Photo of an Artesian Well in Balayan [July 1914, BPW Quarterly Bulletin]

This photograph is part of a series showing construction projects undertaken by the Bureau of Public Works during the American colonial era. All photographs have been digitally extracted from the Quarterly Bulletins of the bureau and processed using graphics editing software to improve quality. It goes without saying that the eventual output of each extract was always going to be dependent on the quality of the original scan.

Among the priority projects undertaken by the American colonial government through the Bureau of Public Works was the drilling of artesian wells in towns around Batangas — and, of course, elseswhere in the Philippines — to improve sanitation and prevent cholera epidemics such as those that occurred in the 19^th century and early during the 20^th century.

Among these water projects were two drilled in the Municipality of Balayan in western Batangas, which were described by the Bureau of Public Works report as flowing “under high pressure head.” In the same report, it was mentioned that in one of the wells, “water will rise in a pipe 5 meters higher than the present outlet.” On the second well, meanwhile, water “will rise 8 and 9 meters.” Thus, the report concluded, “municipal authorities of Balayan are exceedingly anxious to pipe the water around the town, the average elevation of which is practically the same as one of the well sites.”

Below is a photograph accompanying the report of one such artesian well drilled in Balayan:

An artesian well in Balayan.  Image digitally extracted from the July 1914 edition of the Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin.

Notes and references:
¹ “Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin, Volume 2 No. 4,” compiiled by C.A. Tansill, published July 1914 in Manila by the Bureau of Public Works.