Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXXII, June, 1911: Water Purification Plant, Washington, D. C. Results of Operation. — John Shaqi
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXXII, June, 1911: Water Purification Plant, Washington, D. C. Results of Operation.American Society of Civil Engineers
Science
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXXII, June, 1911: Water Purification Plant, Washington, D. C. Results of Operation.
American Society of Civil Engineers
Civil engineering -- Periodicals; Water treatment plants
While a considerable reduction in turbidity is effected in each of
the reservoirs, the bulk of the mud is deposited at the upper end of
Dalecarlia Reservoir. This reservoir had become so completely
filled, that, in 1905, it was necessary to dredge a channel through
the deposit, in order to allow the water to pass it. During the
summers of 1907 and 1908, a 10-in. hydraulic dredge removed more
than 100,000 cu. yd. of mud which had been deposited in this
reservoir. The mud deposited in Georgetown and McMillan Park
Reservoirs is so fine that the accumulation of many years is not
very noticeable in its effect on the depth of water.
The particles of clay which remain in the water after its passage
through the three reservoirs, are so exceedingly small that they do
not settle out in any reasonable length of time. Even the filtration
of the water through one or more slow sand filters occasionally
fails to remove the last trace of turbidity. This is especially true
in the colder months, and not a winter has passed when the water
supply has not been noticeably turbid at some time.
A general idea of the quantity of mud contained in the river water,
the quantity excluded by closing the gates at Great Falls, and that
removed by sedimentation and filtration, may be gained from Table 2,
which is, of course, only a rough approximation.
Table 2 also shows that the gates were closed 10.50% of the time,
thereby excluding 40.06% of the total suspended matter which
otherwise would have entered the system.
The turbidities, bacterial counts, and chemical analyses of numerous
samples of water are shown in Tables 3, 4, 5, and 6. The amount of
work done in the pumping station, average consumption of water,
death rate from typhoid fever, and filter runs are shown in Tables
7, 8, 9, and 10.
_Raking._--At the time the filters were first put in service, the
sand bins had not been completed, and, consequently, the work of
cleaning the filters was carried on in the old-fashioned way of
scraping by hand and wheeling out the sand in barrows. This method
of cleaning was used from October, 1905, to April, 1906; then the
regular sand-handling system was commenced.
At times, during the first two summers the filters were in
operation, considerable difficulty was experienced in keeping them
cleaned as fast as was necessary to provide an ample supply of
filtered water. For a short period in each summer it was found
necessary to organize night shifts, and keep the work of cleaning
in progress for from 16 to 24 hours per day.
[Illustration: ~Figure 2--General Plan of Washington Filtration Plant
Showing Finished Surfaces.~]
~Table 2--Tons of Suspended Matter Entering System, Etc.~
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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