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Philadelphia Municipal Water Supply
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1800-1829DateCreated: 18012600 Benjamin Franklin PkwyPhiladelphiaState: PAZip: 19130Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Philadelphia-Municipal-Water-Supply/Creator: Graff, Frederick , Latrobe, Benjamin

After an initial difficulty in attracting customers (who were used to getting their water from public pumps and private wells and cisterns), Philadelphia's waterworks soon couldn't keep up with demand. John Davis and Frederick Graff designed a complete remodeling of the system in 1811 so that it could supply the city's growing needs. 

YearAdded:
1974
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Philadelphia Municipal Water SupplyEra_date_from: 1801
Pelton Impulse Water Wheel
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Power GenerationEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1878CamptonvilleState: CACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Pelton-Impulse-Water-Wheel/Creator: Pelton, Lester

Water wheels have been used to power mills and pumps for centuries. However, the traditional water wheel was inefficient: water hitting a bucket would splash back against the next bucket, slowing the wheel. This is especially true when water is delivered to the buckets under very high pressure.

YearAdded:
1973
Image Credit: Public Domain (Author's Choice)Image Caption: Pelton Impulse Water WheelEra_date_from: 1878
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1919Lake FreewayMilwaukeeState: WIZip: 53207Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Milwaukee-Metropolitan-Sewage-Treatment-Plant/

This was America's first large-scale activated sludge plant. The successful operation of Milwaukee's sewage treatment plant led the way for many other American municipalities to adopt its methods of efficient environmental recycling.

Prior to 1925, sewage and industrial waste from the City of Milwaukee and its suburbs (then population 500,000) was discharged to the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic rivers, which converge in Milwaukee and flow together through a single outlet into Lake Michigan.

YearAdded:
1974
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment PlantEra_date_from: 1919
Goldfields Water Supply
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1903LOT 2714 Goldfields HwyKalgoorlieState: W AustZip: 6430Country: AustraliaWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Goldfields-Water-Supply/Creator: Hodgson, Thomas C. , O'Connor, Charles Yelverton

Originally known as the Coolgardie Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, the Goldfields Water Supply, Western Australia, has exceptional and unique cultural significance for Australia.  Western Australia's first Premier, the dynamic and visionary Sir John Forrest, recognized the need for this extraordinary project to support the young and burgeoning gold mining industry in the dry interior of the state.  In 1896 he directed C Y O'Connor, the colony's first Engineer-in-Chief, to find a permanent solution to the water supply problem in the area, which lacked any permanent surface water supplies and

YearAdded:
2008
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Fernando de Sousa (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: Goldfields Water SupplyEra_date_from: 1903
Cruquius Pumping Station
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: PumpingEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1849Cruquiusdijk 27
HaarlemmermeerCountry: NetherlandsWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/pumping/-153-cruquius-pumping-station-%281849%29Creator: Cruquius, Nicolaus Samuel , Beijerinck, Jan Anne

This is one of three nearly identical pumping stations that drained the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake), 1849- 52, then continued to maintain the polder's water table for more than 80 years. The Haarlemmermeer area covers 45,000 acres (about 70 square miles) in a triangular region between the cities of Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Leiden.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Mirko Junge (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: Cruquius Pumping StationEra_date_from: 1849
Croton Water Supply System
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1842Croton RiverNew YorkState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/croton-water-supply-systems/Creator: Jervis, John

Inferior water and the lack of a sufficient water supply prompted public pressure to find a significant water source for the 360,000 of people living in New York City at the time. Studies determined that the Croton River, 40 miles north of the city, was the best available source. The original system served as a prototype for large-scale water supply projects across America. 

YearAdded:
1975
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Otterman56 (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Croton Water Supply SystemEra_date_from: 1842
Chain of Rocks Water Purification Plant
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1903Mississippi RiverSt. LouisState: MOCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Chain-of-Rocks-Water-Purification-Plant/

Clarifying the turbid waters of the Mississippi River for use as drinking water was a formidable challenge. The Chain of Rocks Water Purification Plant provided the first application of a system of flocculation, sedimentation, and rapid sand filtration for water purification.

