Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-03-03

QQaQLlty dCGudlly COu5uucu, III 1910. Wa
| within trife of forty millions day.
proceed now to the consideration of tn
several projects for supplying the city will
| water which have, at different times, Occu
| pied the attention OF the community. Promi
| nent among these are schemes of contempla
ting
| PUMPING FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
There is no question here as to the abun
dance of the supply, or its general fitness fol
domestic uses. Neither is it necessary, II
| adopting this source, to abandon the essen
tial principle OF gravitation supply. A
gravitation supply is one situated at such ar
elevation that 1t may be conducted to the dis
tributing reservoir by natural flow. The case
| is not essentially different when the source il
SO elevated and so abundant that part of it
| in descending, may be made to force the rest in
sufficient volume into the reservoirs. The
| only difference is the necessity, in the latter
| case, of interposing the requisite mechanism
In either case the power to reach the reservoir
resides in the stream. An immense water
power exists only eight miles from the center
of population in st. Paul, and there is oppor-
tunity, still nearer, for the development of an
other not greatly inferior in magnitude. Water
drawn from any source, other than the river,
will require to be pumped by steam for the
higher parts of the city. The river furnishing
the power to elevate the water to height
commanding the entire city, constitutes a
gravitation supply in more complete sense
than any other.
We Will estimate the cost OF ten million gal
Ions day, on the assumption that the water
is taken above the falls of St. Anthony. TAX
ing at that point would remove any objection
on the score of contamination, by sewage. The
st. Anthony water Power company profess to
lease privileges of drawing water for purposes
of power to all who desire. Whether the water
SO leased is used wholly for power, or transmit
ted in part to- st. Paul would, of course, be of
no consequence to them. Taken at st. Antho-
ny, the dead lift would be about one hundred
and sixty feet, the water at that point being
about one hundred and ten Q1W feet higher
than at st. Paul. Ten million gallons G. day is
about fifteen and one half cubic feet per second
for twenty four hours. The power required
for jumping would be about eight and half
mill powers, assuming the pumps to run with
out intermission, but, as they would have to
stop on Sunday, and for repairs and accidents
at other times, we should require as much as
twelve mill power. The present price is one
thousand dollars per annum per mill power.
The leases granted by the owners of water
power usually restrict the use of water to a
certain number of hours during each secular
day (sixteen [ think). assume, however, that
the city would be allowed to use it as other
lessees do, viz, the entire twenty-four hours
if desired. The lessons derive no advantage
from the enforcement of this restriction, as
they have not the means of controlling the
river SO as to hold the night flow for use dur
ing the day. The reservoir would be located
on the high ground near the extension of
Summit avenue hey ond the short line railroad,
requiring a force main five or six miles long.
The surface Of the water, in the full
reservoir, would be two hundred and
seventy feet above the low water
level of the river at st. Paul, giving q
pressure of twenty to thirty feet on St. An
brought in conduit to the pump works, from
point rather more than a mile above the
falls, to avoid contamination. The reservoir
would be of large size to allow the water to
settle and deposit its sediment before admission
to the pipes. Especially would this be desir-
able in high stages of the river. For con-
venience of cleansing, it would be in two COM
partments, holding about twenty-five million
gallons each. l compute the cost of such a
reservoir, including land, at SITS, 900. The
force main would be thirty-siX inches in d.
ameter.
am aware that very strong objections may
be made to placing reliance for the city's sup
ply upon the chance of obtaining the power
for pumping at Minneapolis. tits, of course,
not certain that the owners of water power,
there, would be willing to lease it to this city
at all. The water actually required for con-
sumption would undoubtedly be taken under
legislative authority; but this, [ presume,
would not cover that required for power, with
out which the grant for the domestic supply
would be of little use. 1t may even be doubted
whether under existing circumstances, the
companies have in the lowest stages of the
river, any water power that could be made
available. They would certainly have large
m THAR opt Iacoaac ct of 10
the quantities to which they are legally en-
titled; but the enforcement of such contracts
requires the accurate measurement at regular
intervals, of the quantity drawn by each lessee.
Such measures are expensive, and have not
been adopted at Minneapolis. As at all water
powers, where due control is not exercised
over the distribution Of water, that matter has
fallen into the condition of grab game be-
tween the several users. Last winter nearly
the whole volume OF the river was drawn on
the west side, though the company owning on
that side does not claim to be entitled to more
than half of it, and the mills we're obliged to
stop, in rotation, for lack of water. Measures
are now in progress for increasing the fall, on
that side, and thus diminishing the quantity
of water required to run the mill l shonld
certainly not recommend the city to lease
power at Minneapolis, unless the water power
companies adopt measures for enforcing their
agreements with lessees, as otherwise the city
could not depend upon getting what it paid
for. To show, however, that the city is by no
means dependent upon Minneapolis for the
necessary power we will examine
PROJECT OF THE CREATION OF AN INDEPEND-
ENT WATER POWER BELOW MINNEAPOLIS.
A project has been on foot for a number of
years to create water power at Meeker's
island near the short line railroad bridge. A
grant of 200, coo acres of land was made to the
State of Minnesota by act of congress, July %,
1868, on condition of constructing dam and
lock at this point. This grant it is understood,
was assigned to private corporation which
undertook to fulfill its conditions. The con-
ditions not being fulfilled, congress, by act of
March 3rd, 1878, assumed control of the work
and made a small appropriation for its COM
mencement, conditioned upon the execution OF
a satisfactory release Of the preceding grant.
Such release not having been obtained, moth
ing has been done, though the work still
stands on the books of the engineers depart
ment. 1t was in contemplation to raise the
water seventeen feet; but there is no ipsupera-
BILE objection to raising it thirty feet. Neither
is there anything to confine the dam to the To-
cality named above. That point was selected
as suitable for dam and lock, being the high
est point accessible to boats below the falls
For purposes of water power, other points
lower on the stream are equally available. A
ihirty-foot head would create power about
three-fifths that at Minneapolis, being about
eight thousand horse power, day and night, at
extreme low water, and ten Or welve times as
l. III