The Elyria Water Pumping Plant is really remarkable. The Superintendent Samuel F. Jacob, has done a phenomenal job telling the story and all I have really contributed is some photographs. His staff is a dedicate group who take pride in what they do. 

History
The waterworks were first installed in 1879 using as a source the west branch of the Black River from which water was pumped directly without purification As the river received a great deal of drainage from farm lands and also all of the sewage of Oberlin it was very unsatisfactory both from a physical and sanitary standpoint moreover during the dry seasons of the year even at the comparatively low rate of consumption then prevailing it was with difficulty that a sufficient quantity of water was obtained It will thus be seen that the supply was unsatisfactory as regards both quality and quantity. 

The new waterworks were built by the city of Elyria in 1903 The plant containing the filters and pumps is located on the shore of Lake Erie about two and one half miles west of the mouth of the Black River at a point well removed from any local contamination The nearest sources of pollution are the Black River two and one half miles to the east into which the sewage from Oberlin Elyria and the greater part of that from Lorain is emptied and to the west Beaver Creek the mouth of which is about two miles from the intake and which carries a small quantity of sewage from the stone quarries at North Amherst In general it may be said that the lake water at the intake of the Elyria waterworks seldom contains more than a trace of pollution from domestic wastes and that filtration is necessary more for the removal of inorganic suspended matters than for a bacteriological purification.