Delaware County Daily Times from Chester, Pennsylvania • Page 23

I CMA Grew from Murky Delaware v-owiiiiuwi from Previous Previous Page to purchase it from other sources Finally the complaints could not be ignored, became necessary to seek another supply and create a system to bring it to Chester It was not a job for a small, private water company. An authority was necessary. The Chester Mulnlpal Authority was created July 6, 1939. The first board was composed of Clifford H. Peoples, chairman; William J.

McDowell, vice chairman; John Ross, treasurer; William P. Lear, secretary and Edward D. McLaughlin. E. F.

Muser was executive director and D. Malcolm Hodge was solicitor. $5,910,000 The Authority's first item of business was purchase of the existing from the private company, including the waterworks, 141 miles of walermain and 597 fire hydrants. The cost was $5,910,000. With World War.

II near, material became hard to get. The authority was forced to delay its planned improvements. However, it did not stand still. Albright Friel, engineering firm, was hired to scout southeastern Pennsylvania for good quality water and adequate supply. The Octoraro Creek in Chester County was chosen an dneccs- sary properly and water rights were bought from the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The negotiations were concluded in 1948. Construction on a dam to impound 2 billion gallons on the creek began in March 1948. Workers also started building a rapid sand water purification and pump- in gstation capable of processing 18 million gallons per day. Storage Tanks As those jobs progressed, construction. began on two lanks on Oxford summit to hold five million gallons.

The plan was to pump the water to Oxford Summit from the purification plant, and from there through a 48-inch transmission main. The water would flow by the force of gravity to a l.ank farm of four tanks in Village Green. The Village Green tanks would pass the water cither directly into the distribution system on ttie west side, or the Harrison Hill Reservoir to equalize pressure as it flowed into the east side of the system. All of those efforts-- property, water rights, the dam, purification and pumping plant, Oxford Summit and Village Green tanks and the transmission main cost million. It was raised by a bond issue.

Gates of the dam were closed on Feb. 22, 1951. A lake of 2J4 billion gallons was formed in three weeks. Final pipe installations were made. The first water was delivered to homes served by the authority on Thanksgiving Day, 1951.

1 1 Communities Chester Municipal Authority serves Parkside, Brookhaven, Aston, Chester, Lower Chicheslcr, Marcus Hook, Nether Providence, Trainer, Upland, Upper Chichcs- ter and Chester. Its largest consumers include Sun Oil Sinclair Refining Allied Chemical Corp. (General Chemical Division), Reynolds Metals FMC Scott Paper Congoicum Nairn Sun Shipbuilding Dry Dock Philadelphia Electric Clarence L. Meyers Ic Co. Inc.

and Philadelphia Quartz Co. According to Victor A. Appleyard, the authority's executive MAGAZINE FASCINATING WATER FACTS The water which comes out of your faucets is literally billions of years old--going through a perpetual evaporation-rainfall-evaporation cycle ever since. Every single drop is still on our planet. So why water shortages? Cast Iron Pipe Research Association says poor distribution is a chief cause.

As towns grow, only advance planning can prevent water crises. 8TH WOMDER OF THE WORLD Your home's water system got its start when French King Louis XIV spent $100,000,000 to build his Versailles palace and gardens 30O years ago. To supply water to the fountains from the River Seine, he created the world's first pumping station--regarded then as the 8th wonder of the world. FIRST U. S.

RUNNING WATER SYSTEM? Philadelphia was one of the first with "city running water." In 1802--when Jefferson was president--water mains were installed using bored-out tree logs joined by cast iron sleeves. In 1820, these were abandoned in favor of cast iron water mains--virtually still in use. HOW MUCH WATER? If you're an average homeowner, you and your family use nearly 75 thousand gallons a year-by far your most used commodity. Forecast: Treated Seawater manager, there has been an average yearly increase of 528 customers since 1951. Average daily pumpage has risen about 23 million gallons a day.

When the new pure water was put into the system, CM A customers increased Iheir average daily use by 74 per cent over the amount they had used prior to 1951. In 1955, expansion in the service area prompted an addition of 12 million gallons per day in the purification plant, making a total rated capacity of 30 million gallons per day. CMA added four more 10-million gallon tanks at Village Green in 1959. Work began on two new diesel electric pumping units, rated at 12 million gallons each. Next 25 Years The authority, says Applcyard, is now studying to lake care of Ihe next 25 years.

