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PRELIMINARY REPORT
ON THE
ARTESIAN WELLS OF THE GULF COASTAL SLOPE.

. J. A. SINGLEY.

CHAPTER I.
THE GALVESTON DEEP WELL,

The present water supply for public use in the city of Galveston is derived from thirteen artesian wells, located along Winnie street from Seventeenth to Forty-fifth. They range in depth from 810 to 1346 feet, and the water contains from 140 to 175 grains of chloride of sodium (common salt) to the gallon, as well as other impurities, rendering it unsuitable for either domestic or manufacturing purposes, although used to some extent for the latter.

To determine the question whether fresh water could be obtained on the island, the city council appropriated $75,000 for the sinking of an experimental artesian well to the depth of 3000 feet, if pure water could not be found before that depth was reached. The contract for driving this well was awarded to the Galveston Artesian Well Company, and work was commenced on April 14, 1891, a casing 22 inches in diameter having been previously sunk to a depth of 57 feet, passing through the 46 feet of surface sand, and 11 feet into the underlying clay. The work was done under the personal supervision of Mr. J. W. Byrnes, one of the contracting company, and it is entirely due to his close attention and fertility of resource that the work of penetrating 3070 feet of sands and clays was accomplished in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties.

In the Engineering News of August 11, 1892, Mr. Byrnes gives the following description of the well and the method of sinking:

The process used was the revolving and jetting, as patented by Chapman Bros., of the American Well Works, of Aurora, Ill. A revolving table is used, by which the pipe is clamped and revolved while being sunk. A column of