Aeration of Water at Fort Worth, Texas

Abstract

Fort Worth derives its municipal water supply from Lake Worth. This lake was formed by building a dam on the West Fork of the Trinity River, about 6 miles west of the city The lake is about 14 miles long and has a very irregular shore line It covers about 5430 acres, and has a drainage area of about 1865 square miles. The capacity of this impounded lake to spillway level is about 15,000,000,000 gallons. The dam is about 3200 feet long, of which 700 feet is concrete spillway. The earthen portion of the dam is built of clay and sandy loam laid up in one foot horizontal layers, well wetted and rolled. The concrete spillway is designed to carry ten feet of overflow. The dam is 59 feet high and 85 feet thick at the bottom, resting on solid rock. Water is taken from the lake through a concrete tower with screens at about 12 feet below spillway level. A 48-inch line of reinforced concrete pipe extends for 13,600 feet toward the filter plant. At this point the line is reduced to 36-inch and has a valve placed in it. The remaining 18,800 feet of this line continuing to the filter plant is in rather bad condition from leaks and for this reason the valve is throttled, and the entire available static head from the lake to the filter plant is never developed. At the filter plant the water first passes a valve then through a 30by 13-inch Venturi meter, to the aeration basin, the dosing channel mixing basin, coagulation basins, rapid sand filters and finally storage reservoirs. The lake was finished in 1914. The supply line to the filter plant was not placed in service until 1916, as it was not completed until then. In 1913 a 5 million gallon rapid sand filter plant was completed, but had to use water from the Clear Fork of the Trinity River mixed with water from artesian wells until water was available from Lake Worth. There was considerable complaint from taste and odor, and when it became necessary in 1918 to enlarge