"We're planning a booster system at Village Green to be in service by next spring," said Appleyard. "It will ultimately provide water for Bethel Township." He said the CMA has decided to expand its services to Bethel because housing developers have requested it. Appleyard said there has been depletion in water over the past 10 years. "The rual depletion is the underground water table. More water is withdrawn each year from the table because of growth, and the current 10-year drought cycle.

"A lot of wells dried up last summer. New wells were drilled at deeper depths. Output of existing wells has decreased considerably. "When people's wells go dry, some of them ask us for a tie-in to our system. We permit the tie- ins if it's feasible." The OMA has never put any restrictions on water use, Appleyard said.

"We have asked the people to conserve water just as a matter of routine," he said, "but we never have restricted use. Full Octoraro Reservoir currently is about 60 per cent full, because of tile dry summer, he said. "With snow and rain this winter, we will recover rapidly because we have such a large watershed." Applcyard does not write off the Delaware River as a plausible water source. In the old days, the water was so polluted that the amount of chemicals necessary to purify it rendered it almost undrinkable. People referred to a glass of water in those days as a "chlorine cocktail." Two things could influence the river as a source 25 years from now, he said.

The Delaware River a i Commission will have installed Tocks Island Dam and created other reservoirs that will help control the flow of the river. That will guarantee a minimum flow in a drought period and keep salt out of the Chester area. It also will provide 3. higher dilution of industrial waste. There should be advances in machinery to desalt water.

Economical methods for desalting water may be developed in the next 25 years. "The Delaware River has improved considerable since 1938," Appleyard said. "But there are still salt problems when the flow is low. "In essence, if our growth continues, it would be entirely feas- iable to return to the river as a source. Media Works Media Water Works is located on Ridley Creek, at Baltimore Pike.

In 1852, with the completion of the first courthouse in Media, the borough pumped water from a spring where Media Swimming and Rowing Club is now located on 3rd SL Around 1870, a mill was purchased at the present water works site and the borough has been pumping water from there ever since. Acreage has been expanded from 10 to about 50. The same dam is still in use. The water works made its first attempt to treat the water in 1916. And 23 years later a chemical building for treatment, a new filter building and electric pumps were installed.

"That gave us the opportunity to have a modern treatment plant, using what is called break-point chtorination," said. Paul Clark, borough secretary and water su- perintendent. "That's a process by which chlorine completely burns up organic matter in the water and. gets rid of bad tastes," a i Clark. Inadequate By 1955, the pumping facilities weren't adequate to take care of the demand, so the Media Water Authority was formed.

A loan was floated and plant capacity was doubled. "Now we're able to take care of six million gallons a day. Our average daily pumpage is about two million gallons, but during the summer, our peak days run around million gallons." Clark said borough officials feel "there has been a depletion in the water." During the last part of July, when daily pumpage reached three million gallons, water stopped running over the dam on Ridley Creek. "It was the first time that ever happened," said-Clark. "In anticipation of this condition several years ago we built a 12-inch line from the dam to Chester Creek on Pennell Road Middletown.

"This year we have completed a pumping station with an allocation of three million gallons a day to ease the Ridley Creek situation." Impaired Clark said the watershed has been impaired because new housing developments have caused "fast runoff" of water when it rains. "The water has less chance of getting into the ground and comes down the creek as flood water rather than through the ground Clark said. "People whose wells have gone dry are being connected to our system every day. There is a general lowering of the water table." Water officials generally agree that a "wet" winter mayjectify conditions caused during the summer. "If we have good snows and not too much frozen ground, the situation will be corrected and may not repeat for several years Clark said.

Water companies generally have a "gentlemen's agreement" to come to each other's aid if possible when one faces a water crisis. Media, bccaus eof its elevation, would run into problems. "Since we are higher than the other two companies," Clark said, "none of the other companies can get to us. Water can't run uphill." "Also, we're too far from Philadelphia Suburban." Media Water Works serves Media, Upper Providence, part of Nether Providence, Rose Valley and most of Middletown. During last July's peak period, users were asked to stop sprinkling and fire companies had to pump water for the plant.

Cooperation "The cooperation we received from the people was amazing," said Clark. "If the Chester Creek plant had been ready, we probably would have needed no restrictions." "Water companies traditionally are good neighbors," said Dann. "And some do have emergency connections between companies. "We are sure in time of emergency that anything that could done to help out would be done," he said. Appleyard said "water works have a mutual understanding that they will help each other in emergencies when physically possible." October 12, 1963-5 A.