Water storage

“ The building of storage reservoirs requires available areas to flood, favorable sites for dams, and scientific knowledge to supervise the construction of such damns and reservoirs. There must be, also, some general head to locate and plan such reservoirs on a broad and comprehensive scale, so as to store the largest possible amount of water in each given case; otherwise opportunities for economic development will be lost and money wasted. The plan should be so feasible and comprehensive as to include every profitable storage possibility, be it either great or small. ”

“ The data in the record shows that at a level of 3,700 feet above sea level the total storage is about 27,000,000 acre feet and with an active capacity somewhat less. With the water level at 3,606 feet, the total storage is 14,749,000 acre feet with active storage again at a lesser figure. The affidavits in the record show that this large reduction in storage will substantially reduce the amount of water available to each of the Upper Basin states, and will impair the operation of many facilities already constructed and perhaps prevent use of some entirely. ”

“ The water companies have large storage and sedimentation basins with an aggregate capacity equal to nine days’ supply, but the proportion varies widely with the different companies. It is desired that the water held in reserve shall be alone used while the river is in flood, as, owing to its increased pollution, it is regarded as far more dangerous than the water at other times ”

“ The holding back of these flood waters in the upper part of the rivers, and so preventing these overflows, is termed storage of waters.
In still other regions the rainfall is abundant, and the land low-lying. Large areas are always covered with water. Such lands are called swamps or bogs, and when drained, they become the richest of agricultural lands. Irrigation, storage and drainage are the three methods employed to make waste lands valuable and useful. The land is saved or reclaimed, so all these methods of balancing and distributing the water supply are called reclamation. ”

“ SUBSIDENCE is the most popular method of clarification of water by the deposition of heavy matter, accomplished in large storage reservoirs.
“If the reservoir be very small and shallow, and containing not more than a day’s supply, for example, it is plain there can be but little opportunity for subsidence; but even in such cases, if the reservoir be kept full, or nearly full, the floating impurities might never enter the circulation. In the case of a large reservoir, holding many days’ supply, it is quite different. Time is then afforded for the heavier impurities to settle to the bottom ”

“ Nevertheless proper storage of water in reservoirs during times of heavy rain, especially upon the great plateau, could accomplish much, and such enterprises should be exceedingly profitable, for, in certain regions, water is almost "worth its weight in silver." ”

“ As for furnishing ten million gallons a day for any length of time, there is no well in the world, which we know of, of such a capacity, and all experience is against the probability of such an one being discovered.”
GRAVITATION is that system of supply where the rain-water drainage of elevated water-sheds is gathered in natural or artificial storage basins, and conveyed through conduits by gravitation to the point of supply. ”

“ In the survey or planning of any reservoir by the Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, or other Federal agency, consideration shall be given to inclusion of storage for regulation of streamflow, except that any such storage and water releases shall not be provided as a substitute for adequate treatment or other methods of controlling waste at the source. ”

“ The water in the upper pool may thus be regarded as the equivalent of stored electric energy. Pumped storage installations fall into two categories, those in which pumped storage facilities are added to a conventional hydro installation, and those which are exclusively pumped storage, generating power solely by circulating water between a lower and higher reservoir. Within these categories pumped storage installations vary widely in design and mode of operation. ”

“ Reservoirs for storage, or for equalizing the flow, are rarely resorted to in England; but they are of absolute necessity in those countries in which it is just when there is least water that it is most wanted. It is by no means an injudicious plan before laying out a system of water-meadows, which is intended to be at all extensive, to prepare a small trial plot, to aid in determining a number of questions relating to the nature and quantity of the water, the porosity of the soil, &c. ”

“ In a country where all of the streams both great and small fill their banks in the springtime after heavy rains, and then decrease in volume all through the dry months so that they become in most instances worthless as power streams and of but little value in many other ways, it is clear that storage reservoirs of large capacity, the size depending, of course, on the water-shed in each case, must be built, if wasted water and worthless streams are to be turned into valuable assets. ”

“ In the treatment of the flood problem, prevention, by the use of storage reservoirs, for the purpose of holding back the damaging part of the flood water, is the rational and comprehensive method, as it goes to the source of the trouble, and extends its benefits throughout the entire river valleys, not only in the form of flood relief, but by improvement of the low-water flow, due to the release of the impounded flood waters during the dry season. ”

“ Where a water supply of sufficient natural purity cannot be had within reasonable distance the only safe plan is to subject the water to such length of storage, or to such mechanical or chemical treatment as will ensure its fitness for use. ”

“ There are thirteen storage and distributing reservoirs, with a water surface of 9751⁄2 acres, and capacity of 6,458 million gallons. The greatest depth of reservoirs is 84 feet. The conduit is 18 miles in length. The drainage area is 19,300 acres. Available daily supply is 33 million gallons, of which 13 millions are required for mill-owners. The average rain-fall is 50 inches, and mean available resource of 33 inches. The cost of the works was 4 million dollars. The population in 1874 was 750,000; daily average consumption 16 million gallons, and 550 miles of pipe. ”

“ If these requirements can be so met by use of this storage, the upper states can develop the water allocated to them for irrigation and other projects. If this storage is reduced by a limitation on the level of Lake Powell, some projects built, and some authorized, are at least impaired. This interrelation created by the comprehensive plan for development is rather delicate and can be disturbed if the capacity of by far the largest storage or regulating unit is reduced significantly. The total development plan was given extensive consideration by water experts and by Congress. ”

