Thirlmere Waterworks
of Manchester
See Engineering 1891/10/30 for a description of the outlet from the lake, the isolating valves and strining wells. 42-inch valves were placed in series in the valve chamber upstream of the straining chamber. The first valve was hydraulically operated, while the second was manually operated. The simple hydraulic system comprised a hydraulic ram 30" diameter, 42.5" stroke. The water for operating the ram was drawn from a collecting basin on the hill.
See also The Thirlmere Works for the Water-Supply of Manchester' by George Henry Hill, M. Inst. C.E. [1], from which:-
The tunnels and cut-and-cover portions of the aqueduct (c.51 miles in length), and some of the bridges, and other special works which could not conveniently be enlarged later, were constructed for the maximum anticipated demand of 50 million gallons per day. However only one of the five 45 mile long pipelines was initially laid.
Strainers: Each oak-framed strainer panel was 7 ft 4" wide and 8 ft high, held copper-wire gauze of 900 meshes to the square inch, the gauze being supported by strong copper wire of larger mesh. They were removed for cleaning using a crane powered by a hydraulic motor.