The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-11-26

under the ground and partly above. At
the present time they are only huge
be filled with "baff1e plates" sIuices,
fumes, and the various apparatus Of
the filtration process.
Network of Huge Pipes.
One of the most interesting places
is the pipe gallery, which runs in the
wall between the filter reservoirs ana
the clear water well. Here there is d
pipes from tWenty-fOur to thirty-SiX
inches in diameter. and regulating the
flow of water into every chamber.
The valves which close these mighty
passages are controlled by water pres
sure. They will be connected with
levers in the operating room, and
any child can manipulate the lever
which viii open or close the massive
machines-for each valve IS a ma
chine in itself.
Another pipe gallery runs In wall
which divides the filtration reservoirs
Thru this gallery run rne sewers thru
which the mud and sediment is
cleaned from the bottom of the set
Ting pits. An individual lever con-
trolls each valve which opens or closes
sewer draining a series of holes,
five feet apart, in the bottom of the
settling basin. In the sewer is a glass
gauge. Thru this glass the operator
can seen whether the mud has all been
drained away and clear water is run
ming, or whether to leave the sewer
open for a longer time. The bottoms
OF the basins will be drained every
twenty-fOur hours. The system of
draining the basins thru holes, with
out disturbing the water IN them, is
new, and has replaced the custom OF
draining the water out of the basins
and removing the mud with shoveIs
Now, by a turn of the lever, one man
can clear the basins in a few minutes
as successfully as could a dozen men
with shovels in day. land with far
less waste of water.
Activity in Engine House.
Not ali the activity is confined to
the building operations outside. In
the engine house. a brand new boiler,
standing nearly twenty feet high, is
being installed, while another boiler
stands there ready to go in as soon as
the new one is hooked up and re-
Heves some of the older units. The
men installing the new boilers and the
men firing the old ones work "around
each other" and the two jobs go on
at the same time in the cramped quar-
tiers. without much difficulty.
Turbine engines are already Installed
and waiting for the connection of the
steam lines from the new boilers, for
their job to commence, pumping the
water and generating the electricity
for the lighting of the city STREETS.
The power line to carry the cleo
tricity to the city is constructed into
the city as far as Harrison street. and
it is a power line of which Stanfield,
himself an electrician, is proud. Al
ready the connections at the old city
| power plant are being arranged so
that the switch-over from the old
plant downtown and to the new plant,
can be made without difficulty.
! sold Alice" Faithful Servant.
In the engine room of the old plant
there are four engines-three of them
! held in reserve and never used except
I in case of emergency. The fourth.
| called '-OId Alice by her engineers.
does all the work. If Alice likes to
extend herself, she can pump eight
million gallons of water in a day. At
present she is working under cruel