CHAPTER XXI.
GROVE TOWNSHIP.

BUILDING OF THE WATER WORKS.

It became evident, even in the late 'seventies, that the water supply which could be obtained from private wells and cisterns was wholly inadequate for domestic purposes, and at the outbreak of the destructive conflagration of Christmas, 1880, it was demonstrated how entirely helpless was the fire department in the absence of both water supply and supplementary power. Soon afterward steps were taken to provide the citizens with a system of water works, both as a necessary public utility and a safeguard to property.

In 1882 a corporation was formed, with a capital stock of $100,000, to install the well known Holly Sstem of water works. The work was commenced under the supervision of J. R. Reynolds, and in October of that year the system was completed and put in operation. The company erected a machine house, sixty by thirty-six feet, just east of town, in a loop of Troublesome creek, and installed therein a Holly quadruple engine and pump, with a capacity of raising 2,000,000 gallons of water every twenty-four hours; in case of necessity this could be reinforced by a duplex pump of the same manufacture, with a capacity of 1,000,000 gallons per day. For some time after the completion of the works the water supply was taken from the creek, but, in times of rain, the stream became turbid, and, as the filters did not work satisfactorily, drive wells were put all over the bottom; these, connected by a spider, were put under the control of the engine, and the water thereafter furnished the city was clear and fresh. But in case of fire, or any other great demand for water, connection could still be made with the creek and the supply sent through the mains.

"Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pg. 235-236.
Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, July, 2018.