El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-06-07

i
from this basin. AS the water leaves
the pump it issues through an iron pipe
and falls directly into a discharge
basin This basin has capacity Oh
$50 gallons. From the discharge pa
sin the water passes through a closed
conduit emptying into setting ID
sin of 100000 gallons capacity TON
the settling basin it falls over
spiIIway into a suction tank OF 1S,0Ou
gallons capacity. From the suction
tank it is pumped into the city water
mains, thsnce to its distribution des-
tinatiOn.
Room Is Not Closed.
The settling" basin and the sue
ton" tank are housed in the same
room, and this room is kept dark Tor
the purpose Of suppressing the grown
of algaI forms of life. At the time OF
NV visits the windows of this room
were secured against the inblowing
of dust by plugs of cotton, tamped
around the stills and frames; but the
door between 1t and the room adjoining
was open at each Of my visits Ihls
room should be made more secure
against the entrance of dust 1t Is IN
the discharge" basin that the water
receives continuous dosage of soIu-
ton Of hypochlOrite of calsium tchIo-
ride OF 1ime), the solution being THOR
oughIy mixed with the water through
the instrumentality of a centrifugal
wheel before il passes into the set
ting basin. At the time of my visits
the discharge basin was covered with
a frame made of tongue and groove
boards: bu5 this cover is insufficient
protection against the incursionS OF
dust. The discharge basin should be
housed in dust proof structure
AS this report has nothing to do with
the mechanical operations of the watts
well plant, we now pass TO the consld-
GRAFTON Of
watts Well, Sanitary Surroundings.
East of Watts well in blocks and
II. south Of Canal street (Santa Fe ad-
dition). the city sewer main runs along
the surface of the ground. l. e., the
main is uncovered in several places, and
at a number of these points the man
il open (broken). At the time or my
visit no water was cOursing in this
particular main. According 10 the map
in the city engineers office. this par
ticnIar main terminates as a dead END
sew er in a aforementioned block H. Tne
danger that turks in an open dry sew
err main is indeed great
South Of Watts well, and south OF
the canal. on the bank of the river, are
2. number of houses Inhabited by Mex
leans. Those houses are not connected
with the sewer system Of the city rms
condition is repeatedly seen as one &C
cends the river.
About 900 feet " est of the watts
we'll railway cattle pens were Iouhu'
and. to nv amazement, new fences were
being erected around these pens was
informed that a city ordinance prohln.
tied the erection and maintenance OF
cattle pens and other nuisances WITHIN
DIT title pens are
there-my informant may have been
mistaken in regard to the law covering
this particular nuisance
River Sewage
ASCENDING the river from the watts
we'll no provision for the care or Sc"
age was encountered until the county
hospitaI was reached. and here was no
ticed about as reprehensible a proceed
pre- as a sanitarian is called upon 10
witness. The sewage from TINS NOS
pital and its surroundings Is car
ried 10 the river in metal pipes an
chOred we'll above the surface OF the
earth so the contents may finally nave
a vertical fall upon the suraIce OF the
water in the river. At the time OF my
visit seven pipes were counted, ana not
one of them had its terminal end SUD
merged. LIQUID was dropping from
some of them, and on windy day AT
least some of the contents OF these
mains would be driven far inland This
condition should be at once condemned
The remedy is plainly 10 be seem The
city of Ell Paso should, without delay
run. line of sewage along the river
front from the dead end on the santa
Fe addition to the county hospital, force
all inhabitants along the line 10 con-
meet their premises Herewith, includ-
ing the hospital This line could be
economically flushed continuously with
the " aste water from the mill near the
hospital. and in my Judgment, 1t would
prove to be a veritable boon TO the
health of many citizens of FL PaSo.
Eventually the sewerage system
should be extended TO the smelter set
Element.
In connection with the Watts well il
is necessary TO consider some features
of the mains
Water Mains.
One of the bad features of the water
system of Ell Paso is the large number
of dead ends present. OF course, the
topography of FL Paso increases the
difficulty of perfecting a system of wa
ter mains so the water therein viii
form a perfect circulation, aud it re-
Ouires large sums of money to produce
such a system But, at all events, the
number of dead ends should be reduced
to the fewest possible under prevailing
and those should be flushed
at frequent intervals The flushing
could be economically done If provision
be made to use the water of flushing
in street sprinkling, and for sprinkllnS
lawns: or in some instances for irriga-
ton I visited only two dead ends while in
Ell sPasO. The samples of water taken
from these points were carefully exam
ined. The results are given in the fore
going exhibits. They show the evil in
exerted by dead ends in sys-
TEN of water mains The color and OdOr
seems 20 be due to the death of alSal
forms capable OF absorbing iron, and
in some instances of reducing sulphates
to odOrous compounds of sulphur.
1 wish to emphasize the very great
danger that turks in the careless hand
limo of water mains and sewer mains
so often witnessed when streets and al
legs are being graded. The greatest
care should be taken to secure the con-
tents of the water mains against every
possible chance of contact with sewage
and surface dust
The Reservoir.
The reservoir is " ell located. provided
the density of population in its neigh |
borhood is not permitted to increase
L is substantially built. and appears