The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-01-23
:On This
!. Occasion
, Just a few thoughts by the Editor
ON things Material and Immaterial.

mapped out Dy the CITY SOfCiiA-S S~'
for the coming two years is OF the sotn
yexing order The city water has oc-
cupied the attention of the city fathers
for several years and the several coun-
ellis have put in many sleepless nights
trying to figure out some method Oh
overcoming the criticisms aimed at
them by reason of the medicinal taste
in the water on several occasions.
Then. there is the COW situation winch
has been bone Of contention ana an
enormous expense for several years, or
almost since the inception OF the city.
These matters are now on the taps
and before the spring dawns 1t is ex-
pected that something will be forth
coming to keep our water supply up
TO its present standard and also 10
keep the milk supply within the laws
prescribed by the state in such cases
and the alleys free from the unsightly
manure piles.
For the past three years or more
the matter of drinking water has been
I'D before the council and the alder
men and mayor with the chemist and
others. have worked hard and Iaith-
fully over the little algae which every
once in a while would creep IN and
which to offset, every available -e-
source of the city authorities and the
state boards have been utilized. Ely
water samples sent in for analysis 70
the State Board Of Health nave al
ways been returned labeled pure.
However, in combating the algae 1t
was found Necessary to treat the water
by various methods and the treatments
in some cases left a bad tasae not
INJURIOUS nevertheless sometimes
unpleasant.
During the past year, the city chem
list in connection Nth the city engineer,
water superintendent and the state
board have devolved a treatment
which at the present writing has the
Ely water supply in an absolutely pure
and tastelesS condition. The plans now
being formulated are destined to keep
it thus However, the consumption OF
water here has grown TO such an
extent that the present plant Is unable
to cope with the situation Hence II
is a foregone conclusion that other
plans must be made. The conSump-
ton at times reaches the amazing
totals of 100000 gallons day and
the plant is not able to supply thus
vast amount Of pure, treated water
only at intervals.
The minutes of the several meetings
as printed in another place VIII snow
that the council viii have several
plans under consideration as soon as
o. E. Brownen Of the State Board OF
Health; S. w. TAR, chief engineer
for the Oliver Mining Co. and Ole
Forsberg, assistant to the chief chem
ist and A. e Holiday, also an assist
ant and E. w. Burbeck Of the engin-
eering department of the same COM
pany, make their report and recon-
mendations as noted while in the city
this week looking matters over and
consulting with the city council and
heads Of the departments affected.
As can be seen, figures had been
prepared as to the cost Of revamping
the old plant and these figures ran
into an expense of enormous proper
tons with no assurance that the needs
of the city would be met. The council
had in view three-year program at so
much per year for revamping the plant
and adding more equipment. filters
and settling facilities. This looked
good and met the approval of all con-
cerned until it was suggested that
an entirely new plant, built on modern
lines with all modern improvements,
should not cost as much as to revamp
the old antiquated and frequently
added to, plant now furnishing US
with water II was shown that sew
eral cities in the state have built new,
modern and perfect plants for far less
money than the tinkering with the
old plant would cost. The expense
involved as shown was only estimated
at the most and no assurance was
forthcoming that the expenses would
not run into much higher figures.
Otto E. Brownel of the state board
left here Tuesday for Hibbing on bus
mess and while enroute he bethought
himself of another scheme. This same
thought has agitated some Of our citi-
zens for some time. It is, to pipe
water from BURNSIDE Lake. Upon
his return here yesterday, another
special meeting was called and this
plan discussed with the council. II,
also sounded good and was added to
the list of those to investigate by the
engineering body named above and
which viii report within short time.
This latest development merits con-
siderable attention The matter Of
sewage disposal will thus be taken care
of at a small additional expense while
the other plans still leave us with the
sewage disposal to reckon with at a
very heavy expense.
The engineers have the three propo-
sitions before them and We are going
70 Withhold further comment until the
report arrives. It is our candid opin-
ion however, in view of the three prop
ositions which will be before the coun-
Gil that water from BURNSIDE requir-
ing less treatment and requiring no
great outlay for sewage disposal; a
bran-new plant built on the latest
approved lines, will be the most ad-
vantageous plan providing the expense
of piping is not too great. This Is
only our opinion. If you have any