WATERWORKS NEWS OF THE WEEK

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WATERWORKS NEWS OF THE WEEK

The water rates at Roseville, Cal., for the year were reduced on fire protection front $11.40 per fire plug per year to $1 per plug per month.

The No. 30 catalogue of Chapman Valve Manufacturing Company of Indian Orchard. Mass., is a very handsome and complete book containing, a large number of well executed plates and descriptive text.

New Castle, Ind., water rates will be raised 25 per cent, if the new ordinance pending before the city council is passed. Water users enjoy the privilege under the flat rate, but will be given an opportunity to use meters if desired.

Contracts for a 3,000-foot extension of the Mays Landing, Pa., water system have been awarded, and the mains will be run across Dry Run creek into Harbertown. The main plant was erected five years ago, at a cost of $30,000.

The city of Council Bluffs, Ia., will be compelled to pay the sum of $510,500 should the verdict of the waterworks condemnation court be accepted by the city. The city officials are considerably disappointed, as they did not expect a finding above $435,000.

The Helena, Mont., board of aldermen have instructed the council judiciary committee to prepare an ordinance providing for the submission to the people for their approval or rejection of the offer of the Helena Waterworks Company to sell its plant for $400,000.

After long and strenuous efforts on the part of the council of Wheaton, Minn., to get a good water supply, indications are that such a supply has been found. A well drilled in the central part of the village will give all the water needed. For a long time the water mains have been dry.

Property owners in South Macon, Ga., are more anxious for city water than they are for sewers. They have petitioned the city council to give all their time and attention to the construction of the water mains in that direction and let the sewer work go over to some future date.

Purchase of the Plattsmouth, Neb., water plant by the city is being considered by a committee from the Commercial Club and the city council. The plant can be secured for commissioners to compel them to issue $45,000. A friendly suit against the county bonds for a new jail will be begun soon.

The new reinforced concrete reservoir recently completed on Mount Nebo, Cal., has been formally accepted by the city of Le Mesa Springs. It has a capacity of 80,000 gallons and was constructed to provide fire protection in case of a break in the flume line from which the town obtains its supply.

The annual report of the city water commission at Sheboygan, Mich., shows a total of $84,347.23 receipts, $17,480.81 operating expenses, $11,100 interest on bonds and $52,460.42 nei profits during the past year. A new 12,000,000gallon pump to cost $50,000 is recommended and will probably be put in soon.

At Sapulpa, Okla., Mayor Denton and commissioners have approved of the plans for the new $25n,000 waterworks system and have issued a call for bids on the construction. The plans call for a series of three dams along Rock and Fuchce creeks, with a capacity of 1,000,000,000 gallons of water and filter beds and settling basins to make the water the purest in the state.

Beaumont, Texas, has employed a competent waterworks engineer to make a physical valuation of the plant of the Beaumont Waterworks Company; to make estimate of the cost of buildplant as good or better than the present plant, and the cost of reaching a source of water of desired purity and palatability, free from salt.

It is stated that an order for the machinery for a new intake for the Waterworks Company at Shreveport, La., has been placed, according to the agreement reached between the city and the Waterworks Company. The entire cost of the new intake is estimated at $50,000, which is to take its supply of water from the Red river instead of Cross Bayou.

The system of sewer and waterworks recently constructed at Searcy, Ark., has been accepted and the citizens are making connections as rapidly as weather conditions will permit. The water system is one of the most complete to be found in any town the size of Searcy in the state, and besides furnishing fire protection will greatly improve the sanitary condition of the city.

La Mesa Springs, Cal., boasts of having one of the cheapest water rates in the State. The water is purchased from the Cuyamaca system, owned by the Fletcher-Murray interests, by the Mutual Water Company, for 6 cents a thousand gallons, and sold to consumers for 7 cents, the difference being used to pay for maintaining and extending the mains. The minimum charge is 50 cents a month.

Stanhope, N. J., has decided to build a municipal waterworks plant on the property of Janies Smith, near Lake Musconetcong, where several wells have been drilled. The water committee is authorized to engage an engineer and have plans made and furnish the estimated cost, it will then be necessary to secure the consent of two-thirds of the property owners for the purpose of calling a special election.

