Chapter 15 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.
DURING 1890 THE BUILDING of a reservoir on what was known as Indian Queen Lane was seriously considered by the Committee on Water, and resulted in a plan to serve the entire northwestern part of the city, comprising the 15th, 28th, 29th, 32nd, and parts of the 20th and 33rd Wards, with subsided water from this projected reservoir in place of the raw water supplied directly from the river to the homes and industries in this locality. This “direct service” practice had been in vogue so long in this part of the city that these wards were known as the “direct pumpage districts.” On September 13, 1892, the contract for the construction of the Queen Lane reservoir was awarded to Filbert, Porter and Company of Philadelphia. They guaranteed to complete the work by January 1, 1895, or to forfeit $100,000 of the contract price of $1,159,591, and under those terms building operations began on October 10, 1892.
As one approaches the Queen Lane Filtration Plant and Reservoir from the north, a fine monument and bronze plate informs him that the site is that where the Continental Army under the command of General George Washington was encamped from August 1 to 8, and from September 12 to 14, 1777, before and immediately after the battle of Brandywine.
The same year, 1892, the Water Committee approved plans for the construction of a new pumping station to supply the new reservoir, the station to be located in Fairmount Park on the east side of the Schuylkill River a few hundred feet below the City Line Bridge. The contract for the station buildings was awarded to I. H. Hathaway and Company of Philadelphia on June 7, 1894; and construction was started on July 14, 1894, and completed on September 30, 1895. FIGURE 56 is a photograph of the completed station taken in 1896.
The Queen Lane reservoir consisted of two basins with a combined capacity of 383.1 million gallons at 238 feet city datum. The north basin contained 205.62 million gallons and the south basin 177.48 million gallons. It was completed by the contractors on December 13, 1894, just ahead of the guaranteed date. However, considerable difficulty was experienced with this reservoir on account of numerous and serious leaks, with the result that water from the new Queen Lane Pumping Station was not turned into the Queen Lane reservoir for the regular sedimentation process until November 29, 1895. Until the reservoir could be used, the water pumped by the new station was forced directly into the distribution system through a connection established between the pumping and the supply mains.
This station was equipped first with four 20 million gallon triple expansion pumping engines provided with triple plunger pumps, built and installed by the Southwark Foundry and Machine Company of Philadelphia. One of these engines is shown in FIGURE 57. The first one of them was started in operation on October 23, 1895 and the second one on November 20, 1895. The third and fourth engines were completed and started in operation on May 20 and May 28, 1896, respectively. These engines marked another step forward in the development of steam prime movers. The four engines and pumps were identical. Each was capable of pumping 20 million gallons a day against a total lift of 264 feet, thus affording a combined capacity of 80 million gallons. The high pressure cylinder had a bore of 37 inches, the intermediate cylinder 62 inches, and the low pressure cylinder 96, and the stroke of all was 54 inches. The three plunger pumps were each of 34½‑inch bore and 54‑inch stroke. The triple expansion system for pumping engines superseded the compound system. It was made possible by increased steam pressures, developed by improved boiler designs. Engines with three and even four cylinders, in which the steam at a high initial pressure, was expanded successively in the high pressure cylinder, the intermediate cylinders, and the low pressure cylinder, were found to be more economical than all previous types. The smaller weight per horsepower of the triple expansion engines and the reduction in the floor area required were additional advantages gained.
This station was in complete running order in 1896, but the reservoir had never been filled to its maximum depth of 30 feet owing to the lack of an $88,000 appropriation to install a duplicate pumping main between the station and the reservoir. For the same reason it was impossible to utilize the entire pump capacity to the reservoir and a portion only of the so-called “direct pumpage district” was supplied with subsided water, while the remainder continued to be supplied raw or direct pumped water. In 1897 the engines at this station were operating under unfavorable circumstances thought to be caused by the admission of air into the suction mains. The engines would thump and pound so heavily at times that a number of breakdowns resulted. This continued and in 1900 a new system of intake and pump wells were installed in an attempt to remedy it.
