The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-10-22
WHEW, WHAT JOB
Topska's Sewer System, Must Be
Renovated.
Amazing Condition Discovered
by Mr.. Snyder.
NEARLY FULL OF MUD.
Some OF the Mains Found Almost
ClOgged.
Men TO Be Sent In to Shovel Out
Deposits.
NEARLY FULL OF MUD.

Street Commissioner j. F. Snyder has
returned from ST Louis to find ire
mendous undertaking staring him in
the face. Hercules duties at the An
gean stables were not more difficult
than that which confronts ]. F. Sny-
der. The Indications are that the en-
tire sewer system of Topeka needs
cleaning out, not an ordinary flushing,
but the dangerous and laborious pro-
cess Of sending men down into the sew
ers with shovels and buckets to re-
move the foot or two of mud which has
collected there.
The true condition of the sewers
seems to have not been fully realized
until the contractors who are at work
on the Fifth ward sewer tapped sewer
No. Il at Thirteenth street for the pur-
pose OF making a junction They found
that sewer No. IA has about a foot and
half OF mud and debris in the bot
tom of it, and that all the sewage flows
along on top of this mud. Serious trou-
bic followed the opening of the sewer,
for the sewage began to flow out, and
would have drowned out the workmen
on the new sewer had not a dam been
backfiow.
Sewer IA is one of the newest sewers
in the city, and if it is so clogged with
mud, the condition of the older sewers
Street Commissioner Snyder said to-
day: Il fully realize that the time has
about come when Topeka will have to
put gang of men in constant charge
ing the best we could with the limited
funds at our disposal We have work
ed on cleaning out catch basins when
ever we had time, but have never made
a thorough interior clean up of the
mains, except by flushing 1t no doubt
would be an excellent thing to have a
gang go through all the big sewers and
clean them.
The sewer which is in the worst
condition of any in the city is the ore
which runs down the alley from Tenth
to the river between Kansas avenue
and Quincy. have been down in that
sewer and made a personal inspection
of it, and I find that there has collect
ed in the bottom sort of gummy a.
stance which 1 think is probably com
posed largely Of tar from the tar
roofs. This stuff will be very difficult
to remove, and perhaps it would have
to be allowed to remain.
Il also know of several places over
in North Topeka where the sewer
ought to be gone into and shoveled
out, and this is one of the things which
1 expect to have done as soon as we
can This is one of the things which
we can do in cold weather when other
work is suspended. Meantime, we will
have to keep on doing the best we can
with flushing. The city ought to own
the sewers more thoroughly and
often.''
The catch basins which are built at
the curb to take in storm water from
the street, are, as their name implies
intended to catch and hold the mud
from the street. while they allow the
water to flow on into the sewer. In
order to make this system effective,
the catch basins have to be cleaned
out frequently. and the accumulated
mud removed. Otherwise the pocket
which holds the mud overf1ows and the
mud gets into the sewer. The natural
flow in the sewer is able to carry off
a good deal of mud, and it is only
when the burden gets too heavy that
the mud is left in the mains.
There are in Topeka probably five
are big enough for men to enter and
clean. The work is of course intensely
disagreeable, and is dangerous besides
Workmen in such a job are liable to
run into the deadly sewer gas while
down under the ground far from a
manhole, and be overcome before they
can escape. Up in ST Joseph some
time ago, the inspector of sewers and
some workmen were thus caught in
the sewer. and several of them were
dead when taken out.
There are devices on the market for
cleaning sewers which have become
clogged with mud. One scheme is to
pass a line from one manhole to the
next and then draw in a chain OF iron
buckets scrape up the mud and bring
it up to the surface of the ground.
This system is operated under patents,
and the proprietor leases his machin-
cry to any city desiring to clean out
its sewers