“ The storage capacities of the various companies vary from 3 to 18 times the respective average daily supplies, and together equal 9 times the total supply.
In case the raw water is taken from a lake or a river at a point where there is but little current, as in a natural or artificial pond, sedimentation-basins are unnecessary. This is the case at Zürich (lake water) , at Berlin when the rivers Havel and Spree spread into lakes, at Tegel and Müggel, and at numerous other works. ”

“ Storage reservoirs are abundant and well distributed and nearly all the valley areas through whieb the streams flow contain as much or more fertile land than can be irrigated by the available water supply. ”

“ The storage reservoirs should be in all cases very large in comparison with the bulk of water in circulation; if practicable, they should be excavated in rock, and lined with the best cement. Thera is no reason why they should not be shallow, exposed to light and air, and cultivated as rock-pools by the introduction of seaweeds and small animals, but they must then be screened from rain, cold and dust. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We draw the waters from our great number of immense reserve storage reservoirs, which are directly diverted to them from the run-offs of heavy river water flows. Saving us from overflowing rivers, flood control, levee construction, inundation damage, and disasters, at the same time increasing generating power of our dams. We have an efficient drainage system for our tropical crops in rain-soaked lands, excess waters of which also flow into these reservoirs. Sun rays are available to treat our vegetation, when necessary. ”

“ Such a deep supply must, however, be protected from the superficial supply by a water-tight wall extending to the surface of the deep supply, otherwise the water from the upper layers will simply drain into the well. ”

“ The container for a sanitary privy may be small—for example, a galvanized-iron pail or garbage can, to be removed from time to time by hand; it may be large, as a barrel or a metal tank mounted for moving; or it may be a stationary underground metal tank or masonry vault. The essential requirement in the receptacle is permanent water-tightness to prevent pollution of soils and wells. Wooden pails or boxes, which warp and leak, should not be used. Where a vault is used it should be shallow to facilitate emptying and cleaning. ”

“ Sewage or impure drainage water should never be discharged into or upon ground draining toward a well, spring, or other source of water supply. Neither should such wastes be discharged into 'Openings in rock, an abandoned well, nor a hole, cesspool, vault, or tank so located that pollution can escape into water-bearing earth or rock. Whatever the system of sewage disposal, it should be entirely and widely separated from the water supply. ”

“ A system of drainage has also been constructed, which was fully as much of a necessity as the supply of water, but which, as usual, proves to be insufficient in capacity to perform the necessary work,—at least it but partially meets the requirements for which it was designed. ”

“ In river basins with reasonable annual amounts of precipitation but with human demands on streams that sometimes exceed the rate at which water flows down, such reservoirs are still usually the most dependable and efficient item in the present technology of water supply. And since they generally have other purposes to which proportionate shares of construction costs are assigned in individual cases—flood protection, water quality control, navigation, hydroelectric power, recreation, silt detention, etcetera—they tend often to be the most economic sources of big quantities of water. ”

“ Gradually every house is using more and more water for various purposes, and living conditions, which in the past tolerated a scanty supply drawn from a pump, are no longer endured. The increased water supply and the demands of extended plumbing mean a greater amount of sewage—so great an amount that, in many cases, soils which could receive and digest the waste waters from houses supplied by wells are clogged and made impervious by this greater amount. ”

“ In Chapter VI suggestions have been made concerning the site, location, and drainage of the farm house. The kind, number, and convenience of the sanitary appliances, such as hot water boilers, closets, lavatories, and baths, are chiefly dependent upon the water-supply. If there be an abundance from a town water-main, or from a windmill or house-tank which will give some pressure, the problem of plumbing is comparatively easy; but if there be no such supply, it becomes far more difficult. A good water supply in the house is of the first importance ”

“ There is not the slightest question in my mind but that this should be used as the source of water supply, and not only that, but that it will be used as a water supply in a very short time independently of whether this project is adopted or not. ”

“ Moreover, our city sewers from toilets, and dishwashing machines do not run into our rivers; they are too valuable to be wasted. The sewerage is run or pumped to large reservoirs with our garbage. The solid matter is taken out and reprocessed into fertilizers, and the liquids are pumped to fertilize our deserts and other lands that need it.
"The clean rain water washing down from roofs of buildings through our rain spouts goes into another sewer line which spills it far out into the ocean; the rain water from our streets is absorbed by the soil of our lawns. ”

“ This is particularly true where families have been accustomed to utilizing municipal water supplies which are safe and pure as to quality and unlimited in amount. In most country homes it is necessary to construct a water-supply system, which means reaching a supply of underground water, pumping [Pg 56] it to the surface and piping it to locations where it is wanted. Higher standards of living create new and increased demands for water. ”

“ Though he must procure for himself drinking water, he is, in most cases, able to get a purer water from the ground than the sewage-polluted fluid which is the only water accessible in many cities. While he must get rid of night soil himself rather than have it disposed of by a water-carriage system conveniently located within the house, he may avoid the annoying complications of plumbing, bringing with it the leakages of sewer gas, the plugging up of soil pipes by the roots of trees or by articles carelessly thrown into them. ”