Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-11-03
Removal Of Dam Would Mean
Serious Loss to City's Re
serve Supply
REcITEs HISTORY OF TESTS
n. J. Benson, Of Union, Was Chairman
Of Waterworks Committee When OBJ
servation Well. Were sund, and Tells
Of What He Knows About condi-
tions.


is removed, there is no doubt but that
the water supply of this city will be
seriously interfered WITH" said ii. j.
Benson, OF Union, who was in the city
Thursday, looking after business mat
tiers. Mr.. Benson was member of the
city council and chairman Of the water
works committee when the present
water supply was installed, and super
intended the work of observation on
the. twenty test wells. noticing the var
iation Of the supply under certain con-
ditions. Consequently he feels that he
knows whereof he speaks on the propo-
sition that Is now to be met here.
II have been watching with much in
terest the discussion Of the question
here" said Mr.. Benson, land ! am
confident that If the people north Of
the city, who want to have the dam
condemned and removed are granted
their demands, the water supply of
Marshalltown is going to suffer ma
terially. When was chairman of the
water committee of the council, as you
no doubt remember we sank one test
we'll and twenty-four observation wells
in the field that is now occupied and Is
providing the city with good, pure
water supply.
Zone peculiar feature In developing
the field was that John w. Hill, of
Cincinnati, our consulting engineer, re-
ported adversely to the field, saying
that, in his opinion. there wouldn't be
sufficient water.
Now had lived on the river prac-
tically all my life, and believed l
knew what the gravel beds of the riv-
err would give up wanted the test
made despite the report of Mr.. Hill,
and the council supported me. We
built the wells and before l went off
the council we bought material for
twenty additional wells, to complete
the system.
Stood tho Test Well.
you also undoubtedly remember
how we'll these first wells stood the
test during. the long, dry season about
five years Ego. 1t was next to the dry
est year have ever known, and those
twenty wells surprised even me, and !
had much faith in them. We pumped
Iii 4UIlC LWSIIIJ suOuL IiooI 6SOVVtVVV
gallons of water, and for three weeks,
during the worst of the dry spell, we
averaged from 100000 to 100000
gallons every twenty-four hours be-
fore having to go to the river. This
test showed conclusively that the wells
were q success, but to make doubly
sure we put in the additional twenty
wells, forty in all.
CAS- said before there is no question
In my mind but what the removal Of the
dam will damage the water supply.
but how much / couldn't say. One
thing is sure, and that is that IL there
had been no dam when we had the
dry spell I refer to. we would never
have got the supply we did.
What Effect Would Be.
"By removing the dam you can't
help but lower the water In the field
to a point about level to the top Of the
strainers, leaving only six feet Of water
above the bottom of the suction line,
and only six feet Of water to be used,
whereas, with the dam in, there would
be ten or eleven feet to be drawn on
during dry season.
"There is an undercurrent thru all
gravel beds, about parallel with the
river, and from our observations at
the wells the water dropped as it fol-
lowed the direction Of the rdver, about
twelve inches to each quarter OF mile.
AS we got higher above the dam In the
field, and lower down, the difference in
the surface of the water was less
noticeable.
"This was shown conclusively by
these actual observations, which COW
cred a period Of two months, that the
dam has a material effect on the fall
Of the water in this field"