HISTORY CORNER

NASHVILLE’S THIRD WATER SYSTEM

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

In 1888, Nashville decided to locate a new pumping station at the Upper Island, adjacent to the natural filtering system. The new plant had three 10-million gallon pumps, and eight steam boilers, six of which had 110-horsepower and two had 400 horsepower. A new 20-million gallon pump was ordered for delivery in 1908.

A 36-inch main led from the pumping station four miles to a new reservoir on Kirkpatrick’s Hill and then to Eighth and Broad. It crossed Brown’s Creek on a stone, arched bridge constructed by Foster and Creighton. In 1892, a circular stone intake was built in the Cumberland above the upper island because the water from the old filtering galleries was insufficient due to clogging of the collector pipes with mud and silt.

The system also included 110 miles of water mains. The new reservoir on Kirkpatrick’s Hill beside the Franklin Pike was the former site of Fort Casino. J. J. Jewitt, the city engineer, prepared the specifications and plans for the new reservoir. Whitsett & Adams submitted the lowest bid and was given the contract. Work began on Aug. 24, 1887, and was completed Aug. 24, 1889. The total cost was $64,525.21. Rock for the reservoir walls had been quarried from the nearby hill later called Rose Park.

The reservoir was elliptical in shape, with a major axis of 603 feet and a minor axis of 463.4 feet in the interior. The ashlar masonry wall is 22.9 feet wide at the bottom and 8 feet wide at the top. The outside wall is 33-feet high. A cross wall cuts the reservoir in half. Each compartment has a capacity of 25.5 million gallons. A gate house was built on top to hold the valves and a shelter for the custodian was erected. There was also a nine foot wide walkway with sidewalls that circled the reservoir. Before the reservoir was closed to visitors in 1917, boys raced their bicycles on the oval walkway.

Water from the pumping station entered the reservoir in the west basin. The water that came from this intake was unfiltered. It remained in the west basin until the mud settled out of it. Then, the clear water at the top flowed through a weir (channel) in the stone wall to the east basin. From there the water flowed to the distribution system. Each year, this plan was reversed so the mud at the bottom could be removed by city prisoners.

The old pumping station and reservoir at General Hospital remained available for emergency use until April 1891.

On June 26, 1908, chemical treatment of the water was begun. One twentieth of a grain of hypochlorite of lime per gallon of water was added as an oxidizing agent. This treatment was recommended by Dr. William Litterer, professor of bacteriology at Vanderbilt University, and director of the Litterer Laboratory in South Nashville. Tests made by him after this treatment of the water showed that typhoid and B-Coli germs were completely eliminated. This treatment of the water, along with sulfate of alumina, was continued until 1920, when liquid chlorine replaced hydrochlorite of lime. Liquid chlorine was used until a modern filtering plant was completed in 1930.

Unfortunately, the reservoir on Kirkpatrick’s Hill rested on poor bedrock on the southeast quadrant. The rock there consisted of thin ledges of limestone with thin strata of clay between them. The wide reservoir wall spreads the load sufficiently to support the structure. What the designer didn’t take into account was the effect of leaks. For some time in the fall of 1912 a considerable stream of water was running down the gutter on Eighth Avenue South. Major W. F. Foster, formerly city engineer, was asked to investigate the situation. He found that the stone on the southeast side of the reservoir had badly weathered, causing the leaks. Major Foster had opposed putting the reservoir on Kirkpatrick’s Hill, and had supported putting it on Todd’s Knob in Donelson. His suggestion was declined because it was thought that Todd’s Knob was too far from town. The major predicted that the reservoir wall would fail. His prediction came true on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1912, when at 12:10 a.m., a section of the southeast quadrant of the reservoir broke, allowing 25 million gallons of water to pour out in a southeast direction across Eighth Avenue South toward the fairgrounds. Many houses were washed off their foundations and much property damage was done but no one was drowned. This was miraculous because the reservoir was full and most people were in bed. The consensus was that water seepage dissolved the clay between the limestone ledges causing the stone to settle until the wall broke.

The gaping hole was filled with concrete and the walls were rebuilt using the same stone as in the original wall. The work was done by Gould Contracting Company at a cost of $70,000. In 1921, the entire interior of the reservoir was relined with granite and waterproofed.The Water Department took levels each year to detect any further settlement and, as of 1969, no leaks had been found. The reservoir still remains functional today.