The Mankato free press., 1911-01-20
EW. c. KiRCHoFFER LOOKS OVER
T. 2 THE SITUATION sHERE.


2 = THE SITUATION HERE.
He Consulted With city Officials
This Afternoon; as Long as
Flow Increases It Is All Right
to Sink the Water Producers
Deep; Supply Comes From
Distance.
From Fridays Daily.
w. G. Kirchoffer of Madison, Wis,
a waterworls engineer of wide rep
utation, arrived in the city this
morning at the request of Mayor
Meyer and the council to consult
with the city officials on The well
question. In company with City En-
gineer Wilson, he visited the various
city and private owned artesian
wells. He held an informal meeting
with the city council at 1:30 o'clock
this afternoon, but expects to form
ulate his findings in a formal report
to be submitted TO the council at a
later date. -
Wells Should Be Scattered.
Free Press today. that he Is strongly
of the opinion that the wells put
down by the city in the future should
be scattered about as much as posi-
bic, so as to be as remote from one
another as possible. He said tha,
wells that are close together draw
upon each other much more than
wells scattered out. All will draw
q little, but the nearer the wells are
to each other the greater the effect
of one upon another He said that he
was able to prove this proposition.
Can Go Deeper.
AS to going down deeper, Mr..
Kirchoffer thought it all right, as
long as the flow is increasing. He
said that there is such mineral
substance in the water that it plas-
ters up the interior of the wells in
time and cuts Off the flow of wa
| ter, and 4 problem of Importance
will arise as to how best to keep
the wells clear OF this, so that their
I flow may not be impaired by it. This
he thought was the principal menace
to the artesian water supply of the
city.
AS to where the supply Of water
comes from he was not prepared
at this time to state, but il some
times comes from hundreds of miles
away, in these artesian basins. The
flow is generally from north TO
south, but the Likelihood is that
here it may be from west to cast, he
thought. Speaking Of the quality Of
the water supply. Mr.. Kirchoffer said
that he thought that Mankato has a
much better supply than many cities
have.
/ Compiimented City Engineer.
Engineer Kirchoffer complimented
City Engineer Wilson highly, saying
and had given him instruction in
years past, and he thought that Mr..
Wilson was competent to advise the
council safely and wisely on all mat
ters coming up in relation to the
waterworks system. If it followed
w duN iCC ~ tOuio llOI 81
astray. Mr.. Wilson's experience with
the state board Of health had also
fitted him well TO make analyses of
water and 10 determine it's quality
and purity.
Flow Of the Basin.
City Engineer Wilson is of the
opinion that the flow OF the artesian
basin underlying Mankato is nearly
from west to east, and he believes
that the water supply for this see
ton comes from WatOnwan county
and the territory in that vicinity, as
the same rock that underlieS the ar
tesian basin here outcropS there
which means that the seam opens
there at the surface and can take
in the supply of water. Watonwan
and the adjoining counties are about
300 feet higher than the surface OF
the ground in Mankato under the
bluffs, which would give plenty Of
: head, and would account for the fact
that wells drilled in the higher
ground will not flow as they do
tho loyal nf tho piyar