DESIGNED BY JOHN C. EDWARDS. DETROIT water WORKS y,/z/Z/z/7/// /// /'/'7/X/7zZ Z77//7/, f . -. ° <* ? , z-7, y . y"y > y > . 6'Uw ' y fo'/& . 77 /0fyze*7) Scale % in =lfoot. Thr( ;itv»nI.itiU'<»J)<iroiU FOR WORKING A]R AND FEED PUMPS OF LARGE PUMPING ENGINE B-E3TK0JT WAHSWSKS /v/ 2<s.X'2/YfaX. Xy7Yj/>NY-//y/0/.2/22'■(sWaWE' ' /S/7. < e (7 c' <7 ' ' •Seale'2in. J Foot. DRAWN BY W. A. PENDRY. DETROIT. -r/ 'XX'se/ss Xy/tXz</Xf 207?z7 " " 'QX 7 2(7 " „ " 2 " It \ The (alvcrl Lilld oJ)ctroil. REPORT OF THE ENGINEER, ENGINE HOUSE, DETROIT WATER WORKS, ) 31st December, 1871. ) To the Honorable Board of Water Commissioners: Gentlemen,-The undersigned, in accordance with the requirements of tne ordinance, respectfully submits the fol- lowing statement of all matters pertaining to this department, showing the condition of the engines and pumps, with the duty performed for the year ending this date. The following table will show the operations of each engine for each month during the year. ENGINE NO. 1. April June .. November.... December.... Total January February. ... March 1871. MONTH. 640 40 Time run. 8 g 38,188 51,440 68,466 118,019 46,135 231,582 94,963 Number of Revolutions. j i SffiOoJS 05 50-1 S8S1383 gwrs® Number of Gallons. 1 * ■H Cords of wood Consumed. 1 s 118 94 56 15 324 46 92 69 $61 84 60 99 Cost of wood Consumed.. 70,691 6,258 41,828 12,500 16,105 Pounds of coal Consumed. 1 t 8?: : feiS! Cost of coal Consumed. I -4 Total cost in wood and coal together. 26 ENGINE NO. 2. November..., December.... Total June January February March April May 1871. MONTH. 4,543 20 ocnto-30totcncs_ CCC '. C n-X'X CO X C© Of Ci to to GO Time run. CO o 8 CO Qi 8 i § vUOiCDXG/tQDCDOX j-t C> CD Jujd co GO o c*"to CD"o 00 C5 uco-jfoouik aooioiotooDto Number of Revolutions. M.k-1 k_x CitCCiCitOCOCOCM y> oo ju po -i ►U to 1u C5 c CH H-4- foOJ,U»UQDiO>-.U J-jUCOpOJ© tOjUO -1 DC JO-I □i'U Qo'L-t OMO-OtODG' Number of Gallons. tO JO to to I-4 co to -i 00 to OT LU CC-1DO1DH. x:: Cords of wood Consumed. t ! to - $ 1 87 3 87 650 13 1.070 38 438 70 845 28 832 69 Cost of wood Consumed. o to Or s oo: jo; Ci • £: >uS co Jo JO to H-1 Ci ■»-tJ,--coto ScoSo Pounds of coal Consumed. to c 1 co' >-* CO U CD 3 ? to 8 o x to co •-■CO - Or Cost of coal Consumed. t s co a? • • ; • Total cost in wood and coal together. ENGINE NO. 3. June 283 50 124,968 116,220,240 234 $689 30 July 541 35 ' 26,403 210'554,793 453M 1 324 49 August 588 00 217,327 230,014.110 462' 1,318 34 September... 574 10 231,735 218,303,550 440 1,229 85 October 584 50 231,436 215,235,480 380 1,079 86 Total 2,576 35 864,869 1 990,328,170 $5,641 84 THE WORKING OF THE THREE ENGINES ADDED TOGETHER. January 717 20 491.830 164,213,746 16% $61 84 236,200 $930 85 $992 69 February 632 20 451,298 218,075,447 16 62 86 387,600 1,456 45 1,519 31 March 665 20 452,468 149 093,074 1 3 87 394,001 1,528 90 1,532 77 April 661 55 477,941 146,615,591 280% 769 07 55,600 215 74 984 81 Muy 705 45 486,270 168,448,790 3:3514 1,070 38 1,070 38 June 314 20 368 699 193'244,121 381 1,184 15 1 '184 15 J uly 541 35 26,403 453% 1'324 49 1,324 48 Auarust 588 00 247,327 230,014,110 462 1,318 34 1'318 34 September . . 574 10 234,735 218,303,550 440 1'229 85 1'229 85 October .... 584 50 231,436 215,235,480 380 1,079 86 1.079 86 November.... 725 10 581'643 167,812.613 397% 1,169 74 1,169 74 December.... 761 50 543,798 188,509,293 309% 925 38 99,799 349 30 1,274 68 Total 7,760 35 4,593,848 2,300,150,605 3472% $10,199 83 1,173,200 $4,481 24 $14,681 06 INVENTORY OF FUEL, &c., ON HAND, 1st JAN., 1871. Wood 284 cords $834.96 Coal726 tons. 5,630.37 Lard Oil12 gallons 7.20 Petroleum Oil 207 gallons 124.20 Engine Rags394 lbs 35.46 $6,632.19 27 PURCHASES FOR 1871. Wood 42921 cords, costing $13,890.81 Coal 304 tons " 2,356.00 Lard Oil 507 gallons " 345.11 Engine Rags 538 lbs 43.04 Total cost of purchases.... $16,634.96 CONSUMPTION FOR 1871. Wood 35171 cords, cost $10,331.83 Coal .