USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume I > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
The manner in which the waterworks is operated is told by II. P. Boh- mann, superintendent of the waterworks and water purification department, as follows :
Water Supply and Intake .- Lake Michigan is the source of Milwaukee's entire water supply. The new intake in service since December 23, 1918, is known as the Linwood Avenue Intake and consists of a conerete lined tunnel twelve feet internal diameter which extends from the lake shore, at the foot of Linwood Avenne ont into the lake in a northeasterly direction, a distance of 6,565 feet in sixty-seven feet depth of water. At the shore end of the tunnel there is a circular shaft fifteen feet in diameter which connects with the lake tunnel, which at this point is eighty-one feet below lake level. At the outer end, the tunnel is 150 feet below the level of the lake and term- inates in a submerged intake erib by means of a twelve-foot lake shaft ear- ried slightly above the bottom of the lake.
The submerged intake erib sets on the bottom of the lake immediately over the top of the lake shaft. This intake erib is octagon in shape, eighty feet in diameter and twelve feet in height, so that there is a clearance of fifty-five feet of water over the top of the submerged intake erib, which removes all possible danger of damage to the crib by boats or troubles from the formation of ice. The submerged timber intake crib of the tunnel is located about five miles from the mouth of the harbor. The capacity of the intake is approximately 220,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours at a velocity of three feet per second and was designed to supply not only the present North Point pumping station, but also a future station which will be located on the Milwaukee River near Chambers Street (extended), and which will be known as the Riverside pumping station.
A shore tunnel nine feet in diameter, twenty feet below lake level, ex- tends from the shore shaft up to and in front of the North Point pumping station. From this tunnel in front of the pumping station branches lead into the pump wells located in the basement of the pumping station. These
469
WATER TOWER AND PARK-MILWAUKEE
+
BATHING BEACH, MCKINLEY PARK
471
THE MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS
wells are of various dimensions, but all are fourteen feet in depth, the top of the wells being at lake level.
Water Purification .- Lake Michigan in its unpolluted state is a most ideal potable water and for this reason was selected as the best source of water supply when the eity had ontgrown the proverbial "town pump."
It is very unfortunate that topographical conditions compel the city to dispose of its sewage in the same body of water from which it draws its water supply, and it is quite remarkable that the continued practice of polluting our water supply year in and year ont did not exact a heavier toll in typhoid deaths and kindred diseases, when we consider the amount of fecal matter and trade waste deposited daily into the lake by a population of nearly one- half million people.
In the absence of a sewage disposal plant, or a water filtration plant to protect the water supply, and fully realizing the dangerous condition of the water, as confirmed by a continued high typhoid death rate, the use of chlorine as a method of water purification was first resorted to in June, 1910. Hypo- chlorite of lime, or bleaching powder, was first used. Since March 31, 1915, liquid chlorine is being used. The amount of chlorine applied varies from sixteen ounees to forty-two ounces per million gallons of water, depending upon the condition of the raw lake water.
In these amounts, liquid chlorine does not impart a taste to a treated water. The objectionable tastes which have appeared from time to time were due to certain trade wastes of a coal tar derivative nature getting into our water supply and combining with the chlorine used to purify our water, forming compounds which prodneed these obnoxious tastes. Chlorine, being a volatile gas, can be expelled from water by boiling, leaving no trace of taste. Whenever this obnoxious taste appeared in the water supply, boiling did not remove it; in fact, it intensified the taste, which in itself is proof that chlorine was not the canse of the obnoxious taste.
The use of chlorine as a sterilizing agency has very materially reduced the typhoid death rate, but this method of purification alone must not be looked upon as a permanent safeguard. A sewage disposal plant and water filtration plant are the real solution for a safe public water supply.
North Point Pumping Station .- The North Point pumping station at the lake shore is the main pumping station of the waterworks. There are eight pumping engines of the vertical triple expansion erank and flywheel type, whose total pumping capacity is 126,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. Four of the pumping engines are low service pumps, capable of pumping water to an elevation of 165 feet, and four are high service pumping engines capable of pumping water to an elevation of 275 feet. There are ten boilers, which provide the necessary steam to operate these pumps. The suction pipe of each pumping engine extends into and within two feet from the bottom of one of the pump wells previously mentioned.
