A letter from John Robison to Dr David Brewster describing James Watt's plans for an efficient filtering system from the River Clyde.
Date: Published in 1820
Publication: Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, Volume 3, Number 5, Pages 60-62; Plate 3.
John Robison outlines details of James Watt's plans to help Glasgow Water Work company provide a more efficient filtering system from the River Clyde.
Watt suggested a flexible iron main should be drawn across the bed of the river through which pumping engines on the north side should raise the water from the well on the south side. He describes the flexible pipe mechanism and need for a second pump to satisfy demand.
We get some insight into where Watt's ideas originated: 'We have heard Mr Watt say, at the time he contrived this water-pipe, that the idea was suggested to him from a consideration of the flexibility of the lobster's tail'.