Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-20
Is II ECONOMY?
SOMETHING OF INTEREST ABOUT THE
CITYs DRAINAGE PUMP.
A Tour of Inspection with Mayor Com
stock-A Glance at the Whole
Drainage System.

Mayor Comstock, since his incum bency
as First Trustee, has adopted the very gooo
plan of taking daily drives about the city
and keeping himself posted as regards the
wants of the people, needed improvements
and incidentally keeping an eye on the
street sprinklers and other servants of the
city.
II consider it duty owe to the citizens
who elected me TO keep thoroughly in.
formed as to what is going on he said
yesterday to RECORD UNION reporter, who
happened to meet him inst as he was about
to start out on tour of the suburbs. by
doing So" he continued, Il am in a better
position to act intelligently. and in a man.
ner calculated to benefit the people most. l
watch the street work as much as l can,
and when see anything going on that I
don't think Is right, make my protest,
right there On the spot. During the past
few days. however, have been giving con-
siderable of my time to studying up the
drainage question, and think have made
some discoveries that are important. But.
by-the-way, am about to take little spin
around now, and if you have couple OF
hours to spare you might accompany me"
The reporter jumped st the opportunity,
and few minute later was bouncing along
at lively rate toward the outskirts Of town.
THE DRAINAGE CANAL.
The Mayor took occasion to point with
pride along the route 10 the great activity
going on in street work, and he suggested
that it was pleasure TO him to realize that
at last Sacramento is to have at least few
streets that will be 'nayigabie'' in winter.
well. here We are now at Thirty-frst
street." said the Mayer, as he turned his
horse TO starboard, and headed southwark
alongside of the old drainage canal. Now
here is where q great deal of the water
starts from and is collected, that eventually
reaches the city's pumping works at Eighth
and Y streets. This canal was originally in
tended, as you know, to carry off the drain
age water of this psrt of the city, and cut
side of the city limits. But it has been q
fat failure from the start. Look at it now.
1t is full of stagnant water, and more refuse
matter is being added to it daily, which
only increases and intensifes the stencil,
that is now almost unbearable."
sTAGNANT SEWAGE
the Mayors assertion. At the junction OF
Thirty-fitst and ] streets sewer from a
neighboring brewery emptied large quanti-
ties of foul-smeiling matter into the canal
and there it stayed, just as if it had been
thrown into an open vat
Following down the line of the canal the
point was reached where the winery at
Guthrie's dumps its refuse into the canal.
From this point down for some distance,
however, there is perceptible flow, and
although an odor that is almost sitting
arises from the ditch, matters are not SO
bad as they would be were there no fall in
the canal, as is the case further up. Some
distance below the point where the canal
turns down Y street. the refuse matter of
the Buffalo Brewery empties into the canal,
adding much to the already obnoxious
smell. The Mayor explained, however,
that the brewery had only been using the
canal short time-since the new under
ground S street sewer, for which so much
money was paid out, had been choked up,
ard was not fit for use. This S street sewer
it appears is another failure 1t carries the
sewage well enough for several blocks, but
tries to carry it uphill as it nears the Sixth
street sewer, into which it is supposed to
discharge its drainage matter.
NICE JOB.
A force of workmen was at work vester-
day trying to clean out the sewer, as well
as to remove an obstruction which choked
up the Sixth-street sewer. The RECORD
UNION reporter had talk with the man
who had charge of this work, and from
him learned that the S street sewer, where
it joins the SiXth-street sewer, is consider
ably lower than the Sixth-strest sewer. The
result is that the sewage departs from the
latter and rushes up the Sstreet sewer and
renders the latter al times absolutely use.
less. The backwater moved with such force
recently as to break open the man. hole at
Seventh and S streets.
Owing to the incapacity of the S-street
sewer, the drainage, or greater part Of it,
is turned into the old canal, which winds
around Sixteenth, Y and Seventeenth
streets, and as the latter is about as fit to
carry water es is sieve, the land in
that vicinity is badly overlooked with the
foul-smelling sewage.
THE PUMPING WORKS.
Lets go down to the pumping works
that's hobby of mine, you know" sug-
gested the Mayor. Il go down there fire.
quently, and have been trying to figure out
now the expenses of that concern can be
cut down somewhat. As it is, it is fear
ful drain on the city's pocket, and, think,
unnecessarily"
1t did not take long to reach the works at
Eighth and Y streets, where the city Is
drainage is collected, and then pumped
over the levee and down TO the river, dis
lance of about mile. The pump was in
operation when the visitors arrived, and
engineer Hurd and his assistant showed
them every courtesy.
The drainage water; as is generally
known, is forced by the pump into large
tank or reservoir situated just outside the
levee, the south side Che pump works be-
ing on the north side, and the weight or
pressure of the water forces it from this
tank into the pipe that is buried in the
levee, and runs down to the river.
WHAT THE PUMP CAN DO.
AS much has been said regarding the
capacity and usefulness of this pump, the
reporter took pains to make close inspec-
ton and learn all he could about it.
This is what he ascertained:
The pump itself is fully capable of
handling all the drainage water, in the
manner now in vogue, throughout the sum-
mer months. But in winter, when there is
SO much to be disposed of, it will not fill
the bill True, it can do just about one
third more work than it is called upon TO
do now, but in order to do so, the discharge
pipe-the one that carries the drainage
water to the river-would have to be en-
larged considerably. AS it is now, the
pump has to be run at two-thirds speed to
prevent overlooking the tank and swamp
ing the neighboring gardens. Engineer
Hurd demonstrated this by simply increas-
ing the speed of the pump. The result was
that in less than two minutes the water
was running over the top of the tank at q
great rate.
The location of the pump is wrong
radically wrong.
II should never have been placed at
Eighth and Y streets, and Mayor Com.
stock is fully convinced of this fact. The
proper place for it, or a better one, is al
Front and streets or as near to the june.
ton of the Y-street and river levees as it is
possible TO put it. 1t could do
MORE AND BETTER WORK
Than where il is now, for the reason that
it would pump directly into the river and
would not be handicapped as it is now by
having to force the drainage matter through
mile of small piping. 4 powerful pump
at Front and Y streets would settle the city
drainage question-at least so far as il in.
wolves the disposal of the drainage water
II have still another idea" said the
Mayor, after be and the newspaper man
had thoroughly discussed the above propo.
sitions, "and ii is the one which | referred
to before as being hobby of mine. 1t is
this: | am satisfied TOR / have the opin-
ions of Mr. Grunsky and other engineers
that il is thoroughly practically that by