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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1921)
The Omaha Sunday Bee MAGAZINE FEA.TURES f VOL. 51 NO. 22. 11 nr W n 'i ius ' il T w x ; )a , r?Zt0fstsfetn Phich pumps pa-fcc -fhtoufk hundreds ol miles of mams andseMce ppes. jre& itttbine in foreground LIS 5By EDWARD BLACK. Waiter, gas "and ice plants of the Metropolitan Utilities district, one ' of the largest corporations in Ne braska, are owned and controlled by 200,000 residents of this city; and if the value of these plants should te prorated, each man, woman and child would have an equity of $67.50. . To facilitate operation of these ' municipal utilities, owners agreed to elect six directors who admin ister affairs of the system through a general manager who has 300 subordinate workers. Approximate value of the sys tem is $13,500,000, the water plant beiog estimated at $8,000,000, gas plant, at $5,000,000 and the ice plant at $500,000. The volume of business for the three departments it nearly $3,000,000 a year. Improvements completed this year, and now under way, aggre gate more than $600,000. The ca pacity of the municipal ice plant. F - 4 rr lAft wai increased trom iuu to tvv ions a day by an- extension of building and equipment costing $150,000. Another ice storage building, with capacity ci 20,000 tons, is being erected at a cost of nearly $175,000. A sew sedimentation basin at Florence is being completed at a cost of $60,000. An additional carbureted water gas set and other improvements at the gas plant, already started, will re quire an outlay of $225,000, ac- , cording to an estimate. 375 Miles of Mains. Beneath the surface of hun ArtiM of miles of streets, which "l traverse 37 square miles in greater umana, mere are o J mites of water supply mains from four feet to six inches in diameter;' and 33S miles of gas mains, from one foot to four inches in diam eter. Connecting with these water and gas mains thera are OmdhmsWdteredlOsmed md Cooled biown Plant fo fh it I? II 4 1 1 wi i Tnirnwnir wixnnwBBnPiZ ZlZzi!. .v. rauinf clinkers is thetbt&kestjob 1.000 miles of small pipe serving 3,000 water patrons, 35,000 gas patrons and 3,600. hydrants. ' The large pumps of the water system send out more than 8,000, 000,000 gallons of purified water to nearly every building in this city, during the year. It is estimated that the total water service this year will be 8,250,000,000 gallons. , The highest daily average for a month this year was in August, when it was 28,000,000 gallons. Jan uary was the lowest, with an aver- -age of 19,800,000 gallons a day. The daily maximum for this year was reached on a day in August, when the city required 30,000,000 gal . Ions for bath tubs, sprinkling lawns, making lemonade and for many other domestic and commer cial uses. Plant Acquired in 1912, The water plant ivas acquired on July 1,-1912, after years of litiga tion. To finance the purchase and provide necessary improvements, $7,500,000 "Omaha Water Works ' bonds" were issued and sold, from the proceeds of which $6,319,261 was paid for the plant. Out of the accumulation of net earnings the city has taken up and destroyed $608,000 of water bonds. The wa ter department treasury now con tains a surplus of approximately $1,500,000, including working capi tal. This will increase from year to year and eventually will be used to meet the bonded indebtedness on the water plant. There are six sedimentation basins at the Florence water plant, with a total capacity of 85,000,000 gallons, and three basins at the Walnut Hill station, with total ca pacity of 24,000,000 gallons. Basin Xo. 7 is being completed at Flor ence. It will cost $60,000 and will add 20,000.000 gallons to the reser voir capacity. This new basin will have steel reinforced concrete lin ing. Maintained to. Capacity. The Florence basins are always maintained to capacity. Water is . taken from the Missouri fiver in MAGAZINE iSSfc iiiii 'tt ft '7 r gas f?hegaspla:ti6 an average condition of turbidity expressed as 3,218 parts per mill ion. This water is pumped in through intakes which are located north of the Minne Lusa station, and is forced to the highest basins, which are 307 feet above the river. Most of the sediment leaves the . water in these two high basins. As the water leaves these basim, lime and alum are added, produc ing coagulation, which carries down into the successive basins the remainder of mud and sand. From the last basin the water flows to the high pressure pump, at the inlet of which chlorine is applied to kill bacteria. The av erages of chemicals used during the year in the treatment of city : water are: Lime, per gallon treated, 82 grains; sulphate of alumina, 2.05 grains; chlorine gas, . per million gallons, 2.59 pounds. The pumps in the Florence sta tion are the heart of the water sys tem, the main pipes and service , pipes forming the circulatory sys tem. These pumps send forth mil lions of gallons every day without interruption, first through 48-inch and 36-inch