Water resource

“ That in time of flood a large proportion, both of the suspended and dissolved filth, is conveyed down to the intakes, and in ordinary weather considerable portion of soluble organic matter makes its way to the pumping works, and is still present in the water distributed to the consumers. ”

“ Water, for ordinary purposes, on the banks of rivers or lakes, may be regarded as of unlimited abundance; but if required for irrigation, it may even there be insufficient to supply all wants, while in places which depend for their consumption on cisterns or tanks, or on wells which are not copious, or are liable to fail, water takes its place among things the quantity of which is most strictly limited. ”

“ In the case of deep-seated wells, the probable yield of water must depend, primarily, upon the area of permeable strata likely to affect the supply, and upon the facilities those strata may offer for the passage of water ”

“ Chapters three and four deal with the artificial and natural purification of water. These are the most important portions of the book to the engineer and taxpayer, taking up the question of water supply in its economic and commercial aspects, both as regards the general town supply and also in reference to individual household filtration. The physical forces and forms with which we have to reckon are next considered under Rain, Ice, Snow, and River and Stream Water. ”

“ The natural water supply—the stream flowing from the distant moor, pure and limpid till it reaches the first large village or town upon its banks—is fouled by dyes and sewerage and abominations of every kind, and flows on to be rendered ever more and more foul by every town it passes till it reaches the sea. Meanwhile the dwellers in the towns must seek elsewhere for the supply of pure water, so essential to their life, and often they are driven far-a-field in their search. ”

“ Yet the hilly parts of the last-named country are rich in magnificent sites at sufficient altitudes for the supply of any parts by gravitation, and capable, if properly laid out, of affording a volume of water, throughout the driest seasons, far in excess of the probable demand for a long future. ”

“ Pipes run under the streets from the river to all the buildings of the town. There are big pumping stations on the river bank to pump the water out of the river through pipes to the houses. Millions of gallons of water are pumped each day into the homes, schools, mills and factories. For what is this water used?
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Plants need more than good soil to make them grow. They will wither and die unless they have plenty of rain to keep the earth soft and moist. There are many places in the world where no trees, nor grass, nor plants of any kind can grow. ”

“ Thus increasing to a degree approaching perfection, the purity and abundance of the crystal flood, that shall flow from a countless multitude of new springs of living water. The volume of water from these springs, shall furnish a supply sufficient to maintain with full channels, a perpetual flow in that net-work of lakes and rivers, that arterial system of fertility and commerce, which variegates and adorns the bright face of our fair land. ”

“ Thus, by this simple agency of evaporation, the vast quantities of water that are constantly flowing, in all the rivers of the earth, into the sea, are brought back again to the land, and so the great system of circulation is maintained throughout the ages. ”

“ In considering the principles of well supplies it is important to bear the following facts in mind. The crust of the earth, so far as it is permeable and above the sea-level, receives from rainfall its supply of fresh water. That supply, so far as it is not evaporated or absorbed by vegetation, passes away by the streams or rivers, or sinks into the ground. If the strata were uniformly porous the water would lie in the rock at different depths below the surface according to the previous quantity and distribution of the rainfall. ”

“ If there be no natural lake available in the district for storage and supply, or if the engineer cannot draw upon some stream of sufficient size, he must form artificial Water supply. reservoirs in suitable situations, and the conditions which must be attended to in selecting the positions of these and in constructing them are the same as those for drinking-water supply, except that the purity of the water is not a matter of moment. ”

“ THE WATER RAM.
As water, and that of a good quality, and in abundant quantity, is indispensable to the various demands of the farm, it is worth some pains to provide it in the most economical manner, and at the most convenient points for use. In level grounds, wells are generally dug, and the water drawn up by buckets or pumps. In a hilly country, springs, and streams from higher grounds, may be brought in by the aid of pipes, the water flowing naturally, under its own head, wherever it may be wanted, away from its natural stream. ”

“ From the foregoing it is seen that the question of water supply has engaged the energies of man from pre-historic times. These great irrigating works are found, however, in regions of sterility, or light rainfall, from the rude irrigating canals of ancient Peru and Arizona to the marvellous accomplishments of the hydraulic engineer in India and Egypt. ”

“ Amongst causes of variation in the quantity of water needed will be its quality and temperature and rate of flow, the climate, the season, the soil, the subsoil, the artificial drainage, the slope, the aspect and the crop. In actual practice the amount of water varies from 300 gallons per acre in the hour to no less than 28,000 gallons. Where water is used, as in dry and hot countries, simply as water, less is generally needed than in cold, damp and northerly climates, where the higher temperature and the action of the water as manure are of more consequence. ”

“ I wish to re-emphasize the critical importance of the wise use and conservation of our great natural resources of land, forests, minerals and water and their long-range development consistent with our agricultural policy. Water in particular now plays an increasing role in industrial processes, in the irrigation of land, in electric power, as well as in domestic uses. At the same time, it has the potential of damage and disaster. ”

“ In towns the rain carries down with it blacks, dust, and organic matter in suspension in the air. Rivers are probably the most usual sources of supply for our drinking-waters, and where due care is exercised to prevent contamination from sewers, factories, etc., this variety of water is one of the least objectionable. ”

“ We bore into the ground and drill wells in order to obtain water from hidden sources; we utilize rapidly flowing streams to drive the wheels of commerce, but the total amount of water remains practically unchanged. ”

“ Where the surface soil and underlying drift possess sufficient porous qualities for absorption of a large portion of the rain-fall, together with the natural benefits of the impervious stratum beneath, having a proper axis of inclination favorable for conducting the infiltration of adjoining water-sheds, a large supply of water may be secured by the construction of dug wells for intercepting the subterraneous water. ”

