The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1922-06-22
Public Utilities
Of Hays, Kansas
Hays Boasts One of the Best Equipped
Water Systems IN Western
Kansas
A Municipality Owned Electric Lighting Plant
Adequate for all the Needs of the City
A Satisfactory Telephone System With Head
quarters at Abilene, Kansas
(By R. Kenneth Evans)

/ ity that any city can possess. Without
| it the city cannot grow and expand
and with it the city offers opportun-
tiles for manufacturing industries.
Hays gets its water from six wells
which are drilled to a sufficient depth
to insure pure water not contain
mated by surface materials. This
supply will be ample for the city and
its growth as soon as two new walls,
which have been constructed are con-.
nected with the mains. By growth IS
meant the natural development but
with extensive activity along this line
viii come the demand for additional
wells. It IS IS near pure as water can
be in this section of the state, beingi
somewhat impregnated with calcium
Z but is far above the average of sur
rounding cities. A ffty-fve pound
. pressure to the square inch is carried
in the mains at all times which is
( ample for fire protection as it makes
/ possible the throwing Of several
. streams over the largest buildings in
the city. A storage tank is provided
w1th a capacity of 10000 gallons
and all pumping facilities are oper-
ated by electricity.
/ The water is carried over the city
| through ?, 4, 6, and 8 inch mains,
there being one mile of 8 inch, three
miles of inch, five miles of 4 inch
and four miles of inch. Mains do
not reach all pants of the city at this
time but future construction is con-
templated to bring about this condi-
ton.
The city has 600 water consumers
and a rate of 81 per 1000 cubic feet
is charged for the first 1000 cubic
feet used and $3.50 per 1000 for the
second 1000 feet and a fiat rate of
$1.OO per Thousand for all over 40OO.
The Hays water system is munich
pally owned and is not quite self sup
porting although it makes as good an
average showing along this line as
other municipality owned plants in
the state. The plant is under the
supervision of Leo Rupp who has held
this position for two years.
The water works system was orig
inally established in Hays in 1904 at
an original cost of $4,000 and since
that time $76,O have been expend-
ed in added improvements which in
cludes mains, new tower, five new
| wells and new power equipment with
additional pumps.
! The Fire Department
The fire department of Hays was
established in 1890 and today is a
volunteer department with ten mem
bers, with Frank King as chief. Mr..
King has been chief of the depart
ment for four years. Eighty-fve fire
hydrants are provided and we'll dis
tributed over the city to protect all
the residential section. They are
adequate.
The equipment of the department
consists of three hose carts, one auto
mobile truck and one hook and lad
der and two chemicals. The eouip-
ment is distributed to various parts
of the city to be ready in case of an
emergency. The completion of the
two new wells at the water plant will
mean the installation of hi-pressure
turbine pumps delivering 400 gallons
per minute each which will be an add
4 ed improvement to the department
There never has been disastrous fire
in Hays, the department always re-
spending to emergency fire calls and
getting them under control before
much damage could accrue. The in
surance rates are lower in Hays than
in the average city of this size.
, The Sewer System
The sewer system of the city was
established IN 1910 with an outlet in
) septic tank which is constructed
under the most modern scientific
plans for disposal Of sewage. There