Birthday of the Moscow water supply system

The construction of stone and brick aqueducts was carried out by the Mayans, ancient Greeks and Romans. These hydraulic structures supplied water to large cities, which flowed by gravity through galleries and other structural elements located at a slight angle of inclination. In the Russian Empire, the first water supply system was built in the 19th century. in Moscow. It originated in the village of Bolshie Mytishchi. Before the era of Peter I, townspeople used water from ponds and the Moscow River, which became polluted due to the rapid development of industry and population growth. The brick water supply project, which was based on the principles of construction of Roman aqueducts, was developed by engineer Friedrich Bauer. However, the implementation of plans in 1787 was prevented by the Russian-Turkish war. The construction of the water pipeline, which had been stopped for 11 long years, was completed by another engineer, Ivan Gerard. To collect groundwater, 28 pools were initially built, and later 15 more were added to them. On October 28, 1804, the Rostokinsky aqueduct, almost 300 m long, with 21 arches, each 7.3 m high, was opened. From the Mytishchi springs through the Yauza, water began to flow by gravity through pipes to Moscow, a city with almost 200 thousand people. Then other galleries, key wells and pools began to work. The construction project, begun under Catherine II in 1779, was completed. In honor of this event, the birthday of the Moscow water supply system was established, which is celebrated on October 28. Carpenters, soldiers, corporals and non-commissioned officers worked on the construction of the hydraulic structure. The Moscow water supply system has been reconstructed more than once. The brick elements of the Rostokinsky aqueduct gallery began to fall off first, and the wooden grillages of the foundation began to rot and settle. In 1826, on the site of a collapsed water pipeline in Sokolnicheskaya Grove, a reservoir was built in the Sukhorevskaya Tower, Alekseevskaya water pumping station and several fountains. The reconstruction was led by engineer Nikolai Yashin. In 1853-1858. water intake from the Mytishchi ponds was increased 10 times. For this purpose, powerful steam engines were installed in the Alekseevsky reservoir, which supplied water under pressure to the Sukharevskaya tower. Under the leadership of engineer Andrei Delvig, the first 15 wells were built to extinguish fire, marking the beginning of the creation of a fire safety system for the city. The project of the New Mytishchi water pipeline was released in 1887-1888. This was due to an increase in Moscow's need for water to 1 million 120 thousand buckets per day with the prospect of growth to 3.5 million buckets. The updated structure, built under the leadership of engineers Evgeny Corre, Vladimir Shukhov and Konstantin Lembke, opened in 1892. In 1903, up to 4 million buckets of water per day were supplied to the capital through the Mytishchi pumping station. Today, Moscow Water Supply is an example of automation and digitalization of production processes. Disinfection is carried out instead of toxic liquid chlorine with sodium hypochlorite. In the modern water supply system of the capital, there are 9 hydraulic, 75 water intake and 19 regulatory nodes, 13 thousand km. networks and 4 water treatment stations. The uninterrupted operation of the facility is ensured by more than 12 thousand professionals. On October 28, they, together with other city residents, celebrate the birthday of the Moscow water supply system.