Documentary History of American Water-works

Ohio

Columbus

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus was incorporated as a city in 1834.

The city built a Holly water system that began service on May 1, 1871. The system was designed by Joseph L. Pillsbury and the construction engineer was George W. Platt

The original system had two Holly rotary pumps and a reciprocating gang pump. A new plant was built in 1874 with two Holly Quadraplex engines.

Water is supplied by the City of Columbus.

References
1856 Remarks on a water supply for the City of Columbus, by Joseph Sullivant, May 26, 1856. Printed by order of the Columbus City Council,

1857 "Report of the Committee on the Fire Department," Columbus Gazette, March 13, 1857, Page 1. Description of proposed water works.

1857 "Water Works," Columbus Gazette, March 27, 1857, Page 3. Letter to newspaper.

1857 "Water Works," Columbus Gazette, April 3, 1857, Page 3. Letters to newspaper.

1859 "Water Works," Columbus Gazette, July 22, 1859, Page 2.
Plan of Jonathan Ball of Jersey City to construct water works.

1859 "Artesian Well," Columbus Gazette, July 29, 1859, Page 3. Report on well at state capitol.

1859 "City Water Works," Columbus Gazette, July 29, 1859, Page 3.

1859 "Water Works Letters," Columbus Gazette, August 5, 1859, Page 2.

1859 "Water Works," Columbus Gazette, August 19, 1859, Page 3. Committee appointed by Council.

1859 "The Water Works and Communication from J. Sullivant," Columbus Gazette, August 26, 1859, Page 3.

1861 Daily Ohio Statesman (Columbus, Ohio), March 26, 1861, Page 3.
Description of water works proposed by Chief Engineer of Fire Department.

1868 "Common Council Proceedings," Daily Ohio Statesman, October 6, 1868, Page 3.
Mr. Armstrong, from committee on Water Works, presented an estimate of cost of water works for the city of Columbus, Holly system machinery, prepared by Wm. C. Weir.

1869 "The Water Works' Well," Daily Ohio Statesman, October 5, 1869, Page 1.
Mr. William C. Weir, the Holly Engineer, has investigated the accomplishment and says, that enough has been enough has been done to assure him that an adequate supply of water for this city can be obtained by means of a large well at that point.

1871 First Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1871.

1872 Second Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1872.

1873 Third Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1873.

1873 The Pittsburgh Daily Gazette, February 4, 1873, Page 2.
The Holly Water Works, which has cost Columbus, Ohio, $550,000, or about double the original estimate, it is said are already a failure.

1873 Columbus, Ohio: Its History, Resources, and Progress, by Jacob Henry Studer
Pages 136-142: Water works

1874 Fourth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1874.

1875 Fifth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1875.

1876 Sixth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1876.

1877 Seventh Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1877.

1878 Eighth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1878.

1878 "The Holly System of Water Supply and Fire Protection for Cities and Villages," Scientific American Supplement, 6(140supp):2219-2234 (September 7, 1878)

1879 Ninth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1879.

1880 Tenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1880.

1881 Columbus, from Engineering News 8:329 (August 13, 1881)

1882 Twelfth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1882.

1882 Columbus from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.

1883 Thirteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1883.

1884 Fourteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1884.

1885 Fifteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1885.

1886 Sixteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1886.

1887 Seventeenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1887.

1888 Eighteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1888.

1888 "A Big Water Project," Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), November 24, 1888, Page 1.
Cleveland, Nov. 23. - A project is on foot among capitalists here to supply the cities and towns of Ohio with water from Lake Erie. They think a large pipe line 230 miles long can be operated as successfully as tbe small pipe 600 miles long, which carries oil to Chicago. It is designed to run the water pipe line direct to Columbus and thence to Cincinnati. Reservoirs are to be constructed for securing an uninterrupted flow in case of accident. The main line would be tapped to supply smaller cities.

1888 "Columbus," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1889 Nineteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1889.

1890 Twentieth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Water Works, for the year ending March 31, 1890.

1890 "Columbus," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.

1891 "Report of the Water Works Department," from Annual Reports of the Various Departments of the City of Columbus, Ohio for the year ending March 31, 1891

1891 "Columbus," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.

1892 History of the City of Columbus, Capital of Ohio, Volume 2, by Alfred Emory Lee.
Pages 541-561: Water Supply, Fire Protection and Street Lighting

1897 "Columbus," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.

1899 "A Brief Account of the Columbus, Ohio, Water Works," by Julian Griggs, Chief Engineer, Columbus, Ohio. Report of Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the American Water Works Association, held at the Great Southern Hotel, Columbus, O., May 16, 17, 18, 19, 1899. 19:69-81 (1899)

1901 Report on the Improved Water Supply of the City of Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 2, 1901, Samuel Merrill Gray

1901 Annual Reports of the Various Departments of the City of Columbus, Ohio, Together with a Financial Statement of the Receipts and Disbursements for the Year Ending December 31, 1901.

1902 Annual Reports of the Various Departments of the City of Columbus, Ohio, Together with a Financial Statement of the Receipts and Disbursements for the Year Ending December 31, 1902.

1910 Annual Report of the Division of Water of the City of Columbus, Ohio for the year 1910

1910 The Improved Water and Sewage Works of Columbus, Ohio, by John H. Gregory, American Society of Civil Engineers

1911 Forty-First Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1911.

1914 Forty-Forth Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1914.

1916 Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1916.

1917 Forty-Seventh Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1917.

1918 Forty-Eighth Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1918.

1919 Forty-Ninth Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1919.

1920 Fiftieth Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1920.

1920 History of the City of Columbus, Ohio: From the Founding of Franklinton in 1797, Through the World War Period, to the Year 1920, by Osman Castle Hooper | Also here |

1921 Fiftieth Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1921.

1922 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1922.

1923 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1923.

1924 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1924.

1925 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1925.

1926 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1926.

1927 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1927.

1928 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1928.

1929 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1929.

1930 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1930.

1931 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1931.

1932 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1932.

1933 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1933.

1934 Annual Report of the Division of Water, 1934.

1962 "Columbus," 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

2012 The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908: Waterworks that Changed the World, by Conrade C. Hinds
After Senator Marcus Hanna, a presidential hopeful at the turn of the twentieth century, contracted typhoid from Columbus tap water and died soon after, the embarrassed city rushed into action. The Columbus Experiment was born. Scientists and a group of nationally renowned men who were taught the science of sanitary engineering at MIT by a forgotten and uncredited female chemist devised a plan and mobilized an army of workers into action, in spite of the ceaseless internal strife of city politicians. The result was a water-treatment system that virtually eliminated the scourge of typhoid, cholera and many other waterborne diseases from the civilized world, saving millions of lives.