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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1908)
Purity of 1 - A ONE OF THE WIER8 OVER WHICH PLANT. URE WATER for the use of the dwellers within Its gates U on of the mot valuable aisets which any city may possess, for nothing will spread disease and sickness faster than an Immire ; water. To nrovlde li ith Omaha and the auhnrha with mm ater Is the province of the Omaha Water tfmpany, the corporation which has the rmiege or furnishing the water to the Pi or Omaha. Teople of Omaha like the Mlgamirl rlvp water, for they have hwnm. nm-j to It. but to the stranger within the city (gates It has to be taken with a slight mis tvln at first. The traveler crossing the Missouri river at Omaha for the first time gassa down at the boiling yellow stream below ajid la dumbfounded when told that the people of Omaa drink that water. They cannot see how such water can be utd and they wonder when told that the pmaha Water company clarifies that water and the peonle of Omaha ilk. u II la hard for those neonle who ar an. ustomed to the colorless water of the ast to comprehend that the water whinh la given to the people of Omaha through ne agency or the Omaha Water company hi aiana an analytical teat hott.r than per cent of the watera of thla rnnnlrv (rhe water of the Missouri river Is for most 9rt melted snow from the mnuntalna mtA he coloring matter Is sand and silt which a being carried to the gulf. Instead of '.)alng s detriment to the water, thla sand it recognised purifying agency, for it phurns the weter and acta as a filtering tgent I CsaaamlMloaep Report Good. jf The last published report of the city Mealth commissioner stated that "I have sad an analysis of ,the city water made 'tt : four different tlmea during the last ryear: In January, February, June and December, thla water being taken from he Intake at the river, the settling basins 'and from fauceta In the central part of he city. In each case, in the language ?(of the bacteriologist, 'it Is pure and whole Moms and compares favorably with water nywhere In the country and Is Incapable f causing disease.' " This report Is sim ilar to one made by Prof. Vaughn, In F.'harge of the water analysis department rf the University of Michigan. When the klant was first Installed many had mis urivlngs concerning the quality of the water pecause of the color, and many analyses Were made to satisfy the skeptical. These were uniformly the same that Omaha had bur water for Its cltlaens to drink. J When the water works was first In stalled the water was taken from the Missouri river at the practically aban doned station near Burt street. Here Were several settling basins, but as the f'tty grew they became Inadequate and t was found necessary to Install a new nd larger plant at Florence. 1 A atrip of 100 acres, especially adapted for a plant, was bought and the company jrptnt a considerable sum In rtprapplng fha river to protect the plant and to keep (be ever-ahtfting Mlssburl from moving fway from the power house and Intakes. Nestling under a hill, almost out of tight from the Inhabitants of Florence, . .he oldest town of Nebraska, lies Minne. . lius station, the power plant of the Dmaha Water company. No finer spot . eould possibly have been selected for the station, aa It was chosen with special inference to the peculiar kind of reser I 4olra which are used for clarifying and Iterating the water and because it Is the inly point on the river where the bedrock cornea near enough to the surface to make . -he Intake perfectly secure. Blee Saaidstoae) Beaaty. A splendid pumping station waa built. khe building being a beauty, constructed jf Missouri blue sandstone, and an Im .nense pump waa installed to carry the ater to Omaha through the thirty-six-inch main. Since that first pump was installed it has been found . necessary to add twa large assisting pumps, and these jtre the wonder of the west, being im mense structures, and making the station ne of the show places of Omaha. ' Direct pressure alone Is not relied upon Sta give Omaha a high water pressure, nut large reservoir were built near Wal nut H11L and these give a gravity pres. sure which assists in case of fire. With thla reaarva reservoir the city of Omaha la able to call upon the Omaha Water sompeny for 19,000,000 gallons of water In a day, the only thing standing In the way being the lack of a main large enough Lo deliver it. TO eliminate) the aand from the water was ne of the problems which confronted the iiuitdera of the Omaha system. The late Captain Frank Reynolda figured out a plan which waa put In use when the Mlnne-Lus ulant waa first built at Floience, and which has been In auoceasful operation ever since that Urn. Captara Reynolds noticed that when a Klaaa of Missouri river water was allowed to stsnd for a few minutes the first part f ko settle was the top, and that that soon leered, while the lower part of the glass tllll seemed muddy. He applied this theory io the new basins. rive dant baaing war built, eaoh suc the City's Some Facts About the Magnificent Minne-Lusa THE WATER RUNS IN THE PROCESS OP . .. ... . - w ceeding basin being several feet lower than the ether. The water Is numoed from tha river into the first baaln, and by the time It retches the last basin It Is comparatively clear, bee ue of the manner In which it Is handled. A thin sheet of water Is allowed to flow from the first basin over a series of