Chapter 31

Chapter 31
pages 166 - 172

WATER.

     Peoria has never been much afflicted for want of water. Should every other resource fail, the Illinois river, at hand, is inexhaustible. In old times there were springs of clear, cool water issuing from the bank, between high and low water, all along in front of the town-site; and as the first inhabitants settled near the river, they were thus well supplied. As they began to settle farther back, wells were dug. They found no difficulty in this, as far back as Washington street. It was found that every where between the bluff and river the earth was full of water, to the level of the water in the river, and that, that far back, it was not so deep but that an ordinary pump would reach it, and the composition of the soil was such that it would not cave in while digging. On and further back than Adams street, the depth became too great for a suction pump, being from sixty to seventy feet. Besides, the earth, at a distance of about four feet, became dry running sand, that endangered the well-digger, and required him to put in curbing as he went down. To accommodate those who lived on the high sandy ground, cisterns were resorted to by all who could afford the expense. The poor, who could not afford the expense of cisterns, some times had to pay the drayman to haul them water. Those along the bluff were accommodated with water by small springs that occasionally are met with, issuing from the bluff.
     It being early known that a part of the city would suffer inconvenience on account of the difficulty of digging wells, and drawing water from them when dug, men began to look out for some better way of getting water. So long ago as 1833, Stephen Stillman, a man of some enterprise, but entirely void of efficiency, on account of an inordinate habit of drinking ardent spirits, attempted to bring water from a spring which issued, and perhaps still issues, from the bluff, in front of the old Frink residence, now in the possession of Dr. Cooper. At the March term of the county commissioners' court, in 1833, an agreement was made between them and him, his heirs, executors, assigns or associates, who shall have the exclusive privilege to "bring water on to the public square," in lead, wood or other pipes; which was to be completed about the first of June, 1834. The principal object the county commissioners had in view was to obtain water to make mortar for the court-house they were about to build. Stillman used wooden pipes, bored by hand. These 'water-works' fell through almost immediately, probably for want of money and credit on the part of the proprietor. But had he had both, he must ultimately have failed, because of the insufficiency of the supply of water.
     Subsequently a company was formed for the same purpose, and they actually excavated and built over, with substantial masonry, a spring which then issued from the bluff in the northeast corner of section 8, T. 8 N., R. 8 E. of the 4th principal meridian, and through substantial leaden pipes they conveyed the water to several families in the city, who still enjoy its benefit; but although this spring is larger than the other, it was soon made satisfactorily to appear that it was entirely too small for general purposes.
     Other unsuccessful attempts were made to get up water-companies; but, until the present year, a majority of our people have depended upon cisterns, and vat from their house-tops, for a supply of the indispensable element. For the purpose of drinking when one becomes used to it, especially when (as in Peoria) one has plenty of ice, this is as good as any, and for washing better. The whole town-site, from the bluff to the river, is an alluvial bank of sand and gravel, and is a first-rate filter. At the depth of the river it is always full of water, and no common pump is sufficient to exhaust it; and this natural filter purifies the water of the ordinary impurities, and in fact of foreign matters generally, except lime. All our wells, as well as our springs and the river, have been found to contain in solution a considerable quantity of lime; but as this has been abundantly proved not to be prejudicial to health, it was not this fact that prevented wells from coming into general use, but it was the fact that, further from the river than Washington street, it became, as above stated, very difficult to dig wells, and for the further reason, as also above stated, that, further back than that street, the depth becomes too great for a common pump to operate.
     On the 20th clay of February, 1869, an act was passed by the legislature granting a new charter to the City of Peoria, by which are granted to the city the most extraordinary powers, on the subject of water-works. They are authorized. "To erect and construct water-works, either within or without the corporate limits of said city, for the purpose of supplying the City of Peoria with a sufficient quantity of pure and wholesome water, to be taken from Lake Peoria, or elsewhere"; and, for that purpose, to buy and hold any amount of real or personal property that may be necessary for that object; and to make all rules and regulations about the same they may think proper; and to "enter upon any land or water, within or without the corporate limits of said city," which is, however, to be paid for, according to the provisions of "An act to amend the law condemning right of way for purposes of internal improvements, approved June 22d, 1852, and the act or acts to which the same is an amendment." To accomplish all which, it is provided that "the city council shall have power to borrow, from time to time, as they shall deem expedient, a sum of money not exceeding $500,000 in all, and issue bonds therefor, pledging the faith and credit of said city for the payment of the principal and interest of said bonds."
     But the most noticeable part of said charter is the 9th section of the 12th chapter, which is in these words: "The said city council shall have power, from time to time, by ordinance, to provide for and assess and collect, as water-rents, or assessments, such amounts as they may deem equitable, on any lots of land which shall abut and adjoin any street, avenue or alley, in said city, through which the distributing-pipes of the water-works of said city are or may hereafter be laid, which shall have a building or buildings thereon, whether the water from the waterworks of said city shall be used in said building or buildings, or on such lot, or not; and the said assessment shall be and become a continuing lien or charge upon all such lots, or buildings situated thereon."
     Under this charter an immense amount of money has been borrowed and expended in procuring water for the city, and to a large portion of the city it is now supplied; but the cold weather and a scarcity of funds have checked the work for the present, but during the next year the water will probably be supplied to all the most populous part of the city.
     The plan has not been, as usual, to force the water into a large reservoir on an eminence, from which distributing-pipes carry it to all parts of the city; but a large pipe has been extended into the lake, some two miles above the city, and by a large steam-engine the water is forced through that, and many smaller pipes connecting with it, to all parts of the city, so far as the system has been carried out.
     I do not propose to discuss the propriety of these proceedings. But it is proper to state, as a historical fact, that there are those, and they are not few, who think that the whole thing is an unconscionable outrage on the public. They do not see why the city should be run in debt a half a million dollars for that which could be better done for a very small portion of that sum. They do not see why our population, for all time, should be doomed to drink the most filthy water, when pure water can be obtained, any where between the bluff and the river, in an ample quantity, for comparatively a trifling sum; nor do they see why, if they must drink the impure water of Lake Peoria, they might not get it further down, and save the enormous expense of two miles of cast-iron pipe, large enough, and strong enough, to carry all the water that will be needed in this city for all purposes, including that of running mills and machinery; nor do they see the necessity of being at the perpetual cost of keeping on hand an engineer and head of steam to keep on an eternal pressure, when, with a reservoir on a hill, one man and engine once a week, to fill the reservoir, could keep on all the pressure necessary to supply every part of the city. But were all this apparent, is there any body that supposes it right to tax a man pay for water who does not use it, whether he fails to use it because he prefers rain water, or well water, or because he belongs to the old company, and has already a supply of spring water?

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