The system played a major role in reducing the impact of St. Louis' typhoid and cholera epidemic of 1903 that claimed 287 lives. Continued improvements to the plant reduced that number to 91 by 1914. It is estimated that 1,900 lives were likely saved between 1903 and 1915 due to the filtration system.

YearAdded:
1981
Image Credit: Public Domain (Author's Choice)Image Caption: Chain of Rocks Water Purification PlantEra_date_from: 1903
Cedar Falls Water Supply
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Power GenerationEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1905Cedar RiverSeattleState: WACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Cedar-Falls-Water-Supply/

Requests for public power in Seattle began in the late 1890s and lead to the voter approval for building the Cedar Falls Water Supply hydroelectric dam plant in 1902. The first municipally developed and owned hydroelectric plant in the United States began operation in October 1904. The facility is situated one-half mile below Cedar Lake (later known as Chester Morse Lake) near North Bend in King County. 

YearAdded:
2000
Image Credit: Source: http://www.seattle.govImage Caption: Cedar Falls Water SupplyEra_date_from: 1905
Rocky River Pumped-storage Hydroelectric Plant
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: WaterEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1929Rocky River StationHartfordState: CTZip: 06101Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-water/-56-rocky-river-pumped-storage-hydroelectric-plant, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/1b393410-996b-4172-b5b7-628efc383e7d/56-Rocky-River-Hydroelectric-Station.aspxCreator: Connecticut Light & Power Company

The Connecticut Light & Power Company pioneered the use of pumped storage in the United States at this hydroelectric station. First operated in 1929, the Rocky River Plant had two reversible pumps that somewhat resemble large hydroelectric turbines. This permitted significant improvements in the system efficiency of the company's network of hydroelectric and thermal-electric power generating plants. Water is pumped uphill through a penstock and stored in Lake Candlewood.

YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Rocky River Pumped-storage Hydroelectric PlantEra_date_from: 1929
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Innovations

Rocky River Pumped-storage Hydroelectric Plant

The Connecticut Light & Power Company pioneered the use of pumped storage in the United States at this hydroelectric station. First operated in 1929, the Rocky River Plant had two reversible pumps that somewhat resemble large hydroelectric turbines. This permitted significant improvements in…

Read More
Cedar Falls Water Supply

Requests for public power in Seattle began in the late 1890s and lead to the voter approval for building the Cedar Falls Water Supply hydroelectric dam plant in 1902. The first municipally developed and owned hydroelectric plant in the United States began operation in October 1904. The facility…

Read More
Chain of Rocks Water Purification Plant

Clarifying the turbid waters of the Mississippi River for use as drinking water was a formidable challenge. The Chain of Rocks Water Purification Plant provided the first application of a system of flocculation, sedimentation, and rapid sand filtration for water purification.

The system…

Read More
Croton Water Supply System

Inferior water and the lack of a sufficient water supply prompted public pressure to find a significant water source for the 360,000 of people living in New York City at the time. Studies determined that the Croton River, 40 miles north of the city, was the best available source. The original…

Read More
Cruquius Pumping Station

This is one of three nearly identical pumping stations that drained the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake), 1849- 52, then continued to maintain the polder's water table for more than 80 years. The Haarlemmermeer area covers 45,000 acres (about 70 square miles) in a triangular region between the…

Read More
Goldfields Water Supply

Originally known as the Coolgardie Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, the Goldfields Water Supply, Western Australia, has exceptional and unique cultural significance for Australia.  Western Australia's first Premier, the dynamic and visionary Sir John Forrest, recognized the need for this…

Read More
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant

This was America's first large-scale activated sludge plant. The successful operation of Milwaukee's sewage treatment plant led the way for many other American municipalities to adopt its methods of efficient environmental recycling.

Prior to 1925, sewage and industrial waste from the…

Read More
Pelton Impulse Water Wheel

Water wheels have been used to power mills and pumps for centuries. However, the traditional water wheel was inefficient: water hitting a bucket would splash back against the next bucket, slowing the wheel. This is especially true when water is delivered to the buckets under very high pressure…

Read More
Philadelphia Municipal Water Supply

After an initial difficulty in attracting customers (who were used to getting their water from public pumps and private wells and cisterns), Philadelphia's waterworks soon couldn't keep up with demand. John Davis and Frederick Graff designed a complete remodeling of the system in 1811 so that it…

Read More

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