Chapter 14 of The Water Works of the City of Philadelphia: The Story of their Development and Engineering Specifications
Compiled in 1931 by Walter A. Graf (Staff Engineer, The Budd Company, Philadelphia), with the assistance of Sidney H. Vought and Clarence E. Robson. This online version was created from an original volume at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Catalog No. WZ 23591 (4th Fl. Folio).
Walter Graf History Home Page
(With Notes on the Text, Preface, and Acknowledgements)
Reading the Preface will give a quick overview of the beginnings and expansion of the Philadelphia water system.
AT THE TIME OF ITS INCEPTION and for a number of years thereafter, the Lardner’s Point pumping station was considered as the classic of municipal water works pumping stations, and in that respect it became world renowned. It was the subject of much illustration and discussion not only in the technical publications, but also in many text books and other literature pertaining to hydrodynamics, and to this day (1931) it stands a monument of gigantic municipal enterprise and progressiveness. The station has been visited and studied by delegations from all over the world. Its outstanding features have been copied in a large number of water works pumping stations in this and foreign countries. In FIGURE 54 one section of the station is pictured.
The idea for building this station was formulated when the decision was made shortly before the century closed to provide Philadelphia with the most modern and efficient water filtration plant that it was then possible to devise, but engine contracts were not let until 1901 and construction of the station was not started until the latter part of 1902 The project was known for a long time as the No. 2 Frankford station, as it was built directly behind and on the land side of the original Frankford station.
The purpose of this station was (and is today, 1931) to pump the filtered water which flows to it by gravity from the Torresdale filters to nearly all of the distribution districts lying east of the Schuylkill River. Those districts lying in the high portions of the city east of the Schuylkill and which are served by the Shawmont pumping station and the Roxborough filters are the exceptions. To serve so great an area called for tremendous capacity. The complete plans called for twelve 20 million gallon engines.
The initial pumping machinery installation consisted of three of these great engines. They were vertical compound triple expansion crank and flywheel pumping engines, capable of operating against a static head of 210 feet above city datum, when operated under steam pressure of 150 pounds per square inch. The contract for these first three engines was awarded to the Holly Manufacturing Company of Lockport, New York on May 24, 1901. The first half of the Lardner’s Point station buildings (as this No. 2 Frankford station came to be known) was practically completed in 1904. It was to house the first battery of six of the engines. A contract was issued the same year for the building of the other half. The first three 20 million gallon Holly engines were started in active service in February 1905. These engines, initially treated as if they had been additions to the equipment of the Frankford pumping station, were designated Nos. 5, 6, and 7. Before the end of 1905, all three of these engines were in active service and then relieved the old Frankford station of its duties so completely that this station immediately became of little value, and it was evident that its abandonment was only a question of time.
Three more Holly 20 million gallon vertical triple expansion pumping engines, similar to those installed in 1905, were placed in active service during the year 1907 and marked the completion of the pumping equipment of the first half of the Lardner’s Point pumping station. Owing to the fact that the new distributing mains were not all laid, it was possible to use only three of the six pumps at this station until April 1908, when the mains were completed. From then on all six could be used, affording a full capacity of 120 million gallons daily.
Contracts for six more 20 million gallon Holly pumping engines for installation in the second half of the station were let during the year 1907. These six were identical with the first six except for one or two slight refinements which had been added since the first six were built.
In the early days of this station’s history it was sometimes necessary to pump raw water from the Delaware River into a part of the distribution system because the filters at Torresdale were not yet entirely completed and their then capacity was not great enough to meet the demand. This condition continued until July 15, 1907, when the entire pumpage capacity of Larder’s Point was used for the distribution of filtered water only. The second half of the station’s buildings was practically completed in 1908.
Four of the six engines were installed and ready for service. The last two were installed, and placed in service in the early part of 1909, and the Lardner’s Point pumping station was constituted the largest single pumping station in the world. Its 12 great engines were arranged in two batteries of six engines each. Each engine was of the following specifications:
Nominal capacity of each engine: 20 million gallons daily
Number of revolutions per minute: 20
Stroke: 66 inches
Piston speed (feet per minute): 220
Cylinder diameter: 30 inches (high), 60 inches (intermediate), 90 inches (low)
Diameter, piston rod: 7½ inches (high, intermediate and low))
Receiver volume: (1) 205 cubic feet (2) 504 cubic feet
Receiving heating surface: (1) 166 square feet (2) 304 square feet
Cross head pins: Diameter 12 inches, length 11 inches
Crank pins: Diameter 12 inches, length 11 inches
Shaft bearings: Diameter 17½ inches, length 32 inches
Shaft at center: Diameter 20¾ inches
Distance Rods: four each, 5 inches in diameter
Air pump: one, 28 inches diameter, 66 inches stroke
Feed pump: one, 3¼ in. diameter, 66 inches stroke
Feed water heater: one in exhaust, 308 square feet
Flywheels: two – 20 ft. diameter, approx. weight 32 tons ea.
Throttle Valves: 8 inches diameter
Exhaust pipe: 24 and 3/8 inches diameter
Suction Pipe, Main: 42 inches diameter; Branch: 30 inches diameter
Discharge Pipe, Main: 42 inches diameter; Branch: 30 inches diameter
Suction Injection: 8 inches and 10 inches diameter
Force Injection: 3 inches and 3½ inches diameter
Overflow: 18 inches diameter
Diameter of pump plungers: 33 inches
Number of pump valves: No. 2 house, 960; No. 3 house, 864
These engines were designed to work under varying lifts to suit the pressure required in the districts which they served. All six of the engines in the first half of the station were required to work under a lift 206 feet, as were also three of the engines installed in the second half of the station. The remaining three engines in the second half worked under a lift of 250 feet. Some idea of their enormous size can be had from the beautiful end elevation drawing of FIGURE 55.
In spite of the immensity of this pumping station, it had been in full operation for but six years when an additional pumping unit of the turbo-centrifugal type was urgently requested by the Bureau, and in response to these recommendations contracts were let and work was started in 1916 on the installation of a new 35 million gallon DeLaval turbo-centrifugal pump. This was completed and placed in active service in the latter part of 1918. This important and expensive piece of machinery had to be installed outside of the station buildings under a temporary wooden shed because the fund that had been set aside for a proper and suitable building had been diverted to meet the urgent expenditure for pipe laying to supply water for the tremendous number of dwellings being built during the World War period. This temporary shelter remained until 1920 when provision was made for an appropriate building in keeping with the other buildings of the station.
This station remains essentially the same today (1931) as when first built, over 25 years ago. The same equipment is still in active service including the modern turbine-driven centrifugal pump previously described. There have been made one or two smaller installations of minor importance. The filtered water, which this station distributes, is conveyed from the Torresdale plant through a conduit 10½ feet inside diameter and 13,815 feet long. The station pumps this water to places as far distant as League Island Navy Yard, and to the Oak Lane reservoir. It not only supplies all the territory lying generally east of Broad Street and south of the Roosevelt Boulevard, but also at times (with some help from the Queen Lane and Shawmont pumping stations) carries practically the entire load east of the Schuylkill River.