The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-02-25
Harrison Street Station Would
Ee RemOdeled.
WOULD COST $4,000
Sink Wells Near Plant an(
Use Pure Water.
Do Away With Proposed "High
Pressure System.

III all the suggestions Which have
been made concerning the Improvement
of the Topeka fire protection. the one
made by r. l. Cofran, formerly mayor
of this city and a man prominent in
business affairs, is the best. Mr.. Cofran
gave out an interview to a State Jour-
nal reporter this morning that, coming
as it does from man rich with NUM-
cipal experiences and practical work.
will undoubtedly be considered very
carefully by the city officials. Mr.. Cof-
rams idea is to have an electrically
driven turbine pump installed at the
Harrison street station and connect
this pump with pure water wells, pump
| the water into the present city mains
at a pressure equal to anything that
could be procured otherwise and prac-
teal for city the size of Topeka. Mr..
Cofran explained the main part of his
theory this way:
81 notice there has been considerable
discussion of late, relative to our wa
ter supply and pressure. I think the
practical standpoint. First, put in
number of drive well points at the
Harrison street plant, thereby getting
| an inexhaustible supply of pure fresh
water. Connect these well points to an
| electrically driven turbine pump or
pumps. Connect the discharge from
these pumps to the main line of pipes,
of which we have two, one of IA inch
running directly to the heart of the
city. the other which is IL inch, run
ming up Topeka avenue and joining
with the main line at different points
In case you want more water and nigh
Ell pressure than could be obtained from
the plant west of the city, start the
electrically driven turbine pumps, at a
moments notice, which will have ca
pacity of about million and half
nj a
of water into these II inch and IA inch
mains at a continuous, not intermit-
tant pressure of 125 or 80 pounds, or
whatever these pipes will stand, and
1 will guarantee you can take care OF
any fire we might have, so far as wa
ter and pressure is concerned. All this
at a cost of about Is or IL thousand
dollars. By this system you are nav
| ing pure water pumped into the mains
instead of river water, which might
have to be done in case of a long and
continuous call for water from the
present system.
This plan does away with the great
problem of a high pressure system. 1t
has almost been proved that the people
of the city of Topeka cannot afford a
high pressure system-an undertaking
requiring the taxation of the beneht
district which would amount to a hum
dred or more thousand dollars. This
is a vast amount of money to SINK
into the ground and use only once or
dened with the skyscrapers which
would neceSSitate the adoption of such
metropolitan plan.
In speaking of the sinking of the
wells at the Harrison street station Mr..
Cofran said that these could be bored
at very little cost. AS he says above,
the whole new system would not cost
over $4,000 The wells could be bored
near the station and cased high enough
in order that the high water from the
river would not touch them. At the
present time when the Harrison street
station is used the water system all
over the city of Topeka is contamina-
ted with the filth of the river. This
new system could be connected with
every main in the city and there would
be no necessity of laying an extra main
up Kansas avenue for the use of the
high pressure works.
Mr.. Cofran is not in favor of buy
ing new fire engines. He says this
is another waste of money for the
possible to use with an advantage
over two engines. A1so-when
steamer is connected with a water
main the suction is so great that the
rest of the main for block or more
is useless for direct pressure. This
new electric pump at the Harrison
street station would provide all of the
pressure necessary and the best part
of it is that it would be steady con-
tinuous pressure. The pumps of the
make of which Mr.. Cofran speaks are
of the rotary type and the inter-
mittent "chug" pressure of the old
style pumps would be eliminated.
The pumps could give the mains as
great a pressure as they could stand
in fact there is hardly any limit to
the pressure. The water pressure up
town seldom reaches above the no.
pound MARYLAND generally it does
not touch this standard. The pumps
are so far away, the height is so
great and the friction is such that it
e. 10 70
sure. The electrical turbines would
give enough pressure at the hydrant
to shoot a stream over any building
in the city OF Topeka today.
Some people have limited that the
city could not get large enough cleo
trical pumps to do this business. AS
Mr.. Cofran says-it is not the size of
the pumps that counts-a ten-inch
pump would do the business if the
water supply was sufficient. 1t will be
a very small trouble to procure the
pumps-and at a small cost of $4,000
as Mr.. Cofran has studied the matter
over very carefully.
The changes at the Harrison street
station would be small compared with
some of the elaborate plans that
have been presented for other ideas.
The first thing to do would be to take
out the old boilers and pumps now in
use They are "reminiscences and
should be hauled away to the heap.
Possibly they would be the best thing
in the world for some of these small
Kansas cities that are struggling in an
effort to provide themselves with Suf-
ficient fire protection. After this junk
is moved out, dig pit in the station
and place the electrical pumps in this
pit. Sink some pure water wells out
near the station and run points to
these wells Build the castings of con-
crete up above the high water mark
in order to keep out the floods. Con-
meet with the Kansas and Topeka ave-