Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1912-09-14
Company Expanding $4,000 at Pump
ing Station to Double Capacity
and Furnish Purest of
Water.

is now ordinarily used, 47O, 900 gall
Ions daily. Should either or both Of
the two engines fail the new one
will do the work Of both of them.
s it is plainly evident that the COM
pany has really quadruple capacity
of necessary power. And more:
The company is putting in new boil
ers. That is, they are putting in
two sets of new boilers to be used
alternately when cleaning out. Here
is where the company is sho wing its
wisdom as well as spending its do
lars If an accident happens to one
set of boilers the other is instantly
put into service OF course this
prevents any possible stopping of
the water supply under any circum-
stances. 1t may be we'll to state
that the new engine, when necese airy.
will force 100000 gallons of water
through the mains in "a hours and
the two others 1,CO0 coo each il the
same tims.
The cjmpany has built a rein
forced CO. crete smoke stack 103 feet
high, as the old iron one was not high
enough for the two big sets of boil
ers. IL has also built new brick
addition to the main building to &C.
commodate the new double power
engine.
! But the people are more interest
ed in the method adopted by the
company to furnish them with pure
water than they are IN its invest
ment of $4,000 If you will follow
US we will attempt to tell you how
a large flow Of pure water is forced
through the % or % miles of mains.
AS now arranged the water !. is not
pumped from the river but it flows
from the river into a large suction
well, and it is surface water and not
from the bottom of the stream as
heretofore. When it gets into the
well it is forced into another tank,
called settling basin." where a
weak solution of alum or coagulant
is then mixed with the water.
| We say weak" because so little
alum is used that you can scarcely
taste it before it becomes part of the
flowing stream that shoots out of
the top of large pipe 10 feet in
height and the water is perfectly
aerated before it falls into the first
of l6 large watts. the base of each
vat being little lower than the one
preceding it. thus materially Kidding
the water of germs that have been
brought in from the river. The
partially purified stream is then
carried into vat IL and from this it
is forced into the large iron tank,
where it seeps through a 4-foot sand
bed before il gets into the main to
be distributed to all parts of the
city. After the mains are eli full
the surplus goes into the water tow
er at the top Of the high hill half q
mile from the pumping station.
i Occasionally some person will in
sist that he can taste alum in the
water drawn from hydrant. Such
are simply drawing on their imagi-
nations. Nothing can be more i'm
possible, for we assure you that 90
little alum is used that it cannot in
the least affect the taste of the wa
ter. And more: No germ could
possibly remain in the water after
it has gone through so many watts
and seeped through feet Of sand.
By actual analytical demonstration
IS. per cent Of the germs are removed
before the water passes into the
mains. and after water travels %
miles the other 2 per cent. cannot
hurt the consumer.
The fact is that our people have
! the advantage Of a water supply
that is as near purity as water can
be. Men Of the sagacity Of the
company's stockholders, its Presi-
dent. N. T. Tandy, lis Manager.