The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1957-03-29
First of Two
Lakes Planned
On West Side


ment and disposal-the open-water
oxidation lagoon
Given approval this week by the
Virginia Water Control Board the
town will soon begin construction Of
the first of two lagoons, near the
confluence of the Buffalo and Apo
mattox rivers. and serving the west
side.
A second lagoon, to follow the
first one Of three to five acres, will
be constructed later to serve the
east side The two-lagoon system
viii eliminate the necessity for plac-
ing of a long section Of interceptor
lines.
Between 700 and 1000 persons will
be served by the first lagoon. the
remainder of the total population of
about 5000 persons to be served by
the second lagoon
Cost Seen $3.50, 900
A system to serve the entire COM
munity will cost about $3.50 900, &C
cording to estimates of Town Mana
ger L. z. Johnston. A conventional
treatment plant, which had been
tentatively planned, would have cost
about $500 900, he said.
The first lagoon will serve for
design and service data under the
joint municipal-state pilot study.
Site acquisition. grading, rights Of
way, engineering fees and ntercep-
tor lines constitute the principal
costs of such a system.
This Farmville first story started
when Councilman c. j Coxs at
tention was caught by a magazine
article on the lagoons Of the mid
west Aware Of the expense facing
the town. Cox talked the article over
with Town Manager Johnston
Maybe it would work here, they
agreed
Johnston dispatched inquiries TO
state and municipal authorities eX-
perienced with lagoons as an &C
cepted form of treatment: the city
manager at Kansas City; the state
boards Of health OF North and South
Dakota, Missouri and Kansas.
Arrange Visit
Back came enthusiastic replies.
and situation jelled with the town
council: might it not be well to have
the situation personally investigated,
they reasoned?
Johnston 0 n t a CT e d w Mar
tin Johson. of the Lynchburg firm
of consulting engineers, Wiley and
Wilson, which serves Farmville as
a client. He also thought on-the-spot
visits might be well. So did w H.
Shewbridge, director OF the Bureau
Of Sanitary Engineering Of the State
Board Of Health
So party Of Johnson, Shew-
bridge, Councilman Cox and Town
Manager Johnston bundled off to
the midwest last January.
They visited a dozen lagoons,
large and small. in Missouri and
Kansas. They talked and had field
visits accompanied by William Por-
ter, chief sanitary engineer Of Jack
son county Mo; Myron Nelson,
chief sanitary engineer Of Johnson
county, Kan: Ivan Shull. chief SAM
tary engineer of Kansas: and men,
bers of the firm of Black and
Veatch, consulting engineers serv-
ing Kansas City. Mo.
Talked to Many
They visited lagoons serving:
driye-in theater with a capacity of
800 cars: another serving a l.500-
person housing development of the
SIS. 900 house type; another serving
residential and riding club area:
several more Of various types in
Kansas.
They talked with Ansel Mitchell.
of j. c. Nichols Co. Kansas City
construction company, who had
made an inspection tour only shortly
before through North Dakota.
There was one uniform answer
wherever they went-lagoons are
the answer to treatment problems
of the small municipality.
Back home once more. Town
Manager Johnston presented the
idea TO A. H. Paessler. executive
secretary to the Virginia Water Con-
troll Board. The board and Paessler
had to be convinced if their auth
GRITTY and the board has such auth
GRITTY in Virginia was to be Sc
cured for the sewage lagoon as a
substitute for Farmville's contem-
plated required and expensivej
treatment plant,
Board Convinced
BY a coincidence, PacSslcr only
a few days before had run INTO
Wallace Towne, director of Taft
Research Center Of
Ohio Taft talked about
the midwest lagoons and convinced
PaeSslcr they might be the answer
to Virginias small municipality
sewerage eatm ent problem
slowed by the high costs involved
in abatement and elimination of
wastes.
PaeSsler gave tentative ok, but
final would have to wait
for the full board to meet.
Meanwhile. Johnston completed
Continued on pase y