Plan to Supply Brooklyn with Water

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!


On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.


A communication from J. J. Murdock, has been submitted to the Common Council, sug gesting a new plan by which the city can be supplied with water. He says that the south ern slope of the island rests upon a clean bed ot sand and coarse gravel, which is filled with pure and fresh water, and he proposes to ex cavate a large basin, into which a sufficient quantity of water will collect, to supply 50 gallons for each of 500,000 inhabitants.— The basin to be ot such ex-tent of periphery, that the water flowing into it will not bring with it the sand, and of such depth that the sand shall not be forced up from the bottom. From near the centre of this reservoir—which is to beat a distance of five miles from the city boundary—he proposes to take the water at or near the surface through iron pipes, and conduct it to a pump placed at a suitable dis tance from the basin by which it would be forced into a stand pipe about 2,000 feet above tide-water, and thence be conducted through mains to a distributing reservoir on Prospect Hill. From this point its distribution would be the same as the one now proposed. The communication was referred to the Water Committee.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 28This article was published with the title “Plan to Supply Brooklyn with Water” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 28 (), p. 219
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican03261853-219f

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American

Subscribe