |
1907 Report to the Aqueduct Commissioners
1907 City of New York Additional Water Supply Catskill Aqueduct Inauguration of Construction near Peekskill, N.Y. June 20, 1907 by Board of Water Supply
1907 Second Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1908 Third Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1909 "The World's Greatest Aqueduct," by Alfred Douglass Flinn, The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 78(5):707-721 (September 1909) | also here |
1909 "The New York High-Pressure Water System," Proceedings of the Thirty-Second Convention of the National Electric Light Association 36(2):ii,653-667 (1909)
1909 "High-Pressure Fire-Service Pumps of New York City," by Prof. R.C. Carpenter, from Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 31(7):839-864 (November, 1909) | Discussion 32(3):391-408 (March, 1910)
1909 "High Pressure Fire-Service Pumps of New York City," by Prof. R.C. Carpenter, from Power and the Engineer 31:760-761 (November 2, 1909)
1909 The distribution in New York of the Catskill water supply; special report by Lindon Bates, jr., consulting engineer, to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, December 10th, 1909, by Lindon Bates, Jr.
1909 "Water
Tunnel under New York City," Municipal Journal and Engineer
27:897 (December 15, 1909)
The Board of Estimates has adopted plans for building a $30,000,000 tunnel
in solid rock under Manhattan Island to distribute the water supply from
the Catskill system. The report of a committee of engineers to whom
the matter has been referred was that the original pipe line plan would
cost $10,000,000, whereas the new tunnel plan would cost $25,000,000 or
more. However, there is estimated to be a saving in the cost of connecting
mains amounting to 50 per cent. The tunnel is to be 17½ miles long
beginning at Hill View Reservoir, north of the New York City line at an
elevation of -20, where the diameter will be 17½ feet. Through the city
the elevation will range from -140 to -600, according to the solidity of
the rock through which it goes. Under the East River, where the tunnel
crosses to Brooklyn, the diameter will be 11 feet.
1909 Fourth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1910 "The Construction of the New Croton Dam," by Edward Wegmann and J.B. Goldsborough, The Journal of the American Society of Engineering Contractors 2(9):384-444 (November, 1910)
1910 Fifth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1911 Sixth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1912 "Underlying
Water Supplies of Manhattan," Fire and Water Engineering
52:160 (September 4, 1912)
The drilling of so many artesian wells in the Borough of Manhattan. New
York, has thrown considerable light on the underlying mica-schist and the
long unbroken cores of stone that form a feature. The water lies beneath
this quasi-granitic formation and these long bars of quartz that bold the
cores together. The existence of these solid cores has been known nearly
ever since drilling has been practised on Manhattan Island, but it is only
of late that solid cores of 4½ inches in diameter and 14 feet 6 inches in
length have been brought out of the depths by the use of the shot-bore
drill (so-called because small steel shot is fed down to the bottom of a
6-inch bore through the drill itself, the shot being poured into the
hollow of the tube). Each core tube is 15 feet long, and as soon as the
drill has gone down 30 feet (two core tube lengths), a 10-foot length of
hollow rod is adjusted until the drill arm is made of 68 separate bars.
When the core tube is filled with rock it is raised and the numerous
sections are removed. As a rule, these tube cores are broken up into small
pieces, but in one tube, that in the areaway between the Maritime,
Chesebrough and Battery Park buildings at Pearl and State streets, where
the drill has reached a depth of 685 feet without as vet finding water. In
some cases, however, as in the one just referred to, tube cores 10 or 12
feet long are brought up. The long bores are removed by a 40-foot skeleton
tower.
When water is struck, it does not shoot up suddenly or ascend to any great
height, but comes up the side of the drill to. perhaps, within 30 feet of
the surface, and is raised to the top by the use of a deep-well pumn,
after which it is analyzed by the board of health, which decides whether
it is fit for drinking, manufacturing or only washing and sprinkling
purposes.
These wells are in request for breweries, bakeries and candy factories, as
well as for laundries and factories They give a large and continuous flow,
In Hudson street, two 8-inch wells furnish 18 gallons a minute: two wells
in Prince street, give a supply of 200 gallons a minute: one in Canal
street, near Hudson, supplies 100,000 gallons a day; two 8-inch wells in
Canal street, near Hudson, give 100,000 gallons a day; four wells in
Vandam street, about 40 feet deen, give water for condensing purposes. The
University Club has a well 700 feet deep, which furnishes the water for
the ice machines; at Scribners’ a 400-foot well provides 81 gallons a
minute; a 750-foot well in a Vesey street office building, furnishes
30,000 gallons in 12 hours.
1912 Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1913 The Catskill water supply of New York City: history, location, sub-surface investigations and construction by Lazarus White
1913 Eighth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1914 "The
Croton water supply : its quality and purification," by George W.
