Semi-weekly herald., 1909-11-25

tneu introduced 10 tne council and au
dressed them at length. He stated In
explanation that he was sent by his
firm to visit the cities and towns of
Colorado. Wyoming and New Mexico
to gather data on their respective wa
ter systems. with reference to ere
ating a demand for meters to be used
in the same, He said that he was not
in Durango to sell meters at present
hut rather to pave the way for supply.
ing the commodity as the demands of
the future should make their use i'm.
perative.
The speaker dwelt at length on the
wholesome supply of this city, and said
that he had hardly been able to drink
enough Of it--it is so cold and pure
He commented on the abundant supply
and said we could stand waste, adding
that the conditions prevailing in this
county are true of the western slope
while In the eastern half of Colorado
water Is neither abundant, cheap or
good. He said that where water costs
as 1t does in other parts of this state
and other states-he being familiar
with yates and statistics on the wa.
ter question in eleven states-it was
easy to understand that consumers OF
water as well as the cities furnishing
same, would insist on definite meas
ure in order to be sure that value
was received for the money paid.
Mr.. Foley then explained how the
meters were usually applied to the
doubtful class of consumers. such as
hotels, railroads. laundries, livery sta:
bles, sugar beet factories and similar
concerns. He said that many cities
ueed large meters on their main feed
lines from their reservoirs, while in
some cases individuals used them
the latter being true where water is
scarce and expensive He explained
that they could be read daily, weekly
or monthly. The little contrivances
run themselves. need no lubricating or
winding One size runs down once in
fifteen years and then begins all over
again. The dials may be arranged to
the custom OF the locality. Here. where
we measure water by feet, that Is the
dial to be preferred Mr. Foley cxhi.
bited the meter and explained its
mechanism.
The mayor then called on Peter
O'Brien, n Denver contractor. who has
spent years in constructing water sys-
TENS, and is now engaged in putting
in the Cortes water plant. Mr.. O'Brien
said he was al somewhat of a loss as
to the Information required, since the
report had not been discussed and he
did not know along what line the
council would prefer he should speak
He said that wood pipe was very
satisfactory If kept under pressure and
full of water. How to prevent sliding
he could not say unless he understood
the cause OF the trouble If the cause
was from above the pipe was In the
wrong place. and II from leakage the
said leakage ought to be stopped. AS
to the best pipe to be used-that would
depend on local conditions. Every
kind Of pipe has It's advantages and
disadvantages.
He then spoke of the different kinds
In brief but comprehensive way
is low pressure and the ground solid
Wood pipe stands high pressure and
Its life is heightened when properly
banded. His individual preference In
wood pipe is for continuous wood
stave pipe made in the trench. If fac
tory made 1t is often or generally
tarred on the outside or covered with
some coating to hide the poor quality
of wood. If wood pipe is to give
satisfactory service it must be of good
quality. Properly constructed under
the direction of a good inspector. and
| made of best lumber, such a line
will last one hundred years. providing
the requisite pressure and other con.
ditions are carried out He then dis.
cussed the Ave kinds of steel pipe
and stated that cast iron is best for
all general purposes. He then said he
was ready to answer questions.
Alderman Sites asked how much
pressure vitrlfied tiling would stand
In reply Mr.. O'Brien said he had ex-
perimented with fifty foot head. but
II had been very unsatisfactory. He
would not recommend over ten or fif.
teen feet. In addition the joints must
be tight or the line win leak. This
Is expensive since the joints are but
two and half feet apart and each
joint will take a man thirty minutes
to cement properly. Florence has AZ
teen miles OF the tiling that has been
in place twenty-four years. The wa
ter superintendent informed the speak.
er that he had been in charge several
years and had never been over the en-.
tire line. The line had not therefore
been much trouble.