• 586 tons " 4,481.24 Lard Oil 370 gallons " 251.60 Petroleum Oil 204 gallons " 91.80 Engine Rags 887 lbs. " 70.96 $15,227.43 INVENTORY OF FUEL, &c., ON HAND 31st DEC., 1871. Wood 1109 cords $4,436.00 Coal 443 tons 3,331.70 Lard Oil 149 gallons., 110.26 Petroleum Oil 3 gallons 1.86 Engine Rags 45 lbs 3.60 $7,883.42 WOOD PIPE BORING SHOP. This engine has run 69 days. There has been sawed, bored, reamed and banded 5296 wooden pipes, each eight feet long. Wood consumed, 34 cords, cost $93.50. Oil consumed, 34-j gallons, cost $34.50. Engine rags, 10 lbs., cost 80c. TESTING AND WEIGHING. There has been tested and weighed 137 eight-inch iron pipes, 190 six-inch, and 305 four-inch. 28 There was delivered to the Superintendent of Extensions and Repairs about ten cords of soft wood, cost $27.50. "RESERVOIRS. Were thoroughly cleaned during the summer, and they are now in as good condition as they can be. The house of the reservoir-keeper will require some repairs the coming Spring. OLD ENGINES. I stated in my last Annual Report that considerable repairs were necessary to be made to both the old engines. Engine No. 1 (or the one built by the Detroit Locomotive Works) had the piston faced, a new set of packing rings, pump bored out, and a new plunger for same. The piston of engine No. 2 (or that built by Jackson & Wiley) was badly fractured. It has been taken out and a new one put in its place. Both engines are now in good working order. INLET PIPE. The pipe was extended into the river 160 feet the past summer, for the purpose of avoiding any and all the shore wash. The pipe is now extended 290 feet from our dock; and I am gratified in being able to state that the water is pure and free from all shore matter. The holes in the strainer were made larger (from | inch to f inch), and two additional pieces of strainers were put on the out-end of the pipe, one leading up the river and the other down the river,-each 20 feet in length and perforated with f inch holes on the upper half of the circle. This addition to the strainer was for the purpose of re- moving the accumulation of ice on the strainer in the winter; but, I am sorry to say, that this has not been wholly accom- 29 plished. At the same time, I find a very great improvement from what it was in previous winters; and there has been no time this winter but the engine could run at a slow speed. The additional pieces of inlet-pipe were made by J. & T. McGregor, boiler makers, and were placed in position by John Quinn, submarine diver, who exhibited much skill and good judgment in doing the work. FORCE MAIN. I would respectfully recommend to the Board an additional force main, as the want of it is much felt from the inadequate size of the present one, when the large engine is at work or when the two old engines are working together, (as they will hav.e to do when the large engine is at rest). Much complaint is made for want of a supply of water by those persons who live in the higher parts of the city, and which is owing to a want of capacity in the distributing pipes. To correct which I would recommend an additional force main laid from the engine house down through the center of the city, to be con- nected with all the distributing pipes it would meet. This would give from 10 to 15 feet better head, and at the same time lessen the friction on the pumps and increase the duty of the pumping engines. BOILER AND BOILER HOUSE. The boiler purchased from J. & J. Brennan in 1865 (to replace the small tubular boiler) is gradually giving out, as considerable repairs were made to it the past year. (The boiler was built in 1855, and used as a marine boiler before being purchased by the Board.) I would therefore respect- fully, recommend the providing an additional boiler. I am sorry to say the boiler house is so limited in length no well 30 proportioned boiler for generating steam with economy can be put in and leave space