steps, or weirs, to the next lower basin. If water or milk Is poured from a glass or pan it will be noticed that the top of the body of liquid la the first to flow. So It Is at the basin. The top, or the most settled part of tho water flows over the steps Into the basl.i below. The fall la so great that the water sprtys Into the air when it hits the ateps and Is thus aerated. Air permeates all parts of the water aa it la flowing Into the next basin, and so the system of removing the sediment from the water also works for Its purification. This plan Is followed out from one basin to the other until the last basin Is reached, when the water Is ready to be forced through the mains to Omaha. This process of sending the water over the welra has at tracted wirld-wldo attention to the Omaha plant and l:as been followed out In other cltlos. The location at Florence waa espe cially chosen with reference to having these basins work In succession, and the wisdom of the builders haa been Justified because Omaha has water of which It mav wn ha proud, the only trouble arising In the spring whe.i the breaking up of the Ire In the river seta awry seme of the mechanism at the intake and permits the mains of Omaha tn be filled with muddy water which it takes several aaya to remove. Color No Detriment. A stranger in . Omaha, drawlna- water from one of the faucets, is first struck witn the odd color of the water and luter by the taxti The Inhabltanta become accustomed to these and when trav eling abroad the first Impression of other waters Is that they are tasteless and have no bottom to thm. The fact is the people of Omaha know they have good water and have learned to like It, and none, pther suits them as well. Captain Reynolds had his iilea nf th settling basin patented. His plan, which was carried out in the onatrii,.tinn nf .K. Florence plant, was that in an apparatus lor clarirylng and purifying water it waa best to have each baaln d I virion intn i Battling chambera with valved waah pipes wunin me chambers so that the water en ters the basin over one settling chamber and leavea above the other. Thus the sand which settles In the first chamber is not carried to the other chamber and the water Is thus the better clarified. The aerating weirs comprise a declining plane, having a series of weir boards set at an angle to the perpendicular so aa te provide an air bed. each board being pro vided with a aeries of upwardly extending lipa t Interrupt the water flow, thus spray ing it iuto the air. Uy this means the water haa air above and beneath and the sheet Is again broken Into a spray and given further chance at aerating. Tha basins at Florence are so constructed that one or all may be used at a time, or that all the water may be let out of one baaln at a time and the aand and sediment In the bottom of that basin then washed Into the river. The basins are all high enough above the river so the water may be drained into the river below. lea Make Trooblo. Superintendent Hunt of the Omaha Water company reported that the trouble with the water this spring waa that the ice In the river mulled before the tea In the rcs- W ater Supply and .. - , f h , -,1 T-. -TV 4 ,4 i-C'i:?!': :::;:;. vy; f'tY'VYY lr"',r - v ITS PURIFICATION BT THE SETTLING , - -m-.. , HI , m im K1 LJLj ' ; . - .. J".,)-! mmunmvm.Mn", )" - , - ' , ...,.J ..v, J i - tf ' :-. 111 iiJirtjjlll..J.;' ; J .... r"1 liW" - ,,.r.,.... -I, lAirfijj,. . ... r t&VWtX?-; ?M-i -:W-- .-Wvt t.IWiiai1lll .: .., ,. - r ? t . - V" ' -.e" Yl ' "tti,5 v5:x,v , w , v . , v? ..!, . t. ; , . 1 - 'iTit " " ' ' " 1 ' V ii i ainininf m in mi i iii niniiilili in i ,i ..mitrniiiiiiin m n iiiiinin ri, i , n , , - x .v. ... r. - ' - GENERAIi VIEW OF THE UPPER SETTLING I - i r IN ervolrs, thus causing more trouble than waa ever before experlenoed In that line by the company. This has never before hap pened In the history of the plant. Omaha la recognized all over the coun try as one of the healthiest cities in the union, and a great deal of credit for this showing Is given to the pure water which is furnished by the water company. In fact, it haa been stated many times that although Omaha is remarkably free from the rages of typhoid fever, that disease would be practically entirely wiped out If all would use the water from the Missouri river as furnished by the water works company and slop the use of water from wells and - cisterns. When the work of installing ths water works aystem in Omaha waa begun this city had a population of 30,000 souls. Now with a population of 170,000 the needs of the city are correspondingly greater, and to provide for this increase the Omaha Water company haa been forced from time to time to add to ite plant. The water was first pumped from the Burt street station and carried through twenty-eight mlloa of mains to the users of water In the city. Three years after the first plant was Initialled the dally consumption of the city was 6.0u0,000 gallons and it was found nec essary to enlarge the plant. ' Mtaoe-Loaa, a Beaaty. The Minne-Lusa station was built at Florence, where It now stands in a well kept park, which Is one of tha show grounds of the city. The giant engines which force the water to Omaha are a revelation to many who have never be fore had an opportunity to see such huge machine In action. Although three huge pumps are used to Xcrce the water to i La- TIIK OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: APRIL Pumping