Abstract
Improvements in materials and equipment used in water works practice may be placed in three general classifications. First is refinement in design, shop practice and the use of better materials; examples of which are steam generating equipment, pumping equipment, pipe, valves, hydrants, elevated tanks, centrifugally cast iron pipe, copper tubing, stainless steel and protective coatings. Second is the application of standardized devices and equipment to water works service, in some cases to functions somewhat foreign to their original uses. This classification would include the great increase in the use of electrical power in performing functions previously handled by water motors, gravity and by manual operations; the increased motorization of valves, sluice gates, cranes and hoists; the use of conveying equipment, both mechanical and pneumatic, in connection with overhead storage bins for the handling and storage of chemicals in bulk, instead of packaged chemicals handled with hand trucks and cumbersome elevators; the application of float switches, pressure switches, electrical relays, contactors, solenoids and other mechanical and magnetic devices to automatic control and operation of water treatment and pumping plant equipment; the use of compressed air for aeration and rapid mixing; the application of activated carbon and ammonia to water purification; and certain types of chemical mixing and feeding equipment, although chemical equipment borrowed from the chemical industry has, in some cases, been considerably modified to meet the special conditions of water treatment. There are several items of equipment which could be placed in a sub-division of this second classification, although perhaps they should be given a classification of their own. I am referring to equipment either developed entirely for sewage treatment work and
Published Version
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