enough for the fire-room, as the house stands between the old engine house and the base of the chimney. There is no room for improvement, which compels us to adapt the boiler to the space we have. NEW ENGINE Was started for trial and acceptance on the 29th day of March, and ran 5,011 revolutions. The speed of the engine was varied from 7 to 13 revolutions per minute. It was evi- dent to all concerned that the engine m all its parts ran steadily and smoothly. After completing the alterations and repairs that were necessary to the engine house, the engine was started for duty on the 9th of June, and supplied the city with water to October 31st without any interruption. The annexed table will show that during that time the engine pumped 990,328,170 gallons of water, at a cost of $5,641.84, or, in other words, 1,755 gallons for one cent cost of fuel. (The other two engines have pumped 1,309,822,435 gallons at a cost of $9,039.23, or 1,449 gallons for one cent cost of fuel), showing 306 gallons in favor of new engine. As soft wood was burnt for fuel through all the summer months, and differs much in quality and lengths, I cannot accurately estimate how much of this wood would be equivalent to one ton of coal, but the coming month of January we shall be burning Lackawanna coal and I shall be able to ascertain the duty of the engine; but the duty developed by pumping engines depends in a great measure upon the efficiency of boilers, and the boilers at these Works having been made for wood fuel, and with the small area of the present force main a very high duty cannot therefore be expected when burning coal. 31 I would here say that much credit is due the " Dry Dock Engine Works" for a liberal construction of the specifications* and also Mr. James Morrison, for the skill he exhibited in erecting the engine. AUXILIARY ENGINE FOR AIR PUMP. It was necessary in arranging the plan for the new engine to adapt the engine to an unoccupied building then on hand, and want of room compelled the adoption of an auxil- iary. Since the engine has been at work I find this arrange- ment to be very economical, and much more convenient than the ordinary way; the pump well and also the receiving well in the yard being emptied and cleaned out in a very short time. The following table will show the number of U. S. stan- dard gallons of water distributed daily for eleven years ending 31st December, 1871, with the yearly distribution and increase for same period: YEAR. AVERAGE DAILY DISTRIBUTION. YEARLY DISTRIBUTION. YEARLY INCREASE. 1861 2,479,807 895,129,423 1862 2,725.878 994,945,329 99,815,906 1863 2,837,803 1,035,798,043 40,852,714 1864 2,839,078 1,036,263,432 465,389 1865 2,875,384 1,049,514,887 251,455 1866 3,277,484 1,196.317,922 146,803,035 1867 3,905,576 1,425,535,230 229,217,308 1868 4,565,877 1,666,545,125 241,009,895 1869 4,511,809 1,646,810,325 * 19,734,800 1870 5,112,494 1,866.060,068 219,249,743 1871 6,301,783 2,300,150,605 t 434,090,537 ♦ In 1869, it will be seen, the distribution was less than in 1868, owing to the very wet season. t The great increase shown in 1871 was owing to the great drouth we had during Lho summer months, the demands at times being over eight million gallons daily. 32 From the above table it will be seen that in three years the two old engines will be required to work together to their full capacity, which will be ten million gallons in twenty-four hours, consequently they cannot be relied on beyond that time for a reserve power in case of accident to the large engine. In view of this fact I beg to call the attention of your Board to the limited ground in connection with the Works now under your control, and which is the more neces- sary as, by'the growth of the city, the employment of the property immediately adjacent to our Works subjects us to greatly increased risk from fire. All of which is respectfully submitted, JOHN E. EDWARDS, Engineer.