Fuller, from Journal of the American Water Works Association
1(1):135-187 (March, 1914) | also here
|
Page 137: The water is led to the city through two masonry
aqueducts; the first, the old Croton aqueduct, a cut and cover brick
horseshoe section, with an area of 53.34 square feet; the second, the new
Croton aqueduct, a grade tunnel of horseshoe section, with an area of
155.6 square feet.
1914 Report on the Desirability of Converting the Croton Water System from a Gravity to a Pumped Supply to the Committee on Fire Prevention and Insurance of the Merchants' Association of New York, by James Hillhouse Fuertes
1914 Ninth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1915 "Manhattan Requires Increased Water Pressure," Greater New York: Bulletin of the Merchants' Association of New York 4(2):6-8 (January 11, 1915)
1915 Ramapo Water Company, Appt., v. City of New York and Charles Strauss, Charles N. Chadwick, and John F. Galvin, Individually and as Members of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York, 236 U.S. 579, March 8, 1915, United States Supreme Court
1915 Tenth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1915 Handbook
of the New-York Public Library
Page 79: The Croton Reservoir [Note these tablets don't appear to
exist anymore.]
1916 Catskill water supply: A general description by New York Board of Water Supply
1916 Eleventh Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1917 The Regulation of Private Water Companies in New York City, by Delos Franklin Wilcox, Reprinted from the Journal of the New England Water Works Association 31(4):550-574 (December, 1917)
1917 "Water Works History" from Twenty Second Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society
1917 Exhibition illustrating the history of the water supply of the city of New York from 1639 to 1917, by Victor Hugo Paltsits
1917 A Brief Sketch of the Municipal Water Supply System of the City of New York by New York Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity
1917 The Catskill Aqueduct and Earlier Water Supplies of the City of New York: With Elementary Chapters on the Source and Uses of Water and the Building of Aqueducts, and an Outline for an Allegorical Pageant by New York Mayor's Catskill Aqueduct Celebration Committee and Edward Hageman Hall
1917 "Catskill Aqueduct Celebration," from Twenty Second Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, May 3, 1917
1917 "Water Works History" from Twenty Second Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, May 3, 1917.
1917 Twelfth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1918 "New York City's Catskill Mountain Water Supply," by Alfred D. Flinn, Professional Memoirs, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, and Engineer Department at Large 10(51):269-305 (May-June, 1918)
1918 Thirteenth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1919 Fourteenth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1920 Fifteenth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1921 Sixteenth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1922 "Charles
G. Armstrong, Engineer," The New York Times, September 12,
1922, Page 21.
Charles G. Armstrong, an engineer was found dead yesterday in his home in
Jersey City.
1922 Seventeenth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1923 Eighteenth Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1927 The Memoirs of Stephen Allen: (1767-1852) Sometime Mayor of New York City, Chairman of the (Croton) Water Commissioners, Etc. Etc, edited, with an introduction and notes by John C. Travis, one of his great-grandsons. October 17, 1927.
1928 Catskill water supply. A general description, by Board of Water Supply of the City of New York. December, 1928.
1931 New Jersey v. New York, 283 U.S. 805, May 25, 1931, United States Supreme Court
1932 "World's Longest Water Tunnel" from Popular Science, Volume 121, Number 6, Page 35 (December 1932) City water tunnel number 2
1936 General description of the Catskill water supply : and of the project for an additional supply from the Delaware River watershed and the Rondout Creek, by Board of Water Supply of the City of New York.
1937 "Giant Tube to Supply Water for Ten Milllions" from Popular Science, Volume 68, Number 2, Page 214-215 (August 1937)
1938 Map of the Water Supply of the City of New York
1940 Survey of Water Consumption in the City of New York: Final Report, December 1940.
1940 A General Description of the Catskill Water Supply, Board of Water Supply of the City of New York
1937 The Water supply of the city of New York.
1948 William
C. Whitney, Modern Warwick, by Mark David Hirsch
Page 127: Navarro water meter case
1949 "Heights
Gets Water Station," Daily News (New York, New York),
December 16, 1949, Page 60.
A modern pumping station, built at 179th St. and Amsterdam Avenue. at a
cost of $863,000 to provide 50,000,000 gallons of water daily to 250,000
residents, was opened yesterday by the Department of Water Supply.
The station is operated by electricity and replaces a steam station
situated nearby on the banks of the Harlem River. The old station
will be razed.
1950 "A Report on the New York City Water Supply and the Effect Water Meters Would Have on That Supply," American City Magazine 65: (February 1950)
1950 The Water Supply of the City of New York: A Volume Descriptive of Its Sources, Storage Reserviors and Transportation, with Certain Construction Features of the Catskill, Delaware and Interconnected Water Supply Systems, New York Board of Water Supply, September, 1950 | Also here |
1952 Water supply of the City of New York.by New York Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity.
1954 Amended Decree, June 7, 1954, Supreme Court of the United States
1956 Water for the Cities: A History of the Urban Water Supply Problem in the United States by Nelson Blake, includes several chapters on New York City.