Plant and Service Maintained by ':',: ;---i y, BASINS AT THE MINNE-LUSA BASINS AT THE MINNB-LUSA STATION OF THE OMAHA n h fS 1f t r THE BOILER ROOM AT THE PUMPING Omaha, but one or two are used at the same time, the other being held for an emergency. These engines are larger than most dwelling houses and excite the wonder and admiration of all who stop and look. The mileage of the mains In Omaha to day Is 236 and the daily consumption averages about 10,0u0,000 gallons. The three high service pumping engines at Florence consist of two verlicle. triple-ex pension Allis engines, one of 18,000.000 and the other of 20,000,000 gallon capacity and one Oua- klll pumping engine of 14,000,000 gallon ca pacity. All of the water used In Omaha Is pumped twice end about 40 per cent of It a third time from high-rervice stations. These ststions are located on tha higher ground of Omaha and are used to boost tho water along and give better pressure In some of the higher parts of the city. Tha station on south Twentieth street can be used either to help the water along to South Omaha, or to alternate with Walnut Hilt station, In supplying the hlgh aorvtco district. Cpatn Reynolds' Dleeovery. An interesting story is told of the manner In which Captain Reynolds made his dis covery aa to the best way to purify 'water and which discovery he afterwards carried out In his patents and in the con struction of the Omaha settling basins. He was a sea captain and many years ago waa stranded on a south sea Island with his entire crew. The island waa small with no running water, but there was several pools of stagnant water which had become contaminated by the preaence of numerous flocks of birds. There was nothing for the sailors to do but to try to purify that water at hand, which waa .it :" '::. v. 5, VMS. How It is WATER SYSTEi PLANT. done by boiling for the most part. As the sailors had plenty of time on their hands some of them whittled out some small water wheels with their Jacknlves and permitted the water to run from the pools over ' a series of rocks and over these wheels, which sprayed it Into the air ao that it became purified. No better purify ing agency Is known than air and the aun and with both these airents at work the sailors were able to purify the water which they wished to use. Captain Rey nolda remembered thla plan of the sal Ion and afterwards put it to use In such a way that it Is now in dally use In cleans ing the water, which the people of Omaha use for all purposes. Public Always Welcome. The public is always welcome to visit the plant of the Omaha Water company at Florence, for the officers of the company want the people ef Omaha to know to what pains they go to provide wholesome and clean water for the users of water. The atatlon la always kept in spotless condition and on a bright day Is crowded with those who are interested tn seeing the "wheels go round." The street car line runs to within two blocks of the Minne-Lusa station, which ia thus avail able to those who ride in street cars, as well as to those who ride in mujor cars. Experts from all over the world have visited the system of the company and they unhesitatingly pronounce It one of the finest ever constructed anywhere. All are lavish In their praise of the fine serv ice which It affords and the care with which the plant at Florence la main tained. Tho company property at Florence lias the appearance of a large park, with great Attained the Omaha Water ..".Vi i r w r .1 I I v MINNE-LUSA PUMPING STATION AT FLORENCE. . ' lakes scattered throughout, and mammoth piles of architectural beauty rising toward the sky. The first building that strikes the eye of the visitor Is the residence of the chief engineer, a handsome structure, at once combining beauty and convenience. There are also a number of pretty cot tages, the homes of the company's en gineers and firemen. Towering high above all is the splendid structure built to house the machinery, a structure of unrivaled architectural beauty and adapted in every way for tho purposes for wfilch it was built. Itooma Marvels of Beaaty. The power house is two stories high, with a basement. It Is constructed of War rensburg. Mo., blue sandstone, and in the center at front la a splendid tower, reach ing five 'stories high. The basement Is used for boiler rooms, bathrooms, electric light plant, etc. . In this Is a battery of fourteen boilers, aggregating 3,600 horse power. On the first floor are located the great engines, three high pressure, for forcing water to Omaha and three low pressure, for pumping water from the river to the reservoirs. The engine rooms are marvels of beauty, finished with as much care as a draw ing room In a private residence, and are kept spotlessly clean. The ceilings are of red oak. Half way up the walls stretches the visitors' gallery, from which a fine view may be had of the giant engines in action. The entire plant is lighted from a plant in the basement. In the tower are rooms for the officers and visitors, observatories, etc. Intake on Solid Rock. The process of taking the water from the Missouri river and delivering It from the faucets throughout tho large territory cov ered by Omkha, Bouth Omaha and the sub urbs is most interesting. At a point where the water swings aiound a curve from the east and dashes full against the Florence front with all Its fury the company has lo cated what he terms Its "Intakes'' or "In lets." These are two In