Chairman Burkhardt, of the Batavia (N. Y.) Pure Water Commission, has received a reply from Hearing & Fuller, the New York engineers, who were engaged to investigate the water supply for the village. The commission has gone over the report very carefully and has decided to submit at once to the aldermen the section with reference to the arrangement of the water mains, since the aldermen are about to put in new mains.

Work has been begun upon the new municipal water system, for which the borough of Hohokus. N. J., voted bonds of $70,000 not long ago. The pipes have been distributed along the streets where they are to be laid and work has started in some parts of the borough. The water for the present is to be purchased of Ridgewood or will be furnished from the same sources ot supply. In fact, the large main is already laid to the pumping station.

Atlantic, Ia., now owns its water plant in tee simple or will as soon as the balance of the water stock, $10,000 in all, to take up which the council voted at a meeting, has been carried out. The council voted that the stock be taken up and the city clerk was instructed to notify Bechtol & Co., the bond people, that $10,000 was needed at once for the purpose. The stock is taken up incidcnt to the work of improvement and alteration to be made at the light and water plants.

Van Buren,_Ark., may follow the lead of _Fort Smith and try municipal ownership. A deal is now pending between The Van Bureh Water Company and the city council for the purchase of the former’s water plant. In fact the company has agreed to sell, but members of the city administration are of the opinion the figure asked by the company is excessive. The company has agreed to reduce the price of hydrant rentals under certain conditions if the city does not purchase the plant.

Oklahoma City is about to build a sediment basin in connection with its waterworks. It will be of concrete 200×100 feet and 12 feet in depth and have a capacity of about 2,000,000 gallons The basin will add greatly to the capacity of the waterworks, permitting of the storing of this additional amount of water for emergency as well as providing for the clarification of the named quantity of water. The basin will contain about 000 cubic yards of reinforced concrete and will require about ninety days for completion.

The State Railroad Commission of Wisconsin has been investigating a complaint by taxpayers and residents of this city, to the effect that the water rates charged by the city, which operates its own waterworks system, arc excessive and that the service in certain parts of the city is defective because of existing dead ends. The rates as fixed by the council provided for a cut of between 25 and 40 per cent, on the former rates. The signers to the complaint, however, appear to be dissatisfied with the reduction, hence the appearance of the railroad commission

The commissions of twelve citizens of Long Beach, Cal., appointed some time ago to go into the matter of purchasing the two water systems now in operation in Long Beach for the municipality, recently heard a preliminary report from Expert Engineer Finkle, of San Diego, who has been engaged by the commission to gather necessary data regarding the companies and the value of their plants. No formal action was taken in the matter further than to request that the companies extend the time of the options the city has on their plants to Mav 31. It is understood this will be done, though the present options, amounting to about $800,000, expire April 24. Engineer Finkle says he will have his report next week.

Urging immediate action by the common council in the matter of purchasing the waterworks plant, Walter S. Goodland, who took the oath of office as mayor of Racine, W is., recently has taken the first step toward carrying out the platform pledge upon which he was elected mayor. This demand, made in his inaugural address, was followed by a resolution by Aid. Bell, also assemblyman from the First district, to determine to acquire the property and ask the state rate commission to fix a price. The council also elected John M. Driver president: William Kosterman, fire and poliee commissioner; Charles Carpenter, member of the park board, and George Miller, W. J. Harvey, Ward Gittings and Martin Geopfest, members of the board of education.

The water board at Portland, Ore., has voted unanimously to buy the Woodmere water plant from George W. Brown for $50,000. The board has ordered the water engineer to proeced at once with the construction of a 10-inch main from the city water system to connect with the newly acquired plant. “We consider that the city has made an excellent purchase,” said Mr. Wilcox. “The Woodmere plant, with its pumping apparatus and water towers, originally cost $124,000. Of course the city has no use for the pumps or towers. In 1909 the Woodmere system earned $19,000 and last year it earned $24,356. At this rate the city would get back the purchase price of the plant in two years and a half. The connection of the Woodmere system with the main system of the city will relieve the annual water famine in the Mt. Scott district.”