1962 "New York City," from Public Water Supplies of the 100 Largest Cities in the United States, 1962, US Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1812, by Charles Norman Durfor and Edith Becker
1971 The reminiscences of John B. Jervis, engineer of the Old Croton. Edited, with introduction, by Neal Fitzsimons. Foreword by Robert Vogel.
1974 Water for a city: A history of New York City's problem from the beginning to the Delaware River system, by Charles H. Weidner.
1977 "Manhattan Life Line: Engineering the Old Croton Aqueduct, 1833-1842," by Larry Dean Lankton. PhD Dissertation in American Studies, University of Pennsylvania. This was printed in a slightly revised format by the Historic American Engineering Report in 1979 (see below).
1977 "The "practicable" engineer: John B. Jervis and the old Croton Aqueduct," by Larry D. Lankton, Essays in Public Works History 5:1-30 (1977)
1978 "The Old Croton Aqueduct," by George H. Rappole, IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology 4(1):15-25 (1978)
1978 "Valley Crossings on the Old Croton Aqueduct," by Larry D. Lankton IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology 4(1):27-42 (1978)
1979 "Old Croton Aqueduct," by Larry D. Lankton, Historic American Engineering Report (HAER NY-120), included in Old Croton Aqueduct, New York County, NY at Library of Congress. Slightly revised version of his 1977 dissertation (see above). The title is often given as "Manhattan Life Line," which was his 1977 dissertation, but that phrase doesn't appear in the 1979 version.
1981 "The Imposition of New York City's Water and Sewer Rents on Non-Profit Institutions," by Adam Hoffinger, Fordham Urban Law Journal 9(3):697-718 (1981)
1982 The
Catskills: From Wilderness to Woodstock, by Alf Evers
Pages 590-599: Chapter 78. The Ashokan Reservoir is Built
1991 "Croton Aqueduct," National Register of Historic Places.
1992 The Old Croton Aqueduct: Rural Resources Meet Urban Needs, by Jeffrey Kroessler
1993 Water for New York City, Edward Hageman Hall, revision of The Catskill Aqueduct and Earlier Water Supplies of the City of New York: With Elementary Chapters on the Source and Uses of Water and the Building of Aqueducts, and an Outline for an Allegorical Pageant by Edward Hageman Hall (1917)
1996 "The hydraulics revolution: Science and technical design of urban water supply in the enlightenment," by Edward Howard Winant, PhD dissertation in History, West Virginia University. Includes chapters on the history of water works in New York City.
1997 New York City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement
2000 Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply: Assessing the New York City Strategy
2000 Water for Gotham by Gerard T. Koeppel
2002 Liquid Assets: A History of New York City's Water System, by Diane Galusha
2006 Water-works
: the architecture and engineering of the New York City water supply,
by Kevin Bone, Gina Pollara, Albert F. Appleton. This is an
excellent book with many photographs and engineering drawings.
Pages 26-51: "The
Rise to Croton," by Gerard Koppel
2006 New York City Universal Water Metering Program Audit
2011 The Croton Waterworks: A Guide to the Preservation and Interpretation of Historic Infrastructure, Historic Preservation Studio II, Spring 2011
2013 History of NYC Water System by Catskill Watershed Corporation
2013 The Contentious History of Supplying Water to Manhattan by Lauren Robinson, Museum of the City of New York
2013 Empire of Water: An Environmental and Political History of the New York City Water Supply by David Soll
2014 The Croton and Catskill Systems: Meeting the Demand for Water in New York City by Lauren Robinson, Museum of the City of New York
2015 Delaware Aqueduct Rondout-West Branch Bypass Tunnel Project
2015 Gilboa Dam Reconstruction Project
2015 New York City Tunnel No. 3
2016 Rare early stereoviews of High Bridge Aqueduct
2022 "New
York City Prepares to Shut Down the Delaware Aqueduct," by Liam
Mayo, The River, June 2, 2022
New York City Prepares to Shut Down the Delaware Aqueduct
Old Croton Aqueduct from Wikipedia
New Croton Aqueduct from Wikipedia
Neversink Reservoir from Wikipedia
Catskill Aqueduct from Wikipedia
Croton Aqueducts from Croton Histories & Mysteries
Delaware Aqueduct from Wikipedia
Evolution of New York City's Water Supply
Croton Aqueduct, includes links to additional HAER reports
Proceedings
of the Board of Councilmen of the City of New York.
Introduction
and Index to the Papers of John Bloomfield Jervis, Jervis Public
Library, Rome, New York
Croton
Water Maps from the New York Public Library
Croton
Water Supply System, American Society of Civil Engineers
Wooden Cisterns
Water
towers: NYC's misunderstood icons
NYC water towers: History, use, and infrastructure
NYC’s wooden water tanks plagued by ‘widespread neglect’: report
Up on the Roof: NYC's Water Tanks Are Here to Stay
© 2018 Morris A. Pierce