number and meas ure 30x100 feet each, being built on tho solid rock of the bottom of the river. Facing toward the center of the river, theso Inlets are down about twenty-two feet below tho aeier and are protected from the swift cur rent by a strong system of Jetties which extend out into the current. Into these inlets the muddy water of the Missouri starts on Its cleansing course and finishes up In a pure state at the faucets of Omaha. It Is taken from the inlets by suc tion through great sheets of screening into two huge wooden screens, both calked and built water-tight like a ship. Through large Iron plpea the water ia then carried from these cribs through the pump house by means of the low service Allis engines and south a distance of half a mile to the farth. eat and highest settling basin. Comparative Analysis of City Water Inscription. City water London water supply (Thames! 1-ontion water supply new river) Undon water supply (Kent company) Hunt on Washington for Omaha Company The pettllr.g basins are five In number and tho hiphrst Is the farthest from the pump house, so ns the water flows over the welra Into each pucrwding bnain it finally lands In the hosin nearest to the pump houe from which It Is pumped through the tirfr ty-slx-ltich mains to Omaha. Bnalns I.lUe Lakes. In appearance these basins are as small lakes, each oblong In shape, with cement walls nnd grass growing around the out slle. The sides of the walls are of stone, and double thick, and between tho douWo walls is packed a strong cement grout which makes them Impervious to the water. The bottoms of the basins are concrete. In the bottom of each basin are hugs mud valves, and once every two weeks tho br.sina are cleaned out. Some Idea may bo paired of the way in which theso basins perform their work when It Is stated that when clr onlng day comes there Is generally found as much as six feet of mud in tho bottom cf the basin. Giant sewers carry this mud Into tho river far below the In takes. The visitor is permitted to visit all parte of Mlnne Lusa station, even to going down into the lowest basement, where the water la brought in by the low pressure pumps, to bo forced to the settling basins. The huge plungers moving up and down fill one with awe at their Immensity. Boilers Are Massive. The engineer will tell tha visitor , that each of the mammoth driving wheels on the high pressure engines weighs thirty- two tons, then the stranger will wonder how auch an Immense weight could ever be put in place and how it could be made to move after it Is In place. A visit on to the boiler room soon re moves that wonder to any with a. mechan ical turn of mind, for 'here is seen a bat tery of fourteen huge boilers, four new onea of 400-horsepower each having been re cently installed. He Is told that theso boilers are able to generate 3,200 horse power, and then he wonders more. J The boilers seem odd. for they all stand on end and rise high In the air above the flreplt below. All the latest contrivances are used to assist the firemen In their task of handling tho lurge amount of coal which Is necessary to keep these boilers going and to remove tho ashes from the pita. A, spur runs from the Omaha road to tha plant by which the coal ia hauled In. In summer flowers are seen on all sides, for the superintendent takes pride In mak ing the plant as beautiful aa possible, and thus giving a recreation place for the people of Florence and to those who drive or ride from Omaha for a little outing. The Omaha Water company and the com panies which have owned the plant before it have done much toward the upbuilding of Omaha. The progresslveness and enter prise which the officers have shown prom ise to add continually to the plant the company possesses in the oity and to keep the water plant of Omaha one of the best in the world. , The company has handsome offlcea In The Bee building, Seventeenth and Farnam streets, and continually throughout the year 200 men- are on the payroll of tho company. The officers of the company are: T. C. Woodbury, president; E. M. Fairfield, gen eral manager; Stockton Heth, treasurer, and A. Ii. Hunt, superintendent. Numerous tests have been made of tho water after it comes from the last set tling basin and In every Instance these tests have corresponded to the nitrate of silver test of distilled water. The analysis shows well In comparison with other cities In both this country and Europe. On the continent the population Is much more dense than In the United States and therefore more attention has to be paid to the water which Is used. In the column of "oxygen consumed in moist combustion" Omaha shows up very favorably In comparison with the London water, and especially well In comparison with the water used In Boston. The Missouri river water has a largo percentage of solids, but no analysis haa ever been made to separate the soluble solids from the suspended solids. Charles F. Crowley, water analysis expert, haa made several tests with Omaha water and he has repeatedly pronounced it good. Ho says there Is a vast difference between "distilled" water and "good" water. "A small quantity of solids Is not a detriment, but a good thing for water," said Mr. Crowley. "So one wants to drink distilled water." Oxygen con sumed Iii moist Ammonia. Alhu- corn- Solids. . 46 l . MO . i.l 0 . 3M0 , Vt.4 . lu&.O Chlorine. 10 0 11.0 lt JIM) 41 1.1 Free. .i26 .i . 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