Improvements to the Water Supply of St. John's, Newfoundland

Abstract

The City of St. John's, Newfoundland, has for some years past been troubled with deficient quantity and pressure in its water supply, and asked advice about a year and a half ago as to the situation and suitable remedies. St. John's has taken its water supply for many years past from Windsor Lake, some four or five miles west of the city. This lake lies at an elevation of about 500 feet above sea level. Its capacity is large and it has always been, and is still adequate for the needs of the city. The watershed is almost without habitation, and the quality of the water, without any treatment, is therefore excellent. From the easterly end of the lake a conduit extends about two miles to a basin. From this basin two pipe lines, mainly 16 inches in diameter, extend to the city by two different routes. The most obvious defect in the entire system was the inadequacy of the distributing mains in the city. The accompanying diagram shows in full lines the larger mains of the distribution system as it then was, and in broken lines the mains that were recommended to improve the conditions of distribution. The consumption of water in the city averages about five million imperial gallons a day. It will be noted at once that for a city of this size and with this consumption of water, the system is extremely weak in large mains. This naturally resulted in a great loss in pressure, especially when the consumption rose towards its maximum. Winter conditions have always imposed a severe drain on the water supply, as the construction of the houses and the design of the plumbing and the methods of heating in common use do not tend to prevent the freezing of the pipes within the houses, and the water is quite commonly permitted to run to prevent freezing. The cold weather draft of water, therefore, runs up very high and at these