The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1941-06-27
REPLY MADE To
CRITICISM Of
PUMPING PLANT

honorable Mayor and City Council.
City Of WyandOtte, Michigan.
Gentlemen:
Appearing in the columns of your
local papers dated Thursday, June 10.
1871. are articles regarding the flood
Ell conditions which occurred in the
north section of WyandOtte on Sunday
afternoon, June ID, 1911 in which were
quoted several rema rks made by var
iOus city officials.
In order TO correct any wrong i'm
preston which may have been left
with you or the residents of Wyanl
dotte due tn the many erroneous
statements and accusations which ap-
peared in these articles, l wish TO pre-
sent you with the facts regarding the
operation of the WyandOtte pumping
station i'll Wayne county drainage dis
trict No. ,. All facts presented below
can be verified at any time by refer
ring To the complete set of records AT
the pumping station.
Included III these records are the
rain gauge charts showing the quaint
~, intensity and time of any precipi-
tation at the plant; charts from the
water level gauge showing the eleva-
ton of the sewage in the wells at the
plant at any time; graphs from the
recording watt hour meter which indi-
Gates the size and number of pumps
cumming at any time and the length of
time these pumps operated; and the
daily reports Oh which various data
il recorded. These are public property
and We invite your inspection of them.
1t seems To be the impression of
many people including members of
your body that the drainage district is
L sponSible for large percentage Of
the flooded Easements, streets and 9TH
or undesirable conditions caused by in
adequate sewage facilities which come
to light from time to time. The sew
age report submitted to you last year
by the nationally known firm of con-
Sulting engineers which was retained
by your honorable body. specifically
recommended that the sewers which
gave you trouble Sunday should be re-
lieved by a new arm leading into No.
3 drain at Goddard and Second streets.
At the time the investigation was TAX
ing place the engineers spent a large
amount of time checking records at
The pumping station. There was moth
ing in the report to indicate that the
design or operation Of drainage dis
trict No. 5 was at fault.
| agree that action should be taken
TO remedy the very undesirable sdtua-
don which not only occurred Sunday
but which / am now advised is of fire.
Quent occurrence. A statement was
made that all manhOles were filled
with water, indicating the water was
backing up into sewers instead OF be
ing pumped away. This office has al
ready investigated and found the re-
cords at the pumping station show the
water was being pumped out as fast
a. it was entering the plant. The
plant could not operate more pumps
because the sewerage was not reach
ing the station fast enough to do so.
The papers stated that the storm
and sanitary sewerage from Melvin
dale. Lincoln Park, EcOrSe and River
Rouge flooded the north end. This Is
not true This sewerage does not enter
the same No. ) trunk line and would
have To pass through the pumping sta
lion first. The water at the pumping
station never rose higher than eleva-
ton $3.50 on June ID. The elevation at
the bottom of the north end OF the
"a II arm of drain No. 5 is 564.0, or IL
feet higher than the maximum water
level at the pumping station at ans
time on the above date and incident
ally the water at the plant has never
been higher than elevation $40 or 10
feet below the trunk line at Clinton
street since May u, 1899. when It
surged to elevation 561.5.
On May 81. 1885 this office wrote
the Superintendent Of your municipal
now.r plant in an effort To obtain
cheaper current. as well aS TO purchase
locally the electricity used at the
cumming station. At that time the Mu-
nicinal Service Commission looked in
TO the problem very thoroughly and
decided the pumping station would be
an undesirable account TO have con-
nected to the comparatively small gen.
Grating and transmission equipment OF
rhe local municipal plant which Is not
designed TO instantaneOusly pick up an
increased load Of some 1900 ktowatts
without any advance notice.
Any engineer will concur with the
statement that il is practical as well
as good design tn divert 2. per cent or
Dpr cent of the sanitary sewerage