mains. The smaller pump shown in the foreground of one of the illustrations is of the modern turbine type. The larger, reciprocating pumps are shown in the background. The turbine has a capacity of 30.000.000 gallona a day, as against 20,000.000 for each of its companion pumps. Water Repuraped. One-third of the water sent from the Florence station is repumped at the Poppleton avenue and the Walnut Hill stations into direct pressure mains which supply the higher parts of the city. Two elec tric pumps are maintained at the Walnut Hill station for emergency use. If it were possible to visualize the network of 375 miles of water supply mains of the city, an inter esting arrangement would be re vealed. The 48-inch main from Florence is the large artery of the system. It is divided at Ames OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 13, . 9Ms ishout one customer -franstioir-fs ice from the mutit tnerWe P 4 "CSC - t PaJinfTice" the city pletttf. yne can cortTcittir a -fop pound csfce y (oei avenue into two 36-inch mains, one of which extends to the Poppleton avenue station. From that sta tion -a 30-inch main serves the , packing houses and stock yards district. A 36-inch main from Florence cross-connects with the 48-inch main in a manner which '. permits "detouring" water when making a repair. To prevent in-, terruption of service over an ex tensive area when repairing a break, the system has been equipped with 3,500 stop valves. The value of these stop-valves was demonstrated recently when a break occurred in North Omaha. , The interruption of service was. limited to the space between two stop-valves and water was brought . in from another direction to serve many - patrons who otherwise .would have been affected. Big Coal Supply. The energy confined in coal is the force which delivers water to 200,000 Omahans. A large supply of coal always is maintained at Florence. On November 1, of this year, it was estimated that this coal supply would last 100 days. The Florence station uses from 60 to 70 tons of coal a day. The gas plant was acquired by the city, July, 1920, the bond issue for the purchase being $5, 000.000. A subsequent issue of $1,000,000 gas bonds was author ized for improvements and en largements, but those bonds have not been sold. Directors of the utilities district were advised by experts that the plant had out grown its requirements. To meet the increasing demands for gas, iJ:iiSiSliSll If: L V?. Jx.v' ' sttd 55 0 the . directors have started im provements which will cost $225, 000.. It . has been' proposed to adoot another method of manufac turing gas, which - would entail considerable - first, expense and would yield coke as a byprohuct. C D. Robison, supervising engi neer of the utilities district, ex plained that carbureted water gas is the kind ' now manufactured. Elements entering into this proc ess are steam, coke and gas oil. Three Gas Seta. "Principal pieces . of apparatus necessary in a carbureted water gas works." " said Mr. Robison, are generator, carburetor, super heater and wash box, known col lectively as a carbureted water gas set, of which there are three at the Omaha works, and an addi tional set is being installed; steam blowers, scrubbers, condenser, re lief holder, exhausters, tar ex tractors, station meters and stor age holders." A generator at the Omaha plant is 11 feet in diameter, 17 feet deep, and lined with 18 inches of firebrick to keep in the heat. The average heat carried in the gen erator is 1,800 to 2,000 degrees, Fahrenheit, and at the firebed the heat is from 2,400 fto 2.800 de grees. This intense heat is obtain ed by application of coke and ati air blast Removal of large clinkers twice each day from the grates is a difficult task, requiring a gang of seven or eight men, stripped to the waist. "They attack thee clinkers with heavy bars and sledge hammers,- 1921. 1 M r completion f 'v. . .,. 'y. , - -Jtfisf neut2p.opo-fan municipal ice storage house? tender construction. iffi1r5 siyot sttd pple-fon sVenuG. U?aetr putnpinjfsi'a1'iotLl ice plan tn backjl-otind. illfillp .w.V':v;:-v.XrvAwxiM. 'Where the Wheels gt round 'in the tnunicipsi iceplant Mr. Robison explained, "and break them up so that pieces may be removed from the fire bed. This is the most difficult and hardest work at the gas works, and in sum mer weather it is very trying on the men." ' "Blue Water Gas" Formed. "When the temperature in the generator is high enough, steam is forced through the fuel bed, de- . composing or breaking up the white hot coke. .The oxygen , in the steam combines with the car- ' bon to form carbon monoxide and the hydrogen in the steam -is set free. . The result of that action is 'blue water gas,' which is com bustible, but of. small ' heating value. "The next piece of apparatus is the carburetor, . of the same size as the generator, filled wifh fire brick set checkwise. The blue gas is led into the top of the car buretor, where it is met by a spray of gas oil, which, in the process of - the. white hot checker