“ The former part of the volume is occupied with discussion of the laws that govern stream-flow, rainfall, evaporation, ground storage, surface storage, and surface or flood flows. Gauging flows and the method of computing them are next considered. The local water systems are then described. The latter part of the book is devoted to generalizations as to water supply, chemical analyses, public water supplies, water power, evaporation, ground storage, effects of vegetation, and stream-flow; and a list of the developed water powers and the drainage systems is given in the appendix. ”

“ The water of irrigation, on the other hand, is applied for many months in succession, it is drawn from rivers and canals at the seasons when the proportion of salts is greatest, and it either sinks into the superficial soil, carrying with it the saline substances it holds in solution, or is evaporated from the surface, leaving them upon it. ”

“ The teaching of it all is that the amount of water which can be utilized by the soil, not merely for the sake of the growth of the plants themselves, but to make up for the demands of evaporation, is very high. ”

“ The filtration of water may now be considered. The water of our wells is presented by nature ready filtered to the hand of man, and often exhibits an admirable degree of transparency and purity. It acquires this state by percolating through the mineral strata of the earth, which deprives it of the organic matter it derives from the soil and subsoil, but, at the same time, it dissolves a portion of the saline and earthy media through which it passes, and hence acquires that peculiar ‘hardness’ which is constantly found in spring water. ”

“ But it seldom happens that pure water is employed for the purposes of irrigation. The water of rivers, more generally, is diverted from its course, more or less loaded with mud and other finer particles of matter, which are either gradually filtered from it as it passes over and through the soil, or in the case of floods subside naturally when the waters come to rest. ”

“ The essential need on Earth’s surface for growth of vegetation, and the sustenance of life, depending thereon in some form, is in universal irrigation, which Nature failed to furnish by its internal provision of water with its outflow of springs and lakes, except by artificial use. The rainfall on the Earth is no more intended for filling of springs, lakes and seas than it is for supplying us with fuel. ”

“ For all this, in that pure, clear water, there is a continual process of production,—not only from the soil at the bottom of the sea, but the salt-water itself contains the germs of material substances, that sustain life, or become, themselves, living things, by what appears, to our ignorant eyes, spontaneous production. ”

“ Its fresh air, and the air which follows the descent of the water-table, carries oxygen to the organic and [pg 025] mineral parts of the soil, and hastens the rust and decay by which these are prepared for the uses of vegetation. The water itself supplies, by means of their power of absorption, the moisture which is needed by the particles of the soil; and, having performed its work, it goes down to the level of the water below, and, swelling the tide above the brink of the dam, sets the drains running, until it is all removed. ”

“ Water from moors and peat-bogs or from gravel or ferruginous sandstone is generally of small utility so far as plant food is concerned. River water, especially that which has received town sewage, or the drainage of highly manured land, would naturally be considered most suitable for irrigation, but excellent results are obtained also with waters which are uncontaminated with manurial matters, and which contain but 8 or 10 grains per gallon of the usual dissolved constituents of spring water. ”

“ In the sheets of water which we find distributed over that and every other inhabitable inland basin, we see reservoirs or evaporating surfaces just sufficient for the supply of that degree of moisture which is best adapted to the well-being of the plants and animals that people such basins. ”

“ The water imbibed by the soil in winter sinks until it meets a more or less impermeable or a saturated stratum, and then, by unseen conduits, slowly finds its way to the channels springs, or oozes out of the ground in drops which unite in rills, and so all is conveyed to the larger streams, and by them finally to the sea. The water, in percolating through the vegetable and mineral layers, acquires their temperature, and is chemically affected by their action, but it carries very little matter in mechanical suspension. ”

“ Land thus reclaimed is of extraordinary fertility by reason of the fact that the water under which it was once submerged, having been pumped into surrounding canals, is readily available for irrigation purposes in event of a dry season. ”

“ The vast quantity of water which Nature pours upon every acre of soil annually, were it all to be removed by evaporation alone, would render the whole country barren; but Nature herself has kindly done the work of draining upon a large proportion of our land, so that only a healthful proportion of the water which falls on the earth, passes off at the surface by the influence of the sun. ”

“ Where surface waters are not readily available, the subterranean water is of first importance. It is generally known that, underlying the earth's surface at various depths, there is a large quantity of free water. ”

“ We have seen that a sea of water, more than three feet deep over the whole face of the land, falls annually from the clouds, equal to 4,000 tons in weight to every acre. We would use enough of this water to dissolve the elements of fertility in the soil, and fit them for the food of plants. We would retain it all in our fields, long enough to take from it its stores of fertilizing substances, brought from reeking marshes and steaming cities on cloud-wings to our farms. ”

“ Where water itself is plentiful, yet water-power, i.e. a fall of water applicable by its mechanical force to the service of industry, may be exceedingly limited, compared with the use which would be made of it if it were more abundant. Coal, metallic ores, and other useful substances found in the earth, are still more limited than land. ”

“ The doubtful character of any underground supply of water, especially when it is drawn from beneath a territory occupied by a densely settled community, makes frequent examination of its quality a duty not to be disregarded. ”

“ Water is the great need, and although, by digging deep enough anywhere through the country, water is reached, not a single windmill did we see in factory or on farm to aid in pumping water. For months the dry season prevails, and our farmer, in order to be independent in his water supply for his many cattle, sheep, and Angora goats and ostriches, had thrown up banks of earth around three large dams. ”