The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-05-17

placing all others on the paved highws
where quicksand has negatiyed an effort
! to obtain tubular well. Wherever en-
| raising or lowering of the strainer above
'or below the seam has successfully han
| died the situation.
| The pipe is then raised to the top of the
| strainer which may be 10. 20 or so feet
. long. depending upon the depth of the wa
sired.
The bottom of the pipe is then fastened
swedged. The strainer thus becomes a per-
manent wall of the well in water bearing
sand. The sides, therefore, for its entire
we'll -
Unfortunately, high water destroyed
! Unmindful OF the lessons taught By the
unsatisfactory wells upon Felitz island,
the company l dug a well Of the same sort.
were dug in succession-results. the same
Ever rising sand fron the bottom-ever
decreasing water supply. Each we'll pro-
duced little water but in the aggregate
they did not meet the city's need.
~, 1heh several tubular wells We're Installed:
improperly placed pumps, failed to meet
expectations.
capacity of 100000 gallons installed at
The city actually uses some 100000 gal
Pumps Placed Wrong.
Each pump is connected with every well.
dug or driven. Each, however, was placed
water standing in the wells can be raised
! by the pumps. The pumps actually raise
this water about &c feet. If they had
been installed sufficiently low the, wa
ter would have had to be pumped feet
the city's. water supply would be more
Had vertical pumps, instead Of horizontal
pumps been installed, It would have been
easy to have reached and raised the water,
M efn f1nn iTnD
A horizontal pump must be connected
with the suction; vertical pump is con.
pump for successful operation must be
close to the water supply-the vertical
pump can be near the supply while the
driving power, or engine, may be high
above it.
Gives Three Reasons.
The following may be suggested as the
three. principal reasons for Topeka's I'M
satisfactory actual water supply:
First Dug. wells, instead of tubular
wells, are mainly used.
high. When installed the river high
and the water bearing sand produced Il
ma xmum flow. The Installing engineers
were apparently in utter ignorance of the
law that in period of drought when the
earth receives no rainfall, the ground water
source Of supply for the river is
| respondingly reduced. The fact that not
tent. ' Visible and undepfloW' comes from from
these trickling little streams from out the
banks of its tributaries, seems never to
have occurred to them. Therefore, swhile
tire pumps work all right when the water is
| high, they can raise only the upper por-
ton of the possible supply when the river
Third Horizontal pumps were installed
Instead of vertical pumps that would have
high or low and whether the wells cor
respondingly had a depth of fifty or
To overcome the errors in selection. the
style and installation of the pumps, it Is
now proposed to install a second lot of low
service pumps at n lower level than the
present pumps to raise the alter to a point
where the present pumps can and will
handle it. All of which will cost us money,
but is one way in which the mistakes of
the past can be remedied.
Build Storage Reservoirs.
1t will necessitate the building of reser-
voirs for the storage of this water until
the present pumps can handle 1t, which in
addition to the expense of this second sys-
TEN of pumps. may perhaps equal If not
exceed the possible cost of installing new
vertical pumps to handle the entire mat
The results of private enterprise. as con-
trasted with that of the city and of its
predecessor, are Of interest.
The city; with pumps of daily capacity
Of 100000 gallons, cannot get the
100000 daily to meet its needs.
The Santa Fe Railway company has a
system of twelve>~tubular wells aud one
dug well; With an actual pumping
capacity of 4.SOOOO0 gallons. and an actual
use of 100000 gallons daily, it does not
run to capacity and furnishes the city with
the Beck fire the Santa Fe furnished the
city with 100 gallons per minute.
The Santa Fe water superintendent is
by the tubular wells. While ut their loca-
ton the intrusion of sand does not trouble
around the walls of their dug we'll has re-
suited In a diminished supply from this
tubular wells and an ample supply.
The Continental Creamery had n dug well
but 1t was failure. Seven tubular wells
near the site of the old well are complete
success.
Laundries Have Own Wells
The Mutual Laundry company has two
tubular wells, capacity more than one and
The Topeka Laundry. with one tubular
well, gets 100000 gallons
The Topeka Mill and Elevator company,
with one tubular well, gets half million.
The Mutual Ice company. with two tubular
wells, has no difficulty in obtaining more
than 100000. The Bromich boiler works,
with one tubular, gets half million The
Peoples Ice company, Seymour Packing
more water than they need. and no trouble.
1t is only where attempts made TO
drive wells beyond the limits of the water
bearing kaw river sand that failures are
recorded. The sand exists at Second and
Kansas avenue, and a tubular well 10 a
great success, driven down into the sand.
One block south, at Third street. the limits
OF the sand are passed, and no water of
consequence is found.
Deep wells driven by the Hotel Throop.
Pure Milk company. Edison company and
at the state house were all failures: little
or no sand, and only a scapt supply of
water.
But within the well known limits of the
kaw bottom sand deposit We find but the
two records-all kinds of water for every
private enterprise that seeks it intelligently
and along the lines when others have had
success, and insufficient water for our pub
lie enterprise.
1t is impossible to avoid the conclusion
that our unlimited and magnificent NAT
ural supply exists for the benefit of a
municipality rs equally for n private
firm, and that for our failure to secure it,
there's a reason
Liberty Bonds pougn: and solo.