The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1908-05-07
THE SEWER TROUBLE
oSkALooSA HAS ONE SHE DID
NOT KNOW oF--NEvER BUILT
1T AND HAS RECEIVED
NO TAPPAGES.

the mayor at the direction of the city
council Monday evening, including the
members the sewer committee,
Messrs. James Brown, viii Lafaollett
and Tom Carlin, City Engineer Bridges
and City Solicitor Orvis, made personal
investigation of the locality in which
the trouble complained OF occurs. The
committee went over the ground south
of Sixth avenue and east of Market
street, along the ravine Of lie South
Springs" UP to the place where the
sewage is supposed to originate and as
far east as the Standard Oil Co. pro-
perty east of the freight station of the
Rock Island. The business in hand
was carefully studied The committee
and officers are now fully prepared to
talk Understandings upon the subject
and of the abuses complained about.
The committee made big discovery.
They were successful in locating the
source of a great portion of the
stencil that arises from the ravine
and the nnding practically exhoner-
ates the Oskaloosa Creamery of the
burden of blame that has been snoul-
dered upon it in the absence OF any
one else as an apparent cause of the
difficulty.
The committee found the outlet of
sanitary sewer of considerable di-
mension, flowing sewaFe in great
quantities and emptying into the
creek or ditch at a point just west of
the Second street fill and directly
south of the Rock Island passenger
station. This sewer extends east
along the ditch on the south side of
the Rock Island tracks and 1t is tap
ped by a number of the properties
al sewage is said to come from points
north of the Rock Island tracks and
east of Second street. Just how
many tappages have an outlet In this
particular sewer is not known, but
from the quantity of soil and water
flowing from the end OF the pipe tue
territory accommodated must have
considerable extent.
The city has no record of such a
sewer. 1t is not remembered that the
city ever did any work on the line of
sewer and yet the sewer exists within
the limits of the city and is serving a
locality that must be accommodated.
Just how many tappages on the north
side of the tracks are included in this
system cannot be ascertained at the
hut hn 10 n N
that the city has never had cent
of income from the Improvement.
Where did this sewer come from
who built It and how long has 1t been
| in operation, are questions that natur
ally arise, and explanations to the
same are not entirely satisfactory
The sewer originated in culvert or
| thing, placed beneath the Second
street fill at the time of the opening
of Second street, across the Rock Is
land tracks, number of years ago.
The fill was made across the deep ra-
vine which gave drainage to large
section of territory on the east side
of the street The culvert was placed
in the fill to give escape to the waters
that would naturally accumulate above
was placed somewhat higher than was
necessary it should have been and a
pond of water and drainage of consid.
cradle size was created east of Second
street. This pond was made a dump
hole and the accommodating debris rot
ting in the water made nuisance on
the property of the railway company.
The railway company abated it.
The tile was extended east from
the mouth of the culvert along the bed
or at the side of the pond and this
place was drained, as were also other
pieces of the railway property in the
immediate vicinity, and it is possible
that at tbs time connection with a
culvert passing beneath the Rock Is
land tracks was also made to care for
of surface water that came down
against the north side of the railroad
property in the vicinity of Third and
Fourth streets.
How and when the properties to the
south of this line of pipe were tapped
into the drain is not known, but OF
this fact one thing is certain. lie
drain was intended only to care for
surface water and was not constructed
| for a sanitary sewer. Now that a
| sanitary sewer of big capacity has
been created at the place the product
must be cared for in definite man.
| ner to avoid the consequences of the
conditions now existing. This accu
mutation of sewage is now carried
down the stream past the Hawkeye
Garment factory, under Market street
on down through the "Frankel pas
lures" and into the creek on which is
located the sewage disposal plant. II
may be that this same source of sew
age has been the cause of the contin
ued complaint of the contamination oil
the stream following the building o.
the septic tank.
There now seems little doubt tat
a sewer must be extended through
this ravine to take care of this newly
discovered source of the trouble ant
the other drain pipes and sewers tnat
are emptying into 1t.
The council and the sewer commit