Waterworks movement at Aliceville, Ala., which has been under consideration for the past several days, has materialized and assumed a more definite form. Meetings of the proposed company, together with the several meetings held by the city council, have brought about an agreement between the town and newly organized company, and a franchise has been granted to the proposed company, which will incorporate and begin at an early date to install the system. The town is to subscribe for seven fire plugs and provision is made for additional plugs as the system is extended,. About $6,000 will be spent now in the construction of a system along Broad street. The tank is to be located on a hill 75 feet above the town, and is to be also mounted on a 55-foot tower or standpipe, which will be used to conform to the same demands that would be met by such tank.

Reports from West Plattsburg, N. Y., are to the effect that the new storage reservoir built by the city on the West brook has not met with the expectations of the city fathers and that it will require the expenditure of several hundred dollars to put it in serviceable condition. The city officials were jubilant when with the opening of spring the reservoir began to fill and they expected good results and that never again would there be a shortage in the city water supply. When the water reached near the top of the dam, however, they were surprised when the cantaker informed them that the water was not only eating its way around the ends of the dam, but that it was also pouring through the structure and that the water must be drawn out of the pond at once to save the dam and its wings front ruin. The gates have been opened and the water in the pond has already been lowered 8 feet.

Four Waterproofed reservoirs, built by the El Paso Southwestern Railway a year ago, have given satisfactory service as the result of surface treatment of the concrete linings. The depth of water is 12 feet. Soap and alum were first used in coating the lining, which was I to 6 inches thick. Two coats of each were applied, beginning with the soap, and alternating. Hot asphalt, or cold prepared asphalt paint, was then put on the surface. Some trouble was experienced in making the asphalt adhere permanently, probably due to the fact that the surface was smooth and glossy as a result of the alum and soap treatment. The prepared asphalt paint adhered more firmly, however, and proved generally satisfactory. The work was done on the basis that dense concrete, rich in cement, is the primary requisite for watertightness. The treatment was selected after tests to determine the qualities of the soap and alum solutions and the asphalt and paint.

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WATERWORKS NEWS OF THE WEEK

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WATERWORKS NEWS OF THE WEEK

Moline. Ill., is to increase its water supply.

Sodus N. Y., is to have a waterworks, to cost about

Gresham, Or., has sold of municipal bonds for the purpose of extending its water mains.

Pendelton, Or., will, on May 9, vote on a $200,000-bond issue for constructing a gravity water system.

Steps have been taken to acquire the plant of the Res Moines, Ia., waterworks plant. The company offers to sell for $2,700,000.

Soper. Okla., has voted bonds for a waterworks system, and work on the same will be commenced as soon as the money has been realized.

The Waterworks Company, of Helena, Mont., has placed a selling price on its plant of $590,000. A proposition is now made by some politicians to buy it for $100,000.

The question of municipal ownership of the waterworks and light plants by the city of Birmingham, Ala., will probably be put up to the Birmingham Commission by the Birmingham Board of Trade.

There is a popular demand for municipal ownership of the waterworks at Des Moines, Ia., and for the purchase of the plant at a reasonable figure. The best offer thus far obtained from the company is $2,500,000.

The voters of Benton Harbor, Mich., have turned down the proposition to bond the city for $100,000 for an improved water system. A twothirds majority of all the votes east was necessary. Eighty-seven votes were lacking.

Thomas M. Kearney, attorney for the Racine Water Company, of Racine, Wis., says $100,000 improvements in the local plant will be made. According to plans, the capacity of the pumping plant will be doubled, and general improvements be made throughout the system.

The waterworks company at Sipe Springs, Tex., is putting in 4-inch mains in the business district to afford fire protection. The 50,000-gallon steel reservoir has been tilled by the new pumping plant of the company and affords the greatest pressure. Twelve thousand feet of mains have just been laid.

Contracts for the waterworks extension and deep well improvement at Canton, Ill., were awarded to the Cook Construction Company, of Des Moines, Iowa, for $6,801 This bid covers the entire work proposed, including the extension of the water mains, the sinking of a deep well and furnishing material.

