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| A view of the under construction Tallah Tank |
With the inclusion of the southern suburbs within
the municipal area in 1888, there was need to increase the supply of water. During
1888-1891, some extension works were carried out. These included:
- Construction of a new Pumping Station with three 75 HP pump sets at a distance of about half a mile (0.8 km) from the old station at Palta
- Excavation of four large kutcha settling tanks/reservoirs with a total capacity of 82.75 million gallons (376 million litres) Construction of twenty-four additional slow-sand filter beds
- Laying down of a new 48-inch (1219 mm) diameter cast-iron pipe, 66,000 feet in length between Palta and Tallah, to convey the increased supply of water to the city
- Strengthening of the works at Tallah by the addition of two new pumping-engines, while the reservoir accommodation was increased
- Installation of an additional pumping-engine at Wellington Square Station, and construction of a new pumping station at Halliday streets, with four beam-engines and an underground reservoir of 4 million gallons (18.18 million litres) capacity
- Construction of a new pumping station at Bhowanipore for the supply of the southern suburbs newly incorporated in the Municipality. This pumping station was fitted with two triple-expansion Worthington engines and provided with an underground reservoir of nearly 3,000,000 gallons capacity (13.64 million litres)
The new works were completed
in 1891. Subsequent minor alterations included the installation of a new
Worthington pumping-engine at Tallah, capable of raising 9,00,000 gallons per
hour (1894), and two triple-expansion Worthington engines (1898) engines.
During 1891-1900
considerable extensions of filtered water mains were carried out. Attention was
drawn in 1901 to the need of a continuous system of water supply through
elevated reservoir. It was proposed to abandon the three pumping stations at
Wellington Square, Halliday Street (the present Muhammad Ali park), and
Bhowanipore and to substitute them with a system of gravitation by using the
pumps at Tallah to raise the water into an elevated steel tank or reservoir. It
was also proposed to construct two such reservoirs, one for the north and east,
and the other for the south of the town.
The Government agreed to the
proposal with some modifications and executed the plan by 1902. A new
Worthington engine with a pumping capacity of 22 million gallons (100 million
litres) a day was installed at Palta in 1900 and in 1902 steps was taken to
construct an additional reservoir of 5 million gallons (22.73 million litres)
capacity at Tallah. By 1903 the supply per day was 22 million gallons (100
million litres).
A fresh scheme was submitted
in 1903. The principal features of which were — the laying of a new 48-inch
main from Palta to Tallah to deliver an additional supply of 12 million gallons
of water, and substitution of gravitation for pumping as a method of
distribution.
There was a serious demand
for increasing supply even after it was increased from 20.5 million gallons
(93.2 million litres) to 26.5 million gallons (120.5 million litres) a day by
1905. To meet this increasing demand, the Corporation sanctioned another scheme
in 1907 and the Government in 1908.
The works were duly executed
by 1911, increasing the supply from 26.5 million gallons to 32 million gallons
(145.5 million litres) a day. After the completion of these schemes, the
practice of storing and boosting filtered water supply from the underground
reservoirs and pumping stations was abolished. The total supply again rose to
over 36 million gallons (163.7 million litres) in 1913-1914, and in 1921 it was
a little over 38 million gallon (172.7 million litres).
The number of house connections in 1920 was
37,023 that included 2,684-metered connections. For the purpose of waste
prevention, the whole city was divided into 238 water meter districts. The
total length of filtered water mains rose to 385 miles (616 kms). However, the
objective of continuous high-pressure supply throughout the day could not be
achieved because of excessive wastage. Moreover, there was an acute shortage of
water especially during the hot weather in the southern parts of the city. In
order to maintain a continuous supply at a minimum terminal pressure a new scheme
was submitted and was approved by the Corporation in 1921. This estimate was,
however, subsequently revised for supplying water to the areas newly added to
the city in 1924.
With the help of the
existing and the newly constructed mains as mentioned above, arrangements were
made for delivering water from the Tallah pumping station to different parts of
the city through the various zone mains. These projects, completed between 1922
and 1936 quenched the city’s thirst, till well into the 1950s.
Supply of Unfiltered Water to The City
The
supply of ‘Unfiltered Water’ in the city dates back to 1820. When the filtered
water supply was found inadequate to meet the demands of the town, William
Clark proposed to economise its use by an extension of the unfiltered supply in
1871. The unfiltered water supply was mainly used for the purposes of watering
roads and flushing of sewers and privies.
The old pumping machinery at Chandpal Ghat was utilised for this
purpose.
The transfer of the Chandpal Ghat Pumping Station
site to the Port Commissioners followed the extension of the unfiltered water pipes
from 1871. The Port Commissioners handed over to the Corporation a new site at
Mullick’s Ghat on Strand Road, south of Howrah Bridge approach.
New pumping and machinery was installed at this
site in 1885, but, it made way in 1897 for the existing plant that consisted of
four 300 HP vertical triple expansion Worthington engines, each capable of
pumping a million gallons (2.273 million litres) per hour against a head of 120
feet (36.6 m). Each engine was provided with a separate suction pipe laid in
tunnel under the Port Commissioners’ railways up to the retaining wall at the
riverbank. This pumping station supplied all the unfiltered water required for
the town area. The tunnels and the jetty were the property of the Corporation.
In 1897 another pumping station for unfiltered
water supply was constructed at Watgunge, on the river Hooghly near the mouth
of Tolly’s Nullah. Two horizontal pumping engines, each capable of pumping
300,000 gallons (1.36 million litres) per hour against a head of 120 feet (36.6
m) that were earlier installed at the Mullick’s Ghat Pumping Station, were
shifted and installed here.
The two pumps drew their water from common suction
pipe laid in a tunnel from the station to a screw pile jetty that supported the
pipe up to the water in the river.
The Watgunge Pumping Station supplied water to
District IV and the Maidan area. The
supply of unfiltered water grew from a little over a million gallons (4.546
million litres) per day at Chandpal Ghat to 33 million gallons (150 million
litres) per day from Mallick Ghat and Watgunge Pumping Station in 1921.
No further development works relating to water
supply were taken up between 1936 and 1945 chiefly due to resource constraints
and political upheavals.
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| A view of the Chandpal Ghat (circa 1940s) |
concluded
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