Winter 2001-2002, Vol. 7 No. 2

Celebrating 50 Years

A gathering of nearly 10,000 jovial citizens waited excitedly for the numerous speeches to end.  After watching a parade, the crowd stood waiting in eager anticipation. Was it Memorial Day or the Fourth of July?  It was neither.  It was Thanksgiving Day 1951, and the festivities were to celebrate the long awaited supply of clean water for the customers of Chester Water Authority from its new reservoir and treatment plant.

In the early 1940s, the Authority needed to find a new source of water and hired a consulting company to research every possible source.  The previous water source, the Delaware River, had fallen victim to pollution, thus making the water harder and harder to treat.  The consulting engineer, Albright & Friel, completed their search and to the surprise of the Authority, determined that the best source of water would be 40 miles away to the west – the Octoraro Creek.  The Octoraro Creek, which forms the boundary between Chester and Lancaster Counties, provided all the necessary elements for a source of water that would take the Authority well into the 21st century and beyond.

The engineers divided this project into six steps:

1. Build a dam across the Octoraro Creek to impound approximately 2.8 billion gallons of water.

2. Erect a filtration plant and a pumping station to treat and pump the water.

3. Build a reservoir for treated water on the highest land in Oxford, Pennsylvania, to get sufficient height to have the new water flow by gravity to the Chester area.

4. Build a 40-mile pipeline from Oxford Summit to the Chester area.

5. Enlarge the capacity of Harrison Hill Reservoir.

6. Make necessary changes to the existing water distribution system to accommodate the new supply of water.

The width of the impounding dam is 600 feet long and was near completion by the end of September, 1949.  Erected upon the dam were two massive tainter gates.  These gates, each weighing 75 tons, regulate the flow of water from the dam.  It took 21 days for the water to fill the reservoir when the gates at the dam were closed.  The $1.5 million treatment plant was finished a few months before the dam, complete with settling basins and a pumping station to send the water flowing eastward.  The water, carried through 40-miles of 42- and 48-inch diameter pre-stressed concrete water main, began supplying customers in Chester, Pennsylvania, and surrounding Delaware County on Thanksgiving Day 1951.

In 1951, the capacity of the Octoraro Treatment Plant was 18 million gallons per day (mgd).  Today, the Octoraro Treatment Plant has a capacity of 60 mgd.  In 1951, Chester Water Authority supplied water to approximately 21,000 customers.  Today the Authority supplies water to over 37,000 customers. 

The Authority had a visionary plan – to supply the highest-quality water to its growing customer base.  Yes, 1951 was a momentous year.  Chester Water Authority wanted a better water supply and found it.  The residents of the City of Chester and surrounding Delaware County welcomed the gift of great-tasting water.