brick and surrounded by the blue water gas. is changed first , to a vapor and then to a true gas. In. the super heater,' the third vessel in the set, - is completed the gasification of the oil." Oil tar is extracted from the gas, It is cooled and sulphureted hydro gen and some of the other sulphur compounds are removed by a mix ture of oxide of iron and shavings, or, corn cobs. The gas then is measured through the station meters and is passed into the storage holders. These holders are of telescopic design. - When the gas is pumped into a holder the inner section is pushed up, and when this section rises to its full height, a cup on its bottom engages on a grip of the next section, and other sections riset until the holder is filled." Governor! Regulate Pressure. In Omaha about one-third of the gas is sent out at holder pressure, meaning it is carried to the con "sumer by the pressure from the storage holder. Gas is served to outlying districts by pumps and the pressure is regulated by dis trict governors, IB aYlfn "v - n 11 WW , - "These district governors,"Mr. Robison said, "are set in larga brick manholes at various street corners. It is only by the most ; constant and "painstaking attention that they can- be kept in condition "to deliver gas from the medium i pressure or pumping mains - into the low pressure mains which sup ply the consumers at a constant and satisfactory pressure. If the ' pressure is too low or varies too much; the service "will not be satis factory no matter how good .the . gas may be. "Because of Insufficient mains, , inherited from the old gas com- pany, and because of the increase in. the quantity of gas being used, pressure in many sections of Omaha is not as great nor as regu lar as it should be, and nearly all complaints of 'poor gas' are not " due to the quality, but to unsatis- -factory conditions as to pressure.' A thorough study now is being made of the entire situation, butj some time will be required to make the improvements necessary to give good pressure to all parts of the city." First Muny Ice In 1918. Omaha nia'de its first municipal ice August 26, 1918, at the plant. Twentieth street and ' Poppleton' avenue. It is estimated that more than 45,000 tons will be sold by the . city : this year. The v highest amount of municipal ice sold in one day this year was 496 tons, on a hot day last summer when 23 "jitney" stations were doing a ''land office business." , The muny ice plant now has a daily output capacity of 200 tons. The new 20,000-ton ice storage house will increase the total stor age capacity to 30.000 tons. The ice department management ex pects to have 30,000 tons on hand when the retail season opens next spring. The average period of the retail ice season is 100 days. With a storage of 30,000 tons on hand next spring and a daily produc tion of 200 tons, the ice depart ment anticipates an ability to sup ply 500 tons of ice a day during the next summer season. In his report for. the year 1920, TEN CENTS ' 1 mtrtttg- ft lb- ' ', " vis the state auditor of public ac counts reported the value of the ice plant at $247,019, which does ' not include the improvements made this year. Ice sales during .1920 were $168,542 and the net profit for that year is shown as $55,711. Ice is sold at the plant and at the "jitney" stations at 30 : cents per 100 pounds, or smaller . quantities at the rate of 15 pounds ' for 5 cents. Some of the ice is sold at wholesale, to dispose of the ' excess over storage when the small stations are not open. Ammonia Process Used. :Ice manufactured at the munici pal plant is produced by the am monia process. Ammonia is dejiv . ered in steel drums in liquid form and is discharged into a receiver at the plant. It is expanded in iron " pipe coils which are surrounded . by salt brine. Cans filled with city water are lowered into the brine. ' 'The expanded or evaporated am monia, passing through the coils, absorbs the heat from the water in the cans. The circulation of the cold brine around the cans freezes the contents into cakes of ice of ' standard weights of 400 pounds. The cans are raised by an electric hoist and are submerged into a dipping pit of warm water to re lease the ice which is discharged from the cans to a refrigerator storage room. The brine is used as a cold circulating medium be cause it will not freeze. The am monia, which is released into the coils at a pressure of 190 pounds, vaporizes during its function of producing a tow temperature and it is recovered for further use. . ; The ice department expects to open more "jitney" ice stations next season. These stations are operated on the "cash and carry" plan. On a summer morning it is a common sight to see a line of children with small wagons and men with wheelbarrows and auto mobiles waiting to be served. To supply the emergency ice needs during the hot weather, the public station at the plant is opened from 10 ta 12 on Sunday mornings. On a Sunday morning last summer 1.200 were served ia two hours at the plant V - 1