Lake Chabot Historical Walk

Public outcry led Oakland councilman George Pardee, who later became Governor of California, to campaign Contra Costa Water Company for a clean reliable water system. The Hyatt filters were installed, along with pump houses and filtration basins, to form "one of the West's first" filtration systems, now part of a Historic Engineering Landmark.

The peaceful meadow you face was the site of one of two large filtration basins. The innovation of rapid filtration was new in 1884, patented by John Hyatt, and continued in use at Lake Chabot for well over 50 years. Water in the basin had a coagulant added to assist in clumping and filtering out mud and other particulates. The water from the basins was then forced through the Hyatt filters (see separate panel) to further purify it, delivering greater improved water quality to customers in Oakland and San Leandro.

In the 1890s "water wars" between Contra Costa Water Company (CCWC) and a rival company broke out, leading to verbal and physical clashes. One written attack on CCWC was included in an 1895 issue of the Oakland Tribune. "The water stored in Lake Chabot and Lake Temescal contains more animal rottenness than any other in the world... It is the perfume of the morgue."

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Show me all markers in:  San Leandro, CA  |  Alameda County  |  94577  |  California  |  United States of America

Memorial to the Chinese Laborers
Roots From Another Land
Lake Chabot Historical Walk
Giant Water Filters
A Zoo, a Monkey, and a Mansion Here Too!
Tunnel No. 1 Control Shaft
Yem-Po: Chinese Labor Camp
Taming the Waters' Flow
Of Fins and Flippers
Chabot Dam

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