On March 21, 1897, the south basin of the reservoir was filled to its intended maximum depth of 30 feet for the first time, while the north basin contained only 21 feet 2 inches on the same date. Former leaks had all been repaired but new ones were discovered from time to time even at this late date.
The paved walks around the reservoir on top of the retaining walls and across the subdivision between the north and south basins proved a popular course for bicycle riders. In 1898 it became necessary to install gates across the walks to prevent the use of them for bicycle racing, which some had been doing in spite of the danger of their landing in the basin.
A committee of experts, appointed in 1899 to suggest ways and means for the improvement of Philadelphia’s water supply, had recommended the installation of a filter plant adjacent to the Queen Lane reservoir. In 1901 these recommendations were superseded by revised recommendations which stated that further and more exhaustive studies than the committee was first able to give this subject “have shown that it is better to supply the districts now (1901) supplied from the Queen Lane, East Park, Corinthian and Fairmount reservoirs with water from the Torresdale filter plant and the Lardner’s Point pumping station and that this can be done at very much less expense.” A reservoir at Oak Lane was considered a necessary adjunct to the recommended source of supply under the new plans. The plans were agreed upon and put into effect, but they did not work out entirely as intended, for it later became necessary after all to build the Queen Lane filter plant.
In spite of the installation of the new intake and engine pump wells system in 1900. the machinery continued breaking down. The Bureau’s report for the year 1904 recites that the pumpage at this station decreased over 1 billion gallons during the year on account of engine and pump troubles. In 1907 the pumping equipment was constantly being repaired and it was necessary to have the Schuylkill pumping station pump more than 4.5 billion gallons to the Queen Lane reservoir.
Approximately six years after the abandonment of the original plans to install a filtration plant at Queen Lane reservoir the proposal was revived. In 1907, tentative new plans for such an installation were made. In 1908, final plans for the Queen Lane filtration plant were completed and on March 31, 1909, the contract to build it was awarded to the Millard Construction Company. This filtration system at first consisted of twenty-two 0.76 acre, slow sand filters with a capacity of 6 million gallons per day, per acre, and 40 preliminary filter tanks. It was built within the north basin of the reservoir, leaving the south basin to be used as a sedimentation reservoir, with a capacity of 177.48 million gallons. The water was introduced at one corner of the south basin and drawn off at the other through three hydraulically operated sluice gates, three feet by four feet, built into a circular gate chamber constructed as part of the filter plant at the eastern end of the embankment next to the filters. From the gate chamber it entered the preliminary filters through a seven foot steel conduit surrounded by concrete.
The 40 preliminary filters measured 32 feet by 40 feet each. They were located partly on the original reservoir embankment and partly on fill, in two rows, separated by a power house and administration building at the centre, and so formed two separate preliminary filter operating galleries. In all their essential details these filters were identical with those at Torresdale, excepting that the water was introduced at the front instead of at the rear, and was drawn off through an effluent discharge located immediately under the raw water supply. Both introduction and discharge took place under the floor of an operating gallery. The effluent was discharged at an elevation of 245 feet city datum from both batteries of filters in the centre line of the plant, and it was from there carried through a main supply conduit extending to the centre of the final or sand filters These preliminary filters were all covered by a reinforced concrete roof. The elevation of the water surface was fixed at 231¼ feet city datum, or 6¾ feet below the line of the sedimentation basin. In 1922 these filters were remodeled into rapid sand filters.
The final or slow sand filters are located immediately west of the preliminary filters but like them, inside of the north basin of the reservoir. The method of filtration is the same as employed at other stations, but the filters are constructed on different lines, inasmuch as they are built immediately over the filtered water basin. The filters are supported above the basin on rectangular piers 30 inches square, constructed on 16 foot centers and founded on the rock strata beneath it. The floor of the filters forms the roof of the filtered water basin and is constructed of groined arches surmounting the piers. These arches are approximately 10 inches thick at the crown with a rise of 45 inches from the pier heads. The side walls of the filters have a minimum thickness of two feet and are of reinforced concrete. The filter roof is carried on lines of square concrete piers spaced on 64 inch centers and of sufficient height to allow head room between the water surface of the filters and the underside of the roof beams. The roof is of reinforced concrete and is supported from the lines of piers on reinforced beams 19 inches deep, six inches wide and 32 feet in length. The roof proper is six inches thick.