Sinee the bottom of the pump wells are fourteen feet lower than the level of the lake, it follows that water from the intake tunnel will flow by gravity into a pump well as fast as it is being pumped ont by the pumps. If all of the pumping engines were shut down, the water in the pump wells would then
172
IHISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
stand at lake level. After the water passes through the pumps, it is dis- charged into one of the five large force mains from thirty to forty-two inches in diameter, leaving the pumping station on the west side of the building. These foree mains are carried up the hill west of the pumping station to the stand pipe, with which they are cross connected, and then branch off in dif- ferent directions.
Only a fraction of the water pumped passes through the reservoir. The large feeder mains branch off in different directions at the stand pipe, and a thirty-inch main in North Avenue, which leads to the reservoir, is cross- connected with the mains in several cross streets before reaching the reservoir, so that the greater portion of water pumped never reaches the reservoir.
The stand pipe at the North Point pumping station is four feet in dia- meter and 125 feet high. It was originally built to relieve the water mains from the pulsation of the old type of beam engines. With the new type of triple expansion pumps the delivery of water from the pumps is so constant that a stand pipe is no longer an absolute necessity : however, as air colleets in a pump when it stands idle, the stand pipe, which is open at the top. per- mits any aeenmulated air to escape when the pump is started and in this man- ner the staud pipe serves a very good purpose. The stone water tower which encloses the stand pipe is 175 feet in height and its artistic beauty is admired not only by the citizens of Milwaukee, but also by outside visitors to the city.
Reservoir .- The reservoir, which is located in Kilbourn Park, is not a storage reservoir, but rather an "Equalizing reservoir," which equalizes the water pressure in the low serviee district and also serves as a source of supply for the high service pumping station located on North Avenue be- tween Tenth and Eleventh streets. The reservoir is of irregular shape. Its average width is 310 feet, average length 515 feet. The depth of the water in the reservoir when filled is 2116 feet and the elevation of the water at this height is 150 feet above city datum.
While it is possible to operate a waterworks by direct pumpage only, a system having a reservoir connected with it is very desirable. It permits the operation of the pumping engines at their most efficient rate, regardless of the consumption, and experience has shown that higher efficiency is obtained when the speed of the pumping engines is maintained nearly uniform. If during the day hours the consumption is somewhat greater than the rate of pumpage, the water in the reservoir is slightly lowered. As the consumption decreases at night, the loss in the reservoir is again made up during the night.
High Service Pumping Station .- (North Avenne between Tenth and Eleventh Streets). As the elevation of the City of Milwaukee varies con- siderably, the distribution system is divided into two separate areas or zones. The low service pumping engines at the North Point pumping station pump water into the low service distriet and into the reservoir. The high service pumping engines at this station pump directly into the high service distriet, in which they are ass'sted by the pumps at the High Service pumping station. which is a "booster station"; that is to say, the pumps at the High Service pumping station pump water from the reservoir and elevate it in the stand pipe adjacent to the pumping station to a height of 258 feet above the lake.
473
THE MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS
In this manner the distriets which are located nearly as high as the reservoir, and some of them even higher, ean be supplied with water, which could not be done if they were connected with the low service. There are four pumping engines installed in this station, having a combined pumping capacity of 25,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours.
Pipe Distribution System .- The general arrangement of the pipe distribu- tion system is what is known as the "grid-iron" system, viz .: the water mains are cross-connected with the mains laid in cross streets. At intervals of a half mile, larger mains are laid usually from eight to sixteen inches in diameter, and between these mains pipes of six-inch diameter are laid, thus forming a grid-iron system. Large feeder mains from twenty to thirty-six inches in diameter are also extended along certain streets to the outskirts of the city and connected with the larger distributing mains for the purpose of reinforcing the pressure lost by friction in the smaller mains. These feeder mains are not tapped for service connections.
The sizes of water mains laid in the city range from fonr to forty-two inches in diameter. Gate valves are set at nearly every street intersection, for the purpose of shutting off the water supply in case of leaks or repairs. At street intersections and in blocks over 300 feet in length, fire hydrants are placed. Water mains are laid on the north and east sides of the streets, the south and west sides of the streets being reserved for gas mains. Water mains are laid at a depth of six feet, which makes them secure from frost. Connected with the distribution mains there are service connections which conmeet with the various residences, stores and factories and supply them with water. Services from 34 to' 11% inches in diameter are of lead, two inches and over are of cast iron. One foot inside the curb on the service pipe, leading to dwellings, there is a stop-rock enclosed in a cast iron box, where the water supply can be shut off in case of leaks or breaks inside of the building or property line. The stop-eoek and shut-off box for large sery- ices supplying stores and factories is located out in the street. A record of the location of every stop-cock box is kept by the water department.
