Manchester's Hydraulic Power system was a public hydraulic power network supplying energy across the city of Manchester via a system of high-pressure water pipes from three pumping stations from 1894 until 1972. The system, which provided a cleaner and more compact alternative to steam engines, was used to power workshop machinery, lifts, cranes and a large number of cotton baling presses in warehouses as it was particularly useful for processes that required intermittent power. It was used to wind Manchester Town Hall clock, pump the organ at Manchester Cathedral and raise the safety curtain at Manchester Opera House in Quay Street. A large number of the lifts and baling presses that used the system had hydraulic packings manufactured by John Talent and Co.Ltd. who had a factory at Ashworth Street, just off the Bury New Rd. close to the Salford boundary. Manchester Corporation opened its first pumping station in 1894, following pioneering schemes in Kingston upon Hull and London. The scheme was a success and additional pumping stations to cope with the demand for power were added in 1899 and 1909. Modernisation started in the 1920s, when the original steam pumps were replaced by electric motors at two pumping stations. The greatest volume of water was supplied in the 1920s, although the length of the water mains continued to increase until 1948. Usage started to decrease in the 1930s, and the first pumping station closed in 1939. By the 1960s, there were serious concerns about the state of some of the equipment and corrosion in the high-pressure mains, and in 1968 the corporation announced its intent to switch the system off, which it did at the end of 1972. The grade II listed pumping station built in Baroque style at Water Street has a new life as part of the People's History Museum, while one of its pump sets has been restored and is displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry, where it is part of a larger display about hydraulic power.
History While Joseph Bramah had registered a patent for the distribution of high-pressure water via a ring main at the London Patent Office on 29 April 1812, and engineer William Armstrong had installed hydraulic systems for single customers from the 1840s, the first installation of a public hydraulic power network became operational in Kingston upon Hull in 1876. Edward B. Ellington was responsible, and created the General Hydraulic Power Company, from which developed the London Hydraulic Power Company. With the technology tested, and Ellington's model of marketing hydraulic power as a public utility having proved successful, Manchester Corporation obtained an act of Parliament, the Manchester Corporation Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. c. ccvii), authorising it to build a network to distribute hydraulic power to the city in 1891. The corporation had the advantage over a private company in that it did not have to apply for permission to dig up the streets to install the network of high-pressure water mains. The pumping station was situated on Whitworth Street West, between Oxford Road railway station and the Rochdale Canal. Its working pressure was set at 1,120 pounds per square inch (77 bar), much higher than the 700 pounds per square inch (48 bar) of the London system, because it was expected that much of the power would be used for baling cotton, and the extra pressure was dictated by the design of existing baling equipment. Pressure was supplied by six triple-expansion steam engines, rated at 200 hp (150 kW) each, and was maintained by two hydraulic accumulators, with pistons of 18-inch (460 mm) diameter, a stroke of 23 feet (7.0 m), and loaded with 127 tonnes. The equipment was supplied by Ellington's company. Installation was completed by 1894, and by 1895 there were 12 miles (19 km) of hydraulic pipes under the city streets, providing power for 247 machines. Demand was high, and a second pumping station commenced operation on 6 July 1899. It was constructed at Pott Street in Ancoats, close to the Rochdale Canal, and had four pumping engines and two accumulators. The number of engines was increased to seven, six of 210 hp (160 kW) and one of 350 hp (260 kW). A third pumping station was soon required and was constructed between Water Street and the River Irwell. It had two accumulators, and six steam engines. Coal for the engines was delivered by boat, and it began operating on 14 October 1909. Although all three pumping stations were situated beside waterways, its water supply was obtained from boreholes. The borehole at Whitworth Street was 613 feet (187 m) deep, and water at all three was raised by compressed air delivery systems, which lasted until 1948, when they were superseded by submersible pumps. By the 1930s, the system had grown to 35 miles (56 km) of pipes working some 2,400 machines. Replacement of the steam engines began in 1922, starting at Whitworth Street. Four pumping engines were removed and replaced by electrically driven centrifugal pumps. The work was completed by 1924. The following year, the remaining pumps were retained, but their steam cylinders were removed, and the flywheels replaced by a helical gear drive, to connect the pumps to 220 hp (160 kW) electric motors. These were variable speed direct current devices, and a motor converter set had to be installed, to provide the low voltage DC supply from the incoming high voltage alternating current supply. The motor converter set was built in 1914, and was second-hand. The pumps at the Water Street station were converted to electrical operation in a similar manner soon afterwards.
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