John Sharkey

ITEC 301

Clean Water Article by Darwin H. Stapleton

 

Info from Article:

This article is called Clean Water by Darwin H. Stapleton and is about Benjamin Latrobe and how he devised and installed the country’s first safe and healthy water system. The article starts by explaining that Latrobe was from Europe and he was well skilled and as an engineer and an architect. Latrobe was extremely talented and often let this get to his head. He had many arguments with his colleges and didn’t really take others views very seriously.

The article then spoke about yellow fever and how it was affecting the people of United States, particularly in Philadelphia. Yellow fever affects people by giving them a very high fever, changes in skin color, and black vomit; these people usually die within a week of acquiring the disease.

Latrobe came to Philadelphia and surveyed the problem. Many people thought that the yellow fever was coming from dirty air or dirty streets, but most believed that it had something to do with the putrid drinking water. Latrobe left for Virginia, but returned to the Philadelphia area in 1798. He proposed a system in which steam engines pumped water from the Schuylkill River into the city. The system would be in place by the next year, and right in the beginning of the yellow fever season (July of 1799). Latrobe then worked on getting the steam engines that would be used in the system. He also found individuals that were skilled in the arts of cement making, bricklaying, masonry, excavation, and timberwork.

Latrobe went on to construct Centre Square and Bank of Pennsylvania. This established him as the leading architect in the United States for the next 20 years.

The steam engines took a long time to build so these did not until well into the fall of 1800. The operation opened in February of 1801 and the first one in the United States that would supply an entire city. Latrobe designed this system to cost in the range of $150,000, but the project went on to cost $220,000. Latrobe was praised for his accomplishments and yellow fever never hit Philadelphia again like it did in the 1790’s. Latrobe’s system became a model for other cities and they began to install the same system.

Latrobe other big project was in New Orleans. The city was in dire need of a water system and Latrobe was contracted to help. He decided to use the same system, but there wasn’t a company in the area that built steam engines. So, he found a used engine, took care of some personal business, and moved his family to New Orleans. He finished the project on August 30, 1820. The night that he finished the project he became sick. He had yellow fever and died a few short days later on September 3, 1820.

Benjamin Latrobe helped 2 cities with huge water problems. He had a great vision and despite his large ego and bad attitude towards his fellow workers he helped save thousands of lives with his ground-breaking water supply system.

How this affects my family, my classmates, my beliefs, and/or my goals?

This article affects me because without a sufficient water supply technology yellow fever could still be rampant today. I believe this was important to everyone’s health and I think we should respect Latrobe for everything he did in the fresh-water supply system arena.

What technological trends or generalizations does the article address?

            The article addressed the first fresh water supply system that was implemented by Benjamin Latrobe. Generalization: The man was killed by something that he tried so hard to prevent.

What information in this article do I find enduring?

            I found the prices of the project to be enduring (pretty cheap I think). The article made me think about everything we take for granted and how lucky we are to have such an efficient water system. The article also made me think about how tough travel was in those days. The project in New Orleans was in the working for 10 years because Latrobe couldn’t get an engine down to New Orleans because he had to have it shipped from the north by boat. These days, if you want an engine (and you have the funding for the engine), you can get one and transportation isn’t really an issue (you also don’t have to travel 1000 miles to find someone to build an engine).