The big, heavy oil-burning engines now being used on the Boston & Maine road, are giving the North Adams, Mass., waterworks department some trouble. The big water mains pass beneath the tracks at the State street crossing, and the jar from the engines is so great that the joints of the pipes become loose and bad leaks result.

Water reservoirs at Hartford, Conn., are in a receptive condition, and show a substantial gain since the first of the month. Although they still lack 320,200,000 gallons to fill them to their capacity, the net gain thus far this mouth has been 454,100,000 the equivalent of about two months’ consumption. The total capacity of the reservoirs is 2,135,000,000 gallons.

A delegation of citizens from Mount Washington informed the fire and water board of Kansas City, Mo., that a company with a capital of $20,000 has been formed to make pressure to supply 600 residents of the suburb with water through 2 1/2-inch mains if the water can be obtained front Kansas City at wholesale rates. To carry nut the enterprise the city will have to lay 1 mile of 8-inch main at an expense of $8,000 to $10,000.

Meeting objections interposed by the New Jer sey state water supply commission, the Somerset Water Company agreed to-day to make a number of changes in its plans to furnish water to Bedminster, Peapack and Gladstone. In the main these are designed to afford greater storage capacity. so that the dry season flow of the stream from which the supply is obtained may not be diminished. The company will present a new application embodying the suggestions made by the state board

An examination of the filings on water rights in Colorato, recorded in the office of the state engineer during the last two years, compels the inference that if there is anything more valuable than gold in this state, it must be water. In 70 water districts, embraced in five divisions of the state. there have been, within the last two years. 2,297 ditch filings, carrying a total of 344,297 cubic feet of water per second, and 1,560 new reservoir tilings, claiming a total of 982,617,612,847 cubic feet.

It does not appear that the Racine (Wis.) Water Company officials arc seriously concerned about the city Inlying the plant, although the people voted by a large maority in favor of the purchase. It has been officially learned that the water company has contracted for new pumping machinery; a large addition to the pumping plant, which will double its capacity. This improvement will approximately cost $160,000. When the plant is enlarged it will have a pumping capacity of 16,000,000 gallons every twenty-four hours, the capacity at present being 8,000,000.

A dispatch from McAlester, Okla., says: The city council has adopted a suggestion of Commissioner of Public Works Schreiner, to an additional dam north of the dam on the city watershed at the cost of about $50,000. This, when completed, will hold 1,500,000 gallons of water, and with the present dam will give the city a supply of 2,000,000,000 gallons. They will also construct a pipe line from Gaines Creek, which will require about 40,000 feet of pipe. This line, with the boilers and pump, will cost approximately $30,000. Six-inch steel pipe will be used.

At the special bonding election, Madras, Or., voted to bond the town in the sum of $10,000, for the installation of a city water system. About 13,000 feet of mains have been ordered, while the reservoir and much of the ditching has already been excavated at an additional cost of $4,000. The supply is to come from a large well that has already been dug, the flow of water encountered being so strong that a pumping outfit will have to be employed before the well can be completed. The well is 70 feet deep. Within 30 days it is expected that the service will be ready for use.

The city of Superior, Wis., has taken preliminary steps toward building a municipal waterworks system. The Telegram of that city recently said: “The citizens of Superior are now paying, and have for a long time past been paying, $1 per 250 cubic feet for water to the Superior Water. Light & Power Company, with 26 per cent, discount if paid promptly as compared with 44 cents charged by the municipal plant in Duluth less favorably circumstanced and from 12 to 18 cents per 100 cubic feet in large quantities as compared with 7 ½ cents under municipal ownership.”

Governor Wilson has signed Senator Fielder’s bill to allow Jersey City. N. J., to spend $500,000 for new water mains. A similar bill failed last year. Under the Fielder bill the street and water board may spend not not more than $200,000 in any one year for this purpose until the grand total of $500,000 is raised. The money is to be raised by the issue of bonds running not more than 30 years. The claim made in support of the bill was that Jersey City’s water mains are in need of an overhauling, and that new mains are absolutely necessary if the efficiency of the fire fighting system and the water supply is to be maintained.

