Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1910-08-20
VOLCANIC ASH
APPEARS AGAIN
WATERwoRKS SUPERINTENDENT
ISIiNNlNG HIS TROUBLES.
BASINS TOO SMALL
Simntion Could BE Met with More Set
tllng Koom--Scdimcnt SETTLES
Thirteen Feet Deep.

/
! ldary. lie i8 at a loss aa to how the
,city MAY ho furnished with pure wa
ter under the serious conditions which
must be- met, The WntcrNorks equip
mcnt is not adequate Ia handle the
large amount OF sediment which exists
in the river water
In the water at present is large
amount ot volcanic ash, a peculiar
dust which remains In suspension ten
,uciously. Not only rs the ash a dllli-
lcult thing 10 remove from the lluid.
but II is ALSO in such large quantities
that when it i8 treated n collects SO
rapidly In the scdlmcntation basins
| that It is impossible 10 Keep them
clean.
The rise In the Arkansas River
brought with It this volcanic ash,
which is washed into the river near It's
lhcadWaterH. Whenever there ig "a
heavy rain In the section of Colorado
around Pueblo and Tennessee Gap,
large quantities are washed into tho
river. The dust In that noighborhood
Is go thick that It Is impossible TO
raise vegetables there II is strictly
mineral matter, thought a. have been
deposited In the country following an
lcruptlon OF some of the now extinct
volcanoes in the Rockies,
II Is very fine and while there is no
chemical mixture, II is rapidly sat
urated with water and becomes all
most part OF the nuid itself So
adhercnt ig the miNture that no great
amount of dust, not even 10y chemical
means, can bee removed from the wa
ter within As hours
with such sediment as this I'm the
water, and so much OF IT, aud II be-
| ing SO difficult 10 remove, the water
works superintendent is literally up a
stump The equipment AT the city
watcrworks Is not sufficient To handle
the mud. The settling basins now
have only half the capacity which
they would have 10 all the sediment
were removed
| The city Of Tulsa is now using APP
proNimately 100000 gallons of water
daily In order to supply this amount.
100000 gallons must be drawn from
| the river The capacity Of the set
! Ting basins is but little greater than
the last named amount According O.
| the plan which has been used at the
! Watcrworks. two Of the four basins
are used at one time The water i4
settled In these at the same time the
water In the other two vs. being drawn
| When the two basins used 20 supply
the water for pumping into tho two
mains arc empty, they are flushed and
the sediment Is washed out Then
they are again filled. As soon as they
are empty the water in the other two
| is drawn, Therefore the water must
be settled In certain time, or the
water I'm the two basins already settled
| lwill have been pumped out before an
other supply can he purified.
With volcanic ash in the water II
complicates things TO the extent that
another system Is necessary IN the
first place the water can not bc set
tied fast enough. on the other hand
there is so much sediment in the
water that when II is settled there is
such a large amount Of II left in the
water that the basin flushing system
, Is not adequate TO get the stun from
the basins before the new supply must
be put in
The amount Of sediment settled In
one day at the plant this week was
l3 feet. while the basins are only II
feet deep. To carry off the sediment
when the basins are flushed, ten inch
pipes are provided, only one basin
at a time can be flushed In orner
TO settle all the water used by the
city and to remove the sediment and
bacteria, either basins twice the size
will be necessary or only onc-half the
present amount of water must he used
Neither is practical, and so yester-
day morning mt . o'clock Superlntend
ent Sands decided that II was useless
to try to do something which could
not he accomplished, and gave the or
der to pump the water into the city
without attempting to remove all the
sediment. Hence the water which YOU
drew from your faucet yesterday morn
ing had an amber hue and a very deep
Ione at that
The water viii he purified as much
las possible. but for a few days the
waterworks will not attempt to do
something which 1t finds impossible
furnish the city with clear pure
water superintendent Sands stated
yesterday that it's something which
he hates to do-supply the city with
muddy water-but it's a real emergen
ley for the waterworks, and it Is beng
met in the best possible manner The
Iwater, however, which is supplied "a
the city is more than twice as clear as
that which Is in the river.
Yesterday Mr. Sands issued the re
qlest that all consumers should not
lallow their faucets TO run in an at
ltempt to clear the water but just use
as little as possible. In that way the
water, as a whole, can be made clear
Ter If a large amount Is drawn the
water can not he purified to such q
lgreat extent The waterworks super
intendent states that II will be OF grea
assistance to him if the people viii co
loperate. and not use any more watel
than is necessary He reqeusts tina
the practice Of sprinkling lawns be
stopped temporarily,
AS matter Of advice. the wate
, department also issued bulletin yes
| terday stating that all steam boilers
water tanks and gas engines should b.
, cleaned every two days at least 4
prevent the pipes from filling up II
, the first two cases. and TO keep thu
> Jacket from being filled in the latte
, case
The present conditions are the SAM
as those of last September In the tw,
weeks following September 9Th. las
tall. the water I'm the Arkansas Rive
was extremely muddy, SO muddy II
fact that the chemical treatment e
which the water Is subjected at tn
watcrworks was not sufficient to re
move the sediment
This sediment or mud. or volcani
d ash. Is a peculiar dust which washe
into the river at the headwaters. I
5 s very hne finer than flour, and whel
fta al 1fnn iVrNf