The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1916-06-29
THE MAINS
Water Company is Having a Big
Job Performed.

II TUESDAY afternoon by superintendent
Charles J. Fox of the Peoples Water
Company. A portion of one of the II
inch mains north of town was being
cleaned and the party was invited to
the outlet located west of the stand
lpipe on North z street at the point
\ where the main bends east east to-
ward the filter plant.
i While the men stood watching the
1 flow at the outlet, a section of the
mains practically two miles In length,
that part of the pipe lying on the
. east side of the M. & st. l.. Railway,
was travelled by the submarine" a
machine that is forced through the
pipes and the amount of accumula.
1 lions scraped, cut and cleaned from
the interior surface of the big IL.
inch main. passed belief.
When the water first came from the
end of the outlet pipe, connection
made on an angle with the under
ground main, it was not much discolor-
led but before the job was completed
the effluent of the pipe, was a thick,
iheayy, black mud that was forced
\ from the mouth of the opening in a
stream about as thick as sausage
comes from the nozzle of the grind
ling machine. 1t was so thick and black
that it settled where 1t struck.
Preceding the thick, black stage the
water carried an iron colored or vel,
\ low sediment that turned from yellow
l to red. then to brown and next became
| chocolate. colored and finally black,
The amount of mud pouring from the
! pipe was so thick at last that it re-
fused to run and had to be washed
down by the water that came follow
1 ing the emergency Of the ,scraping
apparatus from the mouth of the out
lletI pipe. in" ',ts - ;sr. sli
Work of cleaning the 0skaloosa
mains is being accomplished by the
National Water Main Cleaning Com.
pany No. so Church street. New York,
and the local work is under the per-
sonal supervision and direction of SUI.
lperintendent w. b. Johnson. a young
man who is an expert in his branch
of. engineering. He has now cleaned
out both of the mains between town
and the river, the piece of work Tues
day completing the greater part of the
1 pipe scraping to be accomplished. Mr..
Johnson will finish his work some
time next week and move on to his
next job.
i, The Peoples water company has
| been to considerable expense to have
this piece of work accomplished pay
ing the sum of $4,000 for the contract.
| 1t was a heavy piece of work, the
pipes not having been cleaned out
since they were laid, years ago. Sedi.
ment and deposits has accumulated in
/ the pipes to the extent of from hall
1 inch to an inch in thickness This re
lduces the carrying capacity OF the
lpipes and hindered the service in many
respects. ~""ts 'Ss.'s..'
Apparatus used in scraping the in.
terror of the pipes is an interesting
and intricate piece of machinery. 1t is
a system of steel knives that travels
against the side of the pipes and
4 cleans away the sediment or accumula.
lions as clearly and effectively as
j though it had never been there. The
machine which is about seven feet in
length is made in eight sections or
segments that permit bending in al.
most any angle. The front section
, travels on a number of knife-like
wheels and the following knives shap.
ed to fit the contour of the pipe are
pressed against the pipe by the force
of the water behind, and the blades
chop and scrape away every bit and
particle of clinging sediment.
With the water forcing the machine
along it travels about as fast as one
can walk, but where the resistance is
less 1t moves little faster. The noise
it makes in its work is carried to the
surface and its progress through the
pipes can be easily followed along the
surface of the ground In this manner
the location of the submarine is known
at all times The machine yesterday
made the distance from the locality of
West Center to a point west of the
stand pipe in oskaloosa is little ov.
er thirty minutes.
When the apparatus was almost at
the end of it's work the water or mud
was forced from the end of the pipe
with great force, spasmodically, dis
lance of forty feet or more from the
twelve inch opening and ten feet or
more high. Those standing near the
opening and not looking for dem.
onstration of this character, received
momentos of the occasion.
All that now remains of the contract
of the Pipe Cleaning, company to be
completed is the section of main lying
between E street and the stand pipe.
This will be accomplished some time
next week.
Actual work of the cleaning is the
smaller part of the job. The mains
must be opened at stations, the ma
chine inserted and the pipe sealed to
hold the force of the water behind the
underground plaw. This requires con,
siderable time and labor. Mr., Johnson
and his force of workers have been
engaged In Oskaloosa about five weeks
and six weeks will elapse before they
have finished their work
Mains usen in the distribution Of
water about the city are not cleaned
by this method as they are blown
clean periodically by the opening Of
the fire MIGRANTS and cleansed by the
force OF the water rushing through
J them but the great arteries OF the sys
tenn supplying the pipes about towI
have no openings permitting this me
thod OF cleaning and hence have nj
way of being relipved from the &C