The increasing use of artesian wells as a source of water supply is making a marked improvement in the health conditions in some parts of the Philippine Islands, according to the recently issued special report of the Secretary of War on the Philippines, 420 wells are already in operation. The dangers incident to drinking raw surface water is well known to all who have had experience in the islands, and the people have come to appreciate this new source which furnishes a wholesome water without the former precautions of distilling or boiling. A number of experiments have failed to find any water at Iloilo on the Island of Panay.

Water Commissioner E. E. Wall, of St. Louis, Mo., made a record by handing to the Board of Public Improvements a complete report of bis department three days aftet the close of the fiscal year. The principal feature of the report is the handling of the waterworks at the Chain of Rocks. Mr. Wall shows that 31,625,900,000 gallons of water was pumped for use during the year at a total coagulation cost of $150,370.66, or $4,755 a 1,000,000 gallons. There were 12,196,243 pounds of iron used in the purifying of water and 26,063,058 pounds of lime. The maximum per cent, of bacteria removed was 99, the minimum 70 and the average 97.58 per cent., showing efficient methods.

To avert a scarcity in New York’s water supply. Henry S. Thompson, Commissioner of the department of water, gas and electricity, has begun a vigorous campaign against water waste. As a first step toward checking waste, which averages about 125,000,006 gallons of water a day the department is sending inspectors in automobiles every morning to various sections of the city to arrest persons who have a penchant for washing their sidewalks. Because of the present condition of the supply in the watersheds, permits for this purpose have been withheld this year, and the department of street cleaning has been restricted in its use of water. Several arrests have been made, and many others will follow, if property owners persist in violating the order.

The 20,000 feet or more of 20-inch pipe to be laid by the Portland, Ore., city water commission at the Meadows this spring has been received, and the problem of transporting it 28 miles into the mountains is receiving attention. The pipe is wood stave in 12-foot lengths, and weighs 33 pounds to the foot. Four and a half miles of mains are to be laid to convey the city water from a reservoir, where it has heretofore flowed through ditches. Work has been commenced on relining the open reservoir in the city and increasing its capacity by a 3-foot concrete parapet. The water commission is also laying new 6-inch water mains the length of Alvord street, and will lay the 3-inch ones taken up in some of the outlying districts where water is called for by the recent growth of the city.

A new double outlet hydrant was installed on Clinton street, between Tenth and Eleventh streets, Hoboken, last week, and was then tested by having two engines connected up with it, pumping water at their highest capacity. When Nos. 5 and 0 engines were both drawing on the hydrant and getting all the water they could use, there was still ;m additional pressure of 30 pounds.

This test satisfied the city officials present, including Chief Dunn of the fire department, Mayor Gonzales and President Otto C. Luebs of the water board, that there is sufficient pressure to cope with any blaze at any time in the city. They were highly pleased with the test. Water Registrar Gustav Bach was also pleased with the way the new hydrant worked. Other double hydrants will be installed shortly.

The Nassau Water Supply Company and a firm to be organized under the name of the Manhasset Water Supply Company, each have plans under consideration for furnishing water to the residents of Manhasset, Long Island, N. Y. Several weeks ago the proposition to install a municipal water plant was taken up by the Manhasset Civic Association, but it is said that it has not met with general favor among the residents of Manbasset. The Nassau Water Company, which already supplies Fort Washington and Plandome, has made an offer to supply water to that portion of the Manhasset district on the north side of Travers lane, at the rale of $30 a hydrant, and for domestic purposes at a rate agreed upon with the town board of North Hempstead. The Manhasset Water Supply Company has offered to supply the remainder of the district at $35 a hydrant and advantageous terms for domestic purposes.

Bids for the construction of the high pressure tunnel under the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, which is to distribute water from the Catskill system, will be opened on May 16. Advertising for bids on this project, the cost of which, it is estimated will be $20,000,000, first was undertaken by President Bensel, of the hoard of water supply and his associates shortly before Bensel became state engineer last November. The advertisement was withdrawn because, it was said, the corporation counsel had not approved the form of the proposed contract. The new advertisement is practically the same as the old. President Straus, present head of the water board, before the board of estimate, asked permission to enter into contracts for the purchase of property which the city must acquire in connection with the plan, without condemnation proceedings. The mayor referred the question to the comptroller.

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