Buffalo’s source of water supply is the same as the source of our
marvelous electric power. It is the Niagara. We get it pure and
undefiled, in unlimited quantity, and it is as cheap as it is pure and
plentiful. The service is under the control of the city government. Our
water rates are cheaper than those in any other large city in the
country, manufacturers are given very low special rates, and yet there
are several hundred thousand dollars available every year for further
extensions to keep pace with the rapid growth of the city, which is
constantly pushing out and developing in new sections. The pumping
engines and entire plant are first-class in every particular.
Niagara’s water, as is generally known, comes down from the great lakes,
and enters the river at the foot of Lake Erie, where Buffalo is located.
A mile down stream is an inlet pier through which the water supply for
the city is drawn by mammoth pumping engines. Analysis shows that there
is no organic matter in the water, and that it is absolutely pure. There
is an entire absence of any possibility of its being defiled before it
reaches Buffalo. All dredgings from the Buffalo harbor and river, canal
and slips must be and are, as provided by stringent law, dumped below
the inlet pier.
Thus it will be seen that this great requisite in the health and
prosperity of a city is assured in pure and unlimited supply forever.