Richmond Water Quality: Yesterday
In 1737, the first Richmond settlers drilled wells along the James River to supply water to individual houses. Like in many early American cities, residents of Richmond also dumped waste water back into the James River. As the city’s population grew, the river became overwhelmed with waste and the water wells began to produce contaminated water. In 1830, Richmond became the first U.S. city to utilize a sand filter system to purify its water.Water was pumped from the James River and up 160 feet to the Marshall Reservoir. There it slowly filtered through a layer of sand, and then distributed throughout the city via a network of cast iron pipes. To keep up with the growing water demand, city planners build a couple more reservoirs, including the “New Reservoir” and the Williams Dam.
While Richmond was the first U.S. to filter their drinking water, the process did not produce uncontaminated drinking water, even when the city began chlorinating the water in 1917. A report at the time went so far as to say that Richmond’s “present water supply is unsafe.” This report prompted an upgrade of the whole system, including construction of a new water treatment plant on the banks of the James River. The upgraded system was completed in 1924 and continues to provide water to residents of Richmond and the surrounding area.