Walla Walla's Growing Pains and Water Worries
A civil engineer lays out a blueprint for the city's future water supply, warning that small, aging pipes are a danger to fire safety.
Mill creek water is clear and sparkling at all seasons of the year, with the exception of a few weeks in the early spring during the period of freshets. If the point of diversion is only 6 miles up stream it will be absolutely necessary to filter all the water from the creek before it enters the city mains. Until Walla Walla grows much larger, this arrangement might be satisfactory. Whenever the consumption grows beyond the capacity of the reservoir springs, then it will become necessary to install filtration plants and settling basins. A water system by conduit and without a distributing reservoir is only a makeshift. In case of an extensive fire, when the draft upon the mains exceeds the capacity of the conduit, trouble is at hand. A careful examination of your water map shows conclusively that the Walla Walla system is suffering from that old trouble, so common in all the early water systems, viz: too small pipes.
“A water system by conduit and without a distributing reservoir is only a makeshift.”
The infrastructure challenges outlined here—balancing rapid growth, clean water supply, and fire suppression pressure—remain central to municipal planning in Walla Walla and throughout the Pacific Northwest.
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