Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-06-29
It Does Not Remove the Sewage As It
Was Intended to Have
Done.
1t Merely Drains the Pockets of the Taxpayers
and Feeds the Already Fat
Contractors,
And Also Furnishes Jobs for the Relatives and
Friends Of the Sanitary
Trustees.

Notwithstanding the fact that the
sanitary Trustees have paid out $780,
.OO.oOO already on the drainage canal
Notwithstanding the fact that the so
called drainage canal has been In OPP
Grafton over year and n half:
The city drinking water l. more I'M
fit for use to-day than 1t has ever been.
The truth of the matter is that the
drainage canal is a great big job. put
UP TO
Rob the taxpayers,
Enrich the contractors and furnish
soft berihs for the relatives and friends
of the trustees.
one of the best civil engineers In
the West writes as follows on the aw-
ful failure of this expensive canal
from an engineering standpoint:
To the Editor: Speaking of the so.
called drainage channel. NO Contami.
nation" l. the heading of an article In
the Inter Ocean of recent date. The
editorial lays great stress on report
of the Illinois state Board of Health
that the sewage of Chicago through the
drainage canal does not contamlnate
the lower Illinois river. One would i'm
againe. upon reading the editorial. that
a great II not n wonderful. discovery
had been made. ana n result never be-
fore accomplished had been attained.
II must be admitted by every fair
minded person that. at the present
time. aud also during the period pre-.
,cedlng the order of the general govern
ment reducing the admitted flow from
100000 or 100000 to only 100000 cubic
feet per minute, only one-quarter Of
Chicagos sewage had entered or now
enters the mlsnamed drainage canal.
and Il IL well To bear In mind that the
great flow was NJ the time of and dur
ing the most of the investigation re-
Icrred TO In the editorial. II must also
De conceded that before this small pro-
portion of sewage reaches the Chicago
river Il has been diluted nj least 90 to
30 per cent.
l. there anything remarkable. under
The circumstances, In finding that this
one.quartcr 10 TO 20 per cent diluted
sewage, subjected. as claimed ut pres
ont. 10 n flow of 100000 cubic feet of
water per minute, previously much
greater aud travelling distance Of lGl
miles before reaching Peoria. and
thence flowing ON 10 the junction with
the Mississippi In all about 322 miles,
has been so far diluted as to contain
nothing that j. communicating: Posi-
bly, the great discovery consists In find
ing that the ne-qunrtcr-probably
however. less than - per cent-of high
~ diluted Chicago sewage, added to
the sewage of Pekin and Peoria with
their distlllerics and factories, making
those cities equal To commercial cities
OF 100000 or 100000 sewagc-produc'
ing population, and To the sewage of
cities, towns, ana villages below and
above Peoria ana Pekin, before reach
ing the Mississippi, has not succeeded
in communicating the river below Ueo'
rial; and why should 1t, for II the one
quarter or u per cent of 90 or 20 pei
cent already diluted Chicago sewage Ii
not stlll further diluted in its flow OF
Ill miles 10 Peoria, then the cry of d
luton by an excessive pouring Of water
l. fake of the worst kind, and posi-
bly, II is-fOr with the further addition
OF the remaining Chicago sewage ant
full How of lake water allowed by law
may It not result in making the IllinOl,
river the vilrSt kind OF an open sewer
and especially 50, rs the Illinois rive
below Ottawa and much of the distance
above Is an exceedingly poor agenc!
for the publication OF sewage polluted
water.
Chicago Is the great sinner. ana /
bound 10 come 10 grief and this NJ n
distant day. II seems as II the con
DlU,iOn Of the editorial based upon III
report referred 10 therein, was beggin
The question to bc solved: which Is hoy
much water viii have 10 be carrie
through the drainage canal in order I
dilute and free the water from col
tamnation. VIII it not need about a
the contents of Lake Michigan whe
The other threc-quartcrs, or 81 pc
cent Of Chicago sewage Is admitted I
she riveri
Six hundred thousand cubic feet pc
minute VIII be Il. mere bagatclle, an
viii cut 80 small figure for "A Chlcag
Of 3OOO,OOO as sewage producing actua
population G,OO0,0OO or T,OOOOO0, an
of which the remaining sewage, I
some extent AZ least, is barely 10 pc
cent diluted, thai when the fun On
.cagO sewage IS added TO the sewage O
the towns Of the Illinois River valley
the present cry Of no contaminatiO
will be found 10 have been prematurel
raised.