There are 22 separate filter beds on the floor, each dimensioned 344 feet 5 inches by 96 feet. They are arranged in two groups or batteries separated by a court 20 feet wide, under which are placed the raw water conduit and the necessary piping and drains. The supply is received from the preliminary filters through a rectangular, reinforced steel conduit 10 feet wide by 7 feet 4 inches high, which is connected to each filter by a 20-inch pipe leading through the chamber of a regulating house where a valve regulates the rate of flow in the filter. The main collector is built of reinforced concrete in two sections and covered by a reinforced concrete slab six inches thick. The lateral collectors are of six‑inch terra cotta pipe extending from opposite sides of the main collector at 16 foot intervals. The filtered water is passed from each filter directly to the filtered water basin through a rectangular orifice provided in the wall of the chamber of the regulating house. The regulating houses all face the center court or aisle and each accommodates two filters. The first filtering material consisted of a layer of gravel 16 inches in depth, varying in size from three inches in diameter to about 1/16 inch in diameter. Over the gravel is placed a layer of sand 20 inches in depth. The filters are drained at the rear through a 20‑inch pipe that connects with a drainage system leading to the sewers.
The power station and administration building as heretofore indicated are located centrally of the eastern side of the preliminary filters and include the operating gallery beneath which introduction and discharge of water are located. In the power house are the boilers and steam pumps for pumping water for cleaning the filters. Originally engines for the electric lighting equipment were included. A steel storage tank for wash water, 35 feet in diameter and 35 feet high, is supported above the roof of the buildings. It is enclosed by brick walls treated to conform to the architecture of the buildings.
The filtered water basin occupies the entire space beneath the final filters, a space of 1,056 feet by 709 feet. When filled to its normal depth of nine feet, the basin has a capacity of 50 million gallons. Excepting on the east, the basin side walls are of plain concrete 4½ feet thick. They are surmounted by the side walls of the final filters which they support. The east wall is formed by the retaining wall of the fill which lies under the preliminary filters. The floor of the original reservoir forms the floor of the filtered water basin and is lined with four inches of concrete covered with two inches of asphalt concrete.
For a short time prior to installation of the Queen Lane filters, portions of the Queen Lane districts were supplied by filtered water from Torresdale pumped to the north basin of the Queen Lane reservoir, which was cleaned out in 1906 for the purpose of storing this filtered water. This arrangement continued in operation more or less successfully until May 1, 1909, when the entire Queen Lane pumping station was shut down and all sections were supplied with filtered water from Torresdale. However as the season advanced, and the demands for water increased, it was found impossible to maintain sufficient pressure on the mains from Lardner’s Point to supply the high levels of the Queen Lane district, and it became necessary to cut out parts of this section and supply it as formerly from the Queen Lane station.
Because of a lack of funds, all work on the construction of the Queen Lane filters came to a standstill on December 19, 1910, with the work about 80 percent completed. Work was resumed on June 21, 1911, and again stopped for the same reason on November 10, 1911, but by this time the work was so far advanced that the contractors were persuaded to render the plant useable. The service was inaugurated on November 29, 1911, and from then until the end of the year averaged 47 million gallons of filtered water a day. In 1912, the plant was finally completed and placed in full operation.
In January 1918, a DeLaval steam turbine-driven centrifugal pump of 25 million gallons per day capacity was installed in the Queen Lane pumping station on the Schuylkill River. This unit marked the highest development in efficiency and space-saving yet attained in steam-driven pumping machinery. The installation was intended as a temporary measure to assist this station during its troubles caused by the difficulties being experienced with the Southwark triple expansion engines.
