The McMillan Reservoir is a
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
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that supplies the majority of the city's
municipal water
Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, ...
. It was originally called the Howard University Reservoir or the Washington City Reservoir, and was completed in 1902 by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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, commander1 = ...
.
Construction history
The Macmillan Reservoir was built in 1902 on the site of Smith Spring, one of the springs previously used for drinking water. Washington's earliest residents relied on natural
springs but this came to be inadequate as the city's population grew. In 1850,
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
determined that the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
should be the city's principal source of water.
Washington Aqueduct
A congressionally funded engineering study was conducted to determine the most available mode of supplying water to the city. Work and study conducted under the leadership of
Lieutenant Montgomery C. Meigs culminated into the development of the
Washington Aqueduct
The Washington Aqueduct is an aqueduct that provides the public water supply system serving Washington, D.C., and parts of its suburbs, using water from the Potomac River. One of the first major aqueduct projects in the United States, the Aquedu ...
which began operations on January 3, 1859. Initially the system provided water to the city from the
Little Falls Branch in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, until the aqueduct construction was completed. Regular water service from the Potomac River source through the aqueduct commenced in 1864.
Washington City Tunnel
In the early years of operation the water was routed through the system's two earlier-built reservoirs,
Dalecarlia
Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norway i ...
and
Georgetown, which were designed to settle
sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
out of the water. In 1873 the Army began construction of a new water supply tunnel, led by Garrett Lydecker, a major in the Army Corps of Engineers. The tunnel was known as the Washington City Tunnel, to provide more storage,
sedimentation
Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...
and distribution capacity for the system. Lydecker predicted the tunnel would cost about $53,000 to build.
Construction of the tunnel was halted in the 1880s due to a variety of problems including funding shortages, cost overruns, bribery and fraud associated with the construction process.
During that period some improvements were made to the Dalecarlia portion of the system, and work on the tunnel finally resumed in 1898.
The tunnel was completed in 1901, after an additional $800,000 expenditure,
and the McMillan Reservoir began operation in 1902.
Filtration plant
By 1902 it became apparent that the sedimentation process in the several reservoirs was not effective against
pathogen
In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...
s such as
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
, and was therefore not sufficiently protective of public health. To handle population growth and municipal sanitation needs, the city built the
McMillan Sand Filtration Site
McMillan Sand Filtration Site is a twenty-five acre decommissioned water treatment plant in northwest Washington, D.C., built as part of the historic McMillan Reservoir Park. It is bound on the north by Michigan Avenue, on the east by North Capit ...
in 1905. This facility implemented an innovative
water purification
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for hu ...
system using
slow sand filter
Slow sand filters are used in water purification for treating raw water to produce a potable product. They are typically deep, can be rectangular or cylindrical in cross section and are used primarily to treat surface water. The length and bre ...
technology to treat 75 million gallons (280 million liters) per day. It helped quell
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
epidemics and other communicable diseases throughout the city.
In 1907 the reservoir and filtration plant were named in honor of Senator
James McMillan James (or Jim or Jimmy) McMillan or MacMillan may refer to:
Sportspeople
* James McMillan (footballer, born c. 1866) (c. 1866–?), played for Sunderland
* James McMillan (footballer, born 1869) (1869–1937), played for Scotland,Everton and St ...
of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, who chaired the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia and supported development of the water supply facilities. Congress officially designated the site as a park in March 1911.
Subsequent improvements to the city water system were initiated beginning in the 1920s. The regular use of
chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...
as a
disinfectant
A disinfectant is a chemical substance or compound used to inactivate or destroy microorganisms on inert surfaces. Disinfection does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores; it is less effective than st ...
began in 1923 at the McMillan filtration plant. Another treatment plant was completed in 1928 adjacent to the Dalecarlia Reservoir using a newer technology, a
rapid sand filter
The rapid sand filter or rapid gravity filter is a type of filter used in water purification and is commonly used in municipal drinking water facilities as part of a multiple-stage treatment system.
Rapid sand filters were first developed in the ...
.
In 1941, due to security concerns during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the entire site was permanently closed and fenced off due to fear of sabotage.
After the war, the property remained closed to the public, but continued to supply the city with filtered water. The growth of the city population led to further expansions at the Dalecarlia site in the 1950s. The slow sand filtration system at MacMillan was replaced with a rapid sand filtration system, built adjacent to the old system, in 1985.
In 1986, the Army Corps of Engineers decommissioned the
slow sand filtration site and declared it surplus. The old treatment site was purchased by the District of Columbia from the federal government in 1987 for $9.3 million, and the site began to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance. At that time DC government had no specific plan for the site.
In 1991 the 25 acre (100,000 m²) McMillan Reservoir site, located between
Michigan Avenue,
North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of the city.
Route description
North Capitol Street begins at D Street in Lower Senate Park, between Louisiana and Delaware Avenues north ...
, and First Street in Northwest Washington, D.C., was designated a DC Historic Landmark.
In 2000, and again in 2005, it was placed on the "List of Most Endangered Properties."
McMillan Fountain
The McMillan Fountain is a public artwork by
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
artist
Herbert Adams located on the Reservoir grounds. The fountain, completed in 1912 and dedicated in October 1919, consists of a
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
The Three Graces placed upon a pink
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
base. Cast by
Roman Bronze Works Roman Bronze Works, now operated as Roman Bronze Studios, is a bronze foundry in New York City. Established in 1897 by Riccardo Bertelli, it was the first American foundry to specialize in the lost-wax casting method, and was the country's pre-emin ...
, the fountain was originally part of a large landscape setting designed by
Charles A. Platt
Charles Adams Platt (October 16, 1861 – September 12, 1933) was a prominent American architect, garden designer, and artist of the "American Renaissance" movement. His garden designs complemented his domestic architecture.
Early career Pai ...
. A tribute to
James McMillan James (or Jim or Jimmy) McMillan or MacMillan may refer to:
Sportspeople
* James McMillan (footballer, born c. 1866) (c. 1866–?), played for Sunderland
* James McMillan (footballer, born 1869) (1869–1937), played for Scotland,Everton and St ...
, the fountain was paid for by citizens of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, who raised $25,000 by way of pennies, nickels and dimes donated by public school children. Congress also funded totaling $15,000 towards the completion.
[Somma, Thomas P. "The McMillan Memorial Fountain: A Short History of a Lost Monument", ''Washington History'', Vol 14, No. 2, pp. 96-107.]
Sand filtration site post-closure development
See also
*
McMillan Plan
The McMillan Plan (formally titled The Report of the Senate Park Commission. The Improvement of the Park System of the District of Columbia) is a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park system of Wa ...
References
External links
Washington Aqueduct- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Pictures of the McMillan slow sand plant, with history
{{Potomac River System
Reservoirs in Washington, D.C.
Potomac River watershed