City Water-Works — This great enterprise, which is destined to be of such inestimable benefit to the people of Asheville, was inaugurated in 1882, and is to be completed the present year, at a cost of $20,000. The reservoir, having a capacity of nearly 1,000,000 gallons, is situated on the mountain-side (Beaucatcher Mountain], near the eastern limits of the city, with an elevation of 150 feet above the Court-House Square. The water, gathered from numerous springs, is conducted through terra-cotta pipes a distance of two miles, with a gradual fall along the mountain-slope, to the reservoir, whence ten-inch iron mains carry it to the Public Square; from here six-inch pipes branch in all directions over the city, carrying the precious fluid to its remotest parts. The city is the owner of the system, and only a sum sufficient to guarantee a small interest on the outlay will be charged householders for the use of the water.Source: The Asheville City Directory and Gazetteer of Buncombe County for 1883-'84, J. P. Davison, Compiler (1883) at 128.
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According to the City of Asheville Water Resources Department, in 2010: "The water system consists of three water treatment plants, more than 1,625 miles of water lines, 35 pumping stations and 33 storage reservoirs."
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View of Asheville from reservoir c.1883.
(click on photograph for larger image)
Later view of Asheville from reservoir.
(click on photograph for larger image)
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