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| 1858 | 1 |
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262 stories matching pump
- The Water Works Water-Pump Fiasco
Public officials scrambled to hide that the new city water pump was 'pounding' and breaking down, just as citizens were losing faith in the entire system.
- Forty Tons of Seattle Iron: Moran Brothers' Giant Pumps Head for the Dry Dock
The biggest centrifugal pumps ever cast on the Pacific Coast leave Moran Brothers' foundry for the government dry dock, three machines able to empty it in two hours.
- The City's High-Tech Gamble on the New Holly Pump
Seattle's municipal water works achieves a massive efficiency win with new equipment, proving the city's investment pays off.
- South Tacoma’s Water Crisis
A broken pumping station leaves local residents drinking from Clover Creek instead of the city's new wells.
- The Water Pump's Final Gasp
Seattle's water supply system faces a crisis as pumps fail under the strain of an overtaxed city during an unusually cold winter.
- Seattle’s Water Fight: Pumping Queen Anne or Building for the Future
As Seattle’s reservoirs strain, Superintendent Andrew Jackson argues that waste, not supply, is the problem—and that the city’s pumping system is only a stopgap until a Cedar River gravity plan can be built.
- The Crumbling Pump House
A report to the City Council reveals the city's water infrastructure is near total mechanical collapse.
- Summer Storms Cut the Juice
A severe thunderstorm fried local electrical transformers, leaving the White Bluffs pumping plants idle for three days.
- The Great Broadway Pump Failure
An experimental city attempt to save money by shutting down the Broadway pump station ends in a burst main and a chaotic emergency repair.
- Tacoma’s Water Infrastructure on the Brink
A surprise inspection reveals crumbling pumping stations and a mounting $1,000 repair bill just to keep the city's water flowing.
- Justice After the Murder of Skamowee
The discovery of a body in the Yakima River leads to the arrest of a man known as 'Pumps' for a brutal slaying.
- One Pump Between the Crew and the Bottom of the Sea
The bark Nona Jitum survived a two-day gale off the Columbia River only by keeping one pump running—then limped into Seattle with a ruined cargo and no insurance.
- The City's Private Water Pioneer
Before the city operated its own utility, one visionary resident sank a deep well on Ninth Street, betting his own fortune that he could out-pump the ground itself to supply a growing Seattle.
- Turning the Desert Green: A Bold Plan to Irrigate the Pasco Sands
A new company, backed by railroad officials and engineering innovators, aims to pump Columbia River water into the Franklin County arid lands.
- Black Diamond No. 12: A Mine Fire, a Sealed Slope, and 100 Men Idle
Fire breaks out in the pump room of Black Diamond's No. 12 mine, forcing superintendent to seal the slope and steam the flames while a hundred miners are thrown out of work.
- Emergency at the River: How Two Children Saved the Pump
As ice jams threatened to destroy the family ranch on the Columbia, two young boys took initiative to dismantle the machinery before the floodwaters could claim it.
- The Old Water Tower Falls
A local landmark built in 1912 is dismantled after the town shifts to a new well-pumped system.
- Seattle Engineering Firm Lands Massive Naval Dry Dock Contract
Moran Brothers Company secures the contract for the pumping station at Port Orchard's naval dry dock, promising local jobs.
- The Young Man Who Gave Port Townsend Water
While town officials debated for years, one enterprising citizen took matters into his own hands and built the city’s first private waterworks system.
- The Deadbeats Who Were Stealing Seattle's Water
An 1895 water department report found the city pumping far more water per person than other cities—and a thriving traffic in illegal hookups, hidden leaks, and unpaid bills.
- The Looming Water Crisis
A 1893 report warns that Seattle's pumping system is failing and proposes the Cedar River gravity system as the only way to meet the city's future needs.
- The Old Todd Pumping Plant Dismantled
A piece of local history fades as scrap dealers dismantle the engine that once fueled the ambitious, struggling White Bluffs irrigation project.
- Lake Washington Water Flows Into the City
A new engineering milestone as city reservoirs are filled from the lake, promising both hydration and fire protection for a growing Seattle.
- Power Outage Leaves Richland in the Dark
A brutal cold snap knocks out electricity, forcing residents back to candles and oil lamps.
- The Flooding of the Talbot Coal Mine
A sudden rush of water from a subterranean reservoir halts production, leaving the company to debate expensive drainage tunnels versus imported pumping gear.