They all have recourse to steam engines, to raise their supplies to a height sufficient for distribution.
The large iron mains, which project out nearly half across the river in some instances, are laid upon the bottom ; a method that could only be resorted to with safety in a river where there is but boat and barge navigation, as is the case with the Thames above London Bridge otherwise, these pipes would be in constant danger from the anchoring of ;
vessels.
Liverpool supplied with water copiously by two companies, the Liverpool and is
Harrington Works, and the Boothe Water Works both rely upon natural springs, and ;
both pump up the water to their reservoirs by steam.
Manchester has also its water-works, the supply being drawn from the river Madlock, about a mile and a half from the town, which, by being dammed up, filled reservoirs
prepared for it, whence it is, by steam power, raised to higher reservoirs. Unfortunately for the first undertaking, relying upon the judgment of Mr. Rennie, they laid down stone
pipes, which, on the first application of the pressure of the head of water, burst or leaked to such an extent, as to defeat, for a time, the whole enterprise, and ruin the projectors. The works, however, passed, into other hands iron pipes were substituted, and the town is now well supplied.
Water Works of Edinburgh. These works were commenced in 1819, and completed in 1824, at a cost of 145,000, or about $725,000 ; the water is brought from the