The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-02-06
WATER IS GOOD
DRINK IT PLENTY
From Mondays Daily.

From Mondays Daily.
City Engineer Biomquist today
presented his annual report com
plcte for Tie year 1913 TO the city
council. Mach of the substance of
this report has already been publish
cd in The Free Press. In, addition
to what has been published, how
ever. the city engineer discusses
The waterworks. sanitary sewers,
plumbing. electric wiring, street de-
rarir.Cnt work, and storm sewers,
as follows:
There arc some peculiarities In
our water hot found in the ordinary
water supplies. The artesian water
used here Is drawn from a depth
where the pressure Is nearly GOO
pounds per square inch, and since
water under high pressure holds
substanceH in solution which would
ctherTirefbc In solid form, cur wa.
ter contains matter In solution whicli
is Afterwards precipitated into solids
wien tie pressure is relieved. Evil
deacc Of this Is often seen when
water Is drawn from faucet into
glass. The water contains iron
and sulphur in solution together
with c;rbon dloxide which, when
the pressure is relieved and the
water comes into contact with the
air, undergo reactions which changes
the lrcl compound to ferric n.y.
droxidc which preceipitates into a
brown substance, and is so often
seen where water is allowed 10
run slowly over light colored sur
faces, The sulphur is given of in
the, form of hydrogen sulphide which
has, the peculiar odor that is re-
spons.ble for the erroneous assump-
tons Ct many water consumers that
the water has become stagnant In
the mains. and Is not OF good quail
lily. The carbon dioxide Is also
f.eycd, ard being a gas II forms In
small particles and gives to the
water the. milky or turbid appear
ance often. seen when filling
glass, but which will soon pass of
leaving the water clear. .
~. ..4u Flush the Mains.
because OF this quality In our
water Ii is necessary to flush our
water mains very often. During the
summer rIC 1ths systematic flushing
is done. covering the whole system
once every two. weeks, and during
the winter aason every three weeks.
The qual;tyAof our water from
sanitary standDoint Is excellent and
efrals that of. any water supply in
the state, Regular examinations of
the water is made by the health
officer and IL, has always been found
to be, pure.
The storage capacity of our
waterworks system is only one day
ordinary consumption. a condition
which very strongly emphasizes the
need OF an additional reservoir. An
additional. reservoir of at least one
million gallons, capacity should be
added to the system.
THE sewer system Is in good con-
dition and were. IL not for the lack
of storm sewers in the business sec
ton of the city the system would
be adequate and no trouble need
be anticipated The necessity of
admitting storm water from tho
streets into the sanitary sewers on
Front and Second streets causes Il
10 be overtaxed during heavy rains.
This Is a condition which is hard to
remedy at this late stage since all
improvements and pavements have
been made. This condition has
been mentioned only In order to
show the Importance OF carefulness
in future work of like nature, and
to more closely guard against repeti.
tion of such conditions. ,..- I'D.
"The new ordinance adopted this
year providing for plumbing inspec-
ton and prescribing modern stand
ards for resign arnd material to be
used in plumbing work has made
6 beginning toward good and SAM.
tary plumbing. -.
"The inspection has brought about
a better quality of workmanship,
and the plrmbing work now done
is all according to modern sanitary
practice.
Inspection OF Wiring.
"An ordinance providing for in
spectlon OF electric wiring and
adopting rules which conform to
those OF the National Board of I'm
derwriters went into effect this year.
The inspection OF wiring has not
been carried out as well as desired.
lut thorough inspection will be car.
ried on the coming season.
The paw roll in the street de-
partment was -s2O7.69 higher than
In 1912. More work was done in
cleaning streets and In regraveling
worn out street surfaces. The cost
of the work, done under these items
was considerable more. while that
done under other headings was less
than the previous year.
THE sprinkling of. streets to pre-
vent dust st all times has become
an important factor of the street
work. This work has not been en-
tirely satisfactory at certain times
OF the season. When II was neces-
sary TO cover all OF the spriniling
n ia. - a. -. a