The Dickinson press., 1908-12-05
WATER ! A !: | IN
TANK Low
Sand in Pump Causes Trouble in
Water System. New Pump
Now Running. Storm and
Cold Delay ork.

aaQ II not been Tor the recent storms
and severe weather, the new city water
system would have been completed this
week or by the first Of. next week at the
latest. The cold weather has consider
ably hindered the work which was not
far enough advanced when the snow
came. Superintendent Littlehales has
been doing his best to rush the work up
to the point where there would be no
Inconvenience to the patrons even though
the progress is delayed and this week
was able to install an auxiliary pump
and get it to working so that there is
now no danger Of any water trouble.
Conditions were very bad last week,
much worse than most of the citizens
were aware. On two evenings in some
parts of the city the pressure was SO
light that only q small stream of water
could be secured. The cause was sand
in the pipes: The whole trouble dated
back to the bursting of the hydrant on
the South Side at the time of the fire
several weeks ago. After the break it
was necessary to repair the pump north
west Of the water tower, which has been
supplying the city with water all the
fall. When the repairs were made there
was such suction that the sides of the
well caved in, dumping lot of sand
into the water, This clogged up the
pipes and it was impossible to remedy
the trouble. One or two evenings last
week the pump drew in so much sand
that very little water could be pumped
and consequently there was little pres
sure in the water tower. Had there been
fire in the higher parts of the city,
almost no water would have been avail
able.
Supt Littlehales has rigged up an
auxiliary pump which he has placed in
the big new we'll north east Of the
tower. This is now run by the steam
boiler which has been used in the ex-
cavation work. The pump which has
been used for months has been discon-
tinued and all the water is now pumped
from the big well to the tower. The
supply is sufficient now to meet all de-
mands and the pressure is high enough
to furnish all the water necessary in
case of fire. This auxiliary will be used
until the regular machinery is installed.
Much of the outside work at the city
plant is. completed. The roof of the
power house was put on just the day
before the snow came and workmen are
now putting in the inside foundations
OF brick and cement which are neces-
sary to, hold, up the boilers, engines
and pumps This work is slow, owing
to the cold, as the men can work but a
part Of the day. They have been laying
the foundations for one of the boilers
this week. All the machinery has ar
rived and if good weather comes the
power house will soon be ready for USE
The big well has been completed seve-
ral1days and is now filled with water up
to within 10 feet of the top All that
is necessary is to put roof over it. The
cave in of several weeks ago caused a
great deal of extra work but the troubles
have all been remedied and now that
the water is in, there is no more danger.
The pipes have not all been laid. The
big pipes for lifting the water from the
well to the power house are completed
and the gravity and discharge pipes
have all been laid and part of the air
pressure pipe. The lack of enough of
the latter prevented filling in the bitches
before the snow came and the winds have
filled the bitches with snow which will
necessitate lot of extra. work. .s
Stone Claim Frauds