In 1919, the triple expansion engines and pumps showed signs of considerable deterioration. The breakdowns became yet more frequent and serious. It was decided to replace them with four 40 million gallon DeLaval turbo-centrifugal pumping units, and the contract for them was let in 1920.
It was also decided in 1919, to effect certain improvements and modifications of the Queen Lane filter plant which would practically double its capacity, and enable it to supply water to the central and southern portions of the city, where there were indications of an acute water shortage. The plan was to convert the existing plant into a combination slow sand and rapid filter installation, which would afford a maximum capacity of 150 million gallons per day. It was foreseen that to meet so great an increase in the capacity of this plant would require total draft from the Schuylkill River closely approximating the minimum flow of the river in times of severe drought. This close margin caused the Bureau to issue the following warning and recommendation:
“Safety therefore demands as part of the project that a compensating reservoir be built on a tributary of the Schuylkill River, which will be used to stabilize the dry weather flow. Such a reservoir can be located and built so that it will form a unit of either a future distant mountain supply or of a semi-mountain supply should either of these projects be adopted. If it should be decided to continue the use of the local rivers, the reservoir would remain an indispensable factor.”
Contracts were placed and the work started on the modifications to the filter plant in 1920, but no action was taken as to the recommended compensating reservoir. The dismantling and demolition of the old Southwark 20 million gallon triple expansion engines was started in 1920, to make room for the installation of the new DeLaval turbo-centrifugals which were being built. The first of the four new units was installed in 1921. These units worked under a 150 pound steam pressure, and each was capable of delivering its 40 million gallons per day against a head of 275 feet. The installations of the remaining three followed in rapid order and were completed during 1922. The 23-stage steam turbines were rated at 3,000 H.P. at 3,000 R.P.M. Through a reduction gear they drive 30 inch by 25.5 inch centrifugal pumps operating at 560 R.P.M. These pumps are connected with the river intake by two masonry conduits, one leading into each end of the engine room, and each supplying two pumps. Two Sprague Electric Company dynamos furnish power for illumination.
The year 1924 brought to completion the conversion of the filters. The prefilters had been changed to the mechanical type. There had been constructed an aeration flume in the sedimentation basin to deliver the raw water to the point most remote from the filter intake. The aeration flume was built on the slope of the basin. Wash water is supplied to the filters by two Fairbanks-Morse 12 inch single-stage centrifugal pumps of 5 million gallon capacity, driven by a 75 H.P., 900 R.P.M., motor; one unit consisting of two Fairbanks-Morse eight-inch single-stage centrifugal pumps and of 2 million gallons capacity in series driven by a 125 H.P., 1800 R.P.M. motor; and one Fairbanks-Morse unit consisting of two four-inch single-stage centrifugal pumps and of 1 million gallons capacity, in series, driven by a 60 H.P., 1800 R.P.M. motor.
About this time high service was planned for this station and a contract placed for the installation of electric motor-driven pumps to give this service. This first introduced the modern electric pumping units to this station. The equipment was installed in 1926. It consists of two DeLaval 18‑inch centrifugal pumps driven by two General Electric. 500 H.P., 900 R.P.M. induction motors. Each of these pumps has a capacity of 15 million gallons at a head of 145 feet. There are also in this high service station two DeLaval fourteen inch centrifugal pumps of 7.5 million gallons capacity which are driven by General Electric 250 H.P., 1200 R.P.M., induction motors; and one Worthington 20 million gallon centrifugal pumping driven by a General Electric 650 H.P., 900 R.P.M. motor.
After filtration is accomplished at the Queen Lane plant, the greater part of the water is fed to the distribution system by gravity. The high service station pumps it to Germantown, or in case of emergency, to Belmont, Shawmont or Lardner’s Point. This Queen Lane plant is one of the most important links in the chain of stations because its large reserve capacity and central location permit it to give service in the event of any serious interruption in the supply from the Torresdale filters. The Torresdale filters are located at a great distance from the center of demand, and supply from them depends entirely upon the Lardner’s Point high lift pumping station and the long miles of supply mains, as can be seen by consulting the map of the stations (Frontispiece).