The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1905-03-17
THE WATER WORKS
Engineer Wolff Presents e. Re.
sumo Of the Work ON the
Sewerage Drains and
Water Supply

sumo OF the Work On the
Sewerage Drains and
Wafer supply
To the Mayor and City Council:
| beg leave to report that the total
amount expended for sewer construc-
ton, including lumber and tools on
hand, is the sum of S9228.21. With
this money over seventy per cent of
the work has been done. The task of
carving on the work after it had been
abandoned by the contractor seemed
very hard one, especially in view Of
the fact that the city had had no ex-
perience with that class of work, but
the very satisfactory outcome of the
work done last year was something
unusual in my experience.
! The cost over the bid of Illstrup &
Olson was only $3.50. Ordinarily an
| undertaking of that kind on the part of
city would cost much more. The char
acter OF the work is also, in my iudg-
ment, very much better than that done
by the average contractor.
| The city has received the benefit of
| the contractors profits and when the
work is completed your city will have
q first-class sewerage system, modern
in every respect and at q less cost
than the same could ever be built for
again. The weather became so cold
before the sewerage work stopped that
the ground did not settle back in the
trenches. When the frost comes out
of the ground in spring there will
be sink holes and bad places in the
streets, which should be carefully
guarded to prevent accidents. The
digging was so deep in some parts of
the work that serious cOnseq uences
might result if this matter is not at
tended to.
The waterworks plans prepared by
me provide for first.class system.
The total cost of same with extensi ions
and additions will be approximately
$4,000. This gives the city two and
third miles of main and prac-
tically reaches all parts of the city
for fire protection. Careful inspec-
tion has been made of all pipe used
for mains, and none has been used
that did not come up to the require
ments of the specifications. The hy-
drants are of the latest and most ap-
proved pattern and are we'll adapted
to this climate.
The elev ated tank is one that was
especially designed for the city and is
very much stronger and heavier than
Gue otdHudfu aux usually Iur-
nished. If the tank is completed as
planned it will be as good as can be
made. The foundations for the tower
fall far below the requirements of the
specifications. The sand and gravel
were not screened separately as should
have been done. A much smaller pro-
portion of cement was used than was
called for and the concrete was
not sufficiently mixed. Consider able
trouble has been experienced with the
? gasoline engine or account OF the
slipping of the friction clutch. Other
! wise the engine appears to have suffi-
cient power to do the required work.
The defect in the clutch should be
: remedied and the pumping plant put
, in shape by the contractor so that
, it will be able to pump water into
the tower on the thirty-six inch
stroke and do it easily. The pipe
? connections inside the pump house
, should be rearranged SO as to pre-
sent more workman-like appear
/. ance, and the floor made to drain
! properly. Ample provision has been
made to require the contractor to dc
p this in the contract, so that there is
, no danger of any loss to the city by
reason of detective workmanship OF
} wisely withheld sufficient amount O.
t the contract price to cover all def
! ciencies.
. In all towns located the same al
! Milbank the problem of securing 1
: sufficient supply of wholesome watel
+ or, in fact, any water at all is /;
most serious one. | appreciated tina
fact from the beginning and hoped tt
Z secure water in sufficient quantities t.
supply the city for some time to com
by means of a shallow well. A grea
many of your citizens were of tn
. opinion that sufficient supply ,coul
S be secured in tina way and would nc
n have been satisfied if an effort ha
not been made to obtain it. It wa
demonstrated that it would be impos
sibe to supply the city from shallo
we'll, hence the only alternative was t
try deep WE'LL Some of your citizen
kept careful record of the deep we
'. that was sunk some twenty years ag,
U and these records indicated that ats
le could be secured in sufficient quaint
ties at depth of from 25O to 800 fee
A deep we'll was thereafter dug, givir
large quantities of water that is nea
ly soft. This we'll, of course, had
). be secured before the waterworks co
D. tract could be let or the pump hOu
n and tower located. These thin,
- caused considerable delay and in t
meantime mud and sediment filled
n the we'll. The water still contains
h large amount of sediment and it m,
be that the water will not become e
tirely clear for some time, which M
necessitate some kind of settling G
vice to clarity the water. The w
N has been saved, even though it h
- req lired q large amount of persevt
e, ing work to accomplish it.
m | can say in conclusion that I fl
of very we'll satisfied with the results
,c Tar. The moneys used have been cal
- fully expended and the city has !
re ceived full value for same.
Dated March Is, 1905.
r.. L. p. WOLFF, Engineer.
Notice
Notice is hereby given that the