The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1900-12-18
LEAKAGE: is
DECREASING
The Sewer Contractors
Make Statement,
SEEPAGE IS THE CAUSE
Territory Retains Fifteen Per Cent
Of the Price Until Com
p'eted,
THE sewer contractors say official

THE sewer contractors. say official
ly that the leakage in the com
pleted system has been reduced
80 1-3 per cent from the OF iginal 8 pei
cent of leakage known when the gov
eminent took the work over. Thk
leakage has occurred in the district!
where the mains have been laid ter
and twelve feet below the sea level.
BY the terms of the contract which
Is an iron-clad agreement, compelling
the contractors to stop all leaks with.
| in the next six months, the govern.
ment retains Is per cent on the con-
tract price, thus guaranteeing to the
public that the contractors will fulfil
their agreement to the letter. In view
of the decided lessening of the leakage
yesterday, Mr.. Vincent said last even
ing to an Advertiser representative
that the statements made In an even
ing paper signed Taxpayer" are
without foundation, when the to hnical
facts are clearly under TODD in regard
to what constitutes leakage in sewer
| systems.
"On behalf of Dir. Belser and myself
| would like to say that If this anony-
nous writer who dubs himself Tax
payer wishes Information regarding
sewers and will give me his name |
will gladly furnish him with informa-
ton from leading works and authori-
ties to show to him that 1t Is impos,
sible when a system Is first completed
to make IL absolutely water tight.
With reference to the leakage Of
B per cent, | will say that Is not con-
sidered excessive in similar systems.
The leaks in this system on the final
examination were little under 3 per
cent. The water was measured today.
and it was found that has already fall
en- 80 1-3 per cent on the original leak
age found So the leakage is actually
now only about per cent.
AT the same time this examination
was made there we're not over a dozen
leaks of any size to be found, and they
were not considered large enough to
attempt to fix or repair in any way,
az they will stop themselves. This
leakage Is merely seepage into the
general system which finds its way
down to the stump at the pumping sta
ton.
The leakage Is in the pipe which is
far below sea-level, and was laid di-
rectly in water. There Is three miles
of such piping, and some of 1t Is sub
jected to pressure of five pounds to
the square inch. That is where the
main leakage occurs.
Il don't think that residents here
generally understand what is meant by
leakases. This means that where the
pipe Is laid in water. through some
imperfection. whether in the pipe
itself or improper adjustments Of
pipe lengths, the water in which the
pipe is laid seeps into the mains and
courses down into the sewer sump at
the pumping station. That IS how we
measure the leakaga-by the amount
Of water which comes into the reser-
voir
"On our rart, We consider that the
Superintendent of Public Works has
taken more than reasonable precau-
ton to protect the city's interest,". The
terms of our contract provide that If
there We're any repairs needed within
six months of the completion of the
system we would be required to do
that without expense to the city. and
even If the sewer had been tight, we
would have had to fix it later on.
There are many places in town badly
in need of sewer connections. but be-
fore the superintendent of Pub ic
Works would consent to having the
system used, the cost OF pumping this
extra water which seers into the
mains was estimated for the next six
months, and this we agreed to pump
out without expense to the city. For
IN lance, we measured the amount OF
water running into the system from
the leaks. The amount o this seep ge
will be taken into consideration when
the sewer l. in full operation. and the
cost of pumping that water out
through the outfall will devoive
upon us.
In the meantime the Territory re-
tains 10 per cent Of the contract price
which is more than sufficient to en-
trey reconstruct hose portions OF the
sewer which 'TaNpayer' has criti-