Were wooden pipes ever used as water mains?

[Hmerkle]

Albany Water uncovers two-century-old wood water main

ALBANY — City water department employees were about five feet beneath the asphalt on...

www.timesunion.com

More interesting information from "It's a Fire Life" on Facebook:
Interesting discovery in Colchester Ct. The water department was repairing a main when they discovered a wooden water main , the main is thought to be a one of a kind in town due to the fact that a municipal water system was not installed until the mid 1930's using cast iron piping. It appears the main was a private main that was crossed connected to a 10" cast-iron main that received water from a near by pond supplying water for the Hayward Rubber companies manufacturing process, a massive rubber mill in town between 1840-1898. The two piece main demonstrates the water proof joining using cone shaped connections. The main also has a 1-1/2" service hole with a wooden plug. The main, though smaller is a good example of larger wooden water mains of many cities that fire departments would drill into and install a hydrant during a fire. After the fire the hole was usually plugged with a wooden peg. The term "Fire plug" originated from this practice. The pipe will be preserved and put on display.

 

[bob vaughan]

There was a time when wooden water mains were all there was. Maybe starting in the mid 1700s and probably going into the mid 1800s, depending on the pipe technology available to the municipality.

 

[kelLOGg]

An old timer told me once that if sweetgum gets wet and stays wet (like submerged) it will last a long long time and retain its strength. True? I wonder what kind of wood was in that Albany water main.

 

[Dee2]

At the hospital (strange place for it to be sure) in Augusta GA, there is a cross-section of an old wooden city water main on display. I don't remember the date(s) of use. The pipe wall thickness was in inches if IRMC.

 

[Mrfixit71]

Back in the mid 1970's the Coast Guard was still installing wooden water pipes to remote stations up in Alaska where equipment could not get to the location and the sections of pipe were carried by hand. In most cases the pipes were laid on the ground or supported above ground. As I recall, most of the pipe was 8" or so ID.

 

[Dave Richards]

Interesting. When my sister and brother-in-law were first married in the 80s, they had a house in Mason City, IA that was built right after WWII. The waste pipes to the street in their neighborhood were made of tar paper. They only found about about it because some of them were finally starting to fail and the city was making all of the home owners replace them.

 

[Gofor]

In Colorado, sometime in the mid '80s, I saw some 6' to 8' diameter redwood water pipes used to get water from the Colorado river. They were still in use at that time. Those pipes were staved somewhat like a long continuous barrel, and were also above ground.

 

[Jeff]

I guess wooden water pipes were pretty common before cast iron pipes were available. Many cities used them.

Found in Philadelphia: 200-Year-Old Wooden Water Mains - WEF Highlights

In a city as old as Philadelphia, construction crews are bound to occasionally stumble on something of historical interest when they begin digging. Such was the case in early May when workers replacing a water line along the 900 block of Spruce Street encountered what appeared to be buried tree...

news.wef.org

 

[sawman101]

Check out this link below, it's about the City of Newton, NC, where I live near, unearthing a wooden water line that was part of the original city water system. The world ain't that big it would seem.

Wooden water line unearthed in Downtown Newton | The Observer News Enterprise

www.observernewsonline.com

 

[sawman101]

Interesting. When my sister and brother-in-law were first married in the 80s, they had a house in Mason City, IA that was built right after WWII. The waste pipes to the street in their neighborhood were made of tar paper. They only found about about it because some of them were finally starting to fail and the city was making all of the home owners replace them.

About 50 years ago a commonly used 4" sewer pipe was made of asphalt like material, the brand name was Orangeburg. I used it for the sewer system of my first home. I also remember coming across Orangeburg pipe that had failed, as it eventually began to lose it's shape. My home was in Chautauqua County, NY, in the SW tip of the state, a very rural farming county.
Tarpaper like pipe was used for quite a few years from the 1860's to the 1970's. Reference the link below for more history.

Orangeburg pipe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[red]

Yes they were used back in the day. I was a backhoe operator years ago when I lived in Simsbury CT. and I did most of the water works for the then Village Water Company. Right in the center of town we came across many old wood water pipes. Too bad we didn't carry cameras with us then like we do today.

Red

 

[mdbuntyn]

They used wooden pipes in Old Salem. I think they still demonstrate how they were made

 

[Pop Golden]

In the mid 70s when I joined the City of Charlotte Engineering Dept, there was a guy named Dick Hedrick. Dick had joined the dept when he was 16. Spent time in the army, and returned back to engineering. When I got to know Dick he was around his mid 50s. Dick had the main part of the city storm drainage system in his head. You could ask him about a street and a catch basin & it's pipes and he could tell you the pattern. One time when talking with him he mentioned that there were wooden storm drain starting at the center of town that ran into cast iron and then to concrete. It traveled to Sugar Creek. That was around 50 years ago. They have most likely been replaced by now, but some may still be in the ground.

Pop

 

[Gotcha6]

Interesting. When my sister and brother-in-law were first married in the 80s, they had a house in Mason City, IA that was built right after WWII. The waste pipes to the street in their neighborhood were made of tar paper. They only found about about it because some of them were finally starting to fail and the city was making all of the home owners replace them.

That was called Orangeburg pipe and was used around here until officials learned that roots could get into the joints and clog the pipes.