Those old timers sure didn't have it easy...I might have rather carried water than made a couple hundred feet of that pipe. Wooden water pipes were common, there have been some found locally here too, but the type that are more common are made like wooden barrels...just long skinny barrels (staves and hoops) There was no such thing as leak free water pipes...they just kept more in than not...good thing the pressure was not very high! This fellow is pretty much responsible for modern water distribution techniques...and many other modern things too...dude was a genius! Living The American Dream Water Infrastructure: More than 150 years of leadership & innovation | Mueller Water Products
So much work!! When I was in New Orleans you could see the wood under the potholes in the streets. Ground so waterlogged they built crib roads first. Now that I think about it they probably had wood water lines too. Maybe still do.
When we (committee) were in the process of creating a public hamlet out of a private logging community, the oldest part of town had wood stave water lines. As that section was also sitting on the crest of a bank beside the river, it was cleared of houses and made into a green space. That section of the community was put into place in the late 40s, early 50s.