All services are controlled by meters, which measure the amount of water consumed for each premise. The small dise type of meter is for residential purposes, the velocity type of meter is for factories and hydraulie elevators, and the compound type of meter, which is a combination of a large and small meter, is used in stores and factories where the consumption at times is very small and again qnite high. A repair shop is maintained by the water de- partment in the basement of the city hall, where all defective meters are repaired.
Water is furnished outside of the city to the villages of Shorewood, West Milwaukee, North Milwaukee, Whitefish Bay, the City of West Allis, county institutions in the town of Wanwatosa, and to a number of individual con- sumers in the towns of Lake, Milwaukee, Greenfield, and Wauwatosa.
Water Rates .- The charges made for water are based on the quantity used as indicated by the meter. Meters are read monthly for the purpose of dis- covering, as quickly as possible, any leakage or unnecessary wastage, thereby
474
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
avoiding high water bills to the consumer. Bills for water are rendered quarterly, viz. : January 1st, April 1st, July 1st. and October 1st.
The metered rate for water used inside of the city is 6 cents per one thousand gallons and for water used outside of the city S cents per one thous- and gallons, regardless of the quantity used. There is no "minimum rate," the consumer paying only for water actually passing through the meter.
City Datum .- In establishing street grades or when reference is made to depth of sewers or to pumping water to certain elevations, it is usually stated in terms of feet above or below city datum. City datum is the horizontal base line from which heights and depths are recokoned. The datum used in this city is supposed to have been low water in Milwaukee River as it was in the month of March. 1836. Permanent bench marks upon stone monu- ments have been fixed and established by ordinance and are located as follows :
East Side-Southeast corner of Court House Park 54.83 feet above city datum.
West Side-Southeast eorner of Eighth and Chestnut streets 52.83 feet above city datum.
South Side- Southwest corner Greenbush and Park streets 24.95 feet above city datum.
These are the original bench marks set in the early years of the city. Sinee then there are a great many distributed all over the city for greater convenienee as a starting point in taking levels.
General Statistics For the Year 1919.
Date of original construction of waterworks 1872-1874
Estimated population supplied (including suburbs) 500,000
Total pumpage for the year (North Point Station) 22,590,435,210 gallons Total re-pumpage for the year (High Service Station ) . 1.638.223,400 gallons
Maximum pumpage any one day, September 8th. 85,697,210 gallons
Minimum pumpage any one day, April 20th 40,912,220 gallons
Maximum rate of pumpage or "peak" 112,000.000 gallons
Average daily consumption for the year. 61,891,603 gallons
Average daily consumption per capita 123 gallons
Amount of coal consumed during year 19,783 tons Total water mains laid to date. 544 miles
Total number of fire hydrants. 3.771
Total gate valves in distribution system 4.459
Total service connections with water mains. 87.949
Total service connections in actual use 66,422
Total meters in service 65,769 Temperature of water From 32+ to 71 degrees Fah.
Range of water pressure
20 pounds to 90 pounds
Total cost of waterworks, less depreciation $ 9,395,122.14
Total bonded indebtedness, less sinking fund. 195.000.00
Total revenues received for water for the year 1919. 1,132.072.27
Total operating expenditures 458,972.78
475
THE MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS
Useful Information .- A gallon of water (U. S. Standard) contains 231 eubie inches and weighs 813 pounds.
A eubie foot of water contains 71/2 gallons or 1,728 enbie inches and weighs 621/2 pounds.
The height of a column of water equal to a pressure of one pound per square inch is 2.31 feet.
A column of water one foot high exerts a pressure of .433 pounds per square inch.
Doubling the diameter of a pipe increases its capacity four times.
The mean pressure of the atmosphere is usually estimated at 14.7 pounds per square ineh, so that with a perfeet vacuum it will sustain a column of mercury 29.9 inches or a column of water 33.9 feet high at sea level.
Y
THE COLUMBIA HOSPITAL
THE MILWAUKEE HOSPITAL
CHAPTER XXX
THE MILWAUKEE HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The first board of health was created soon after the incorporation of the City of Milwaukee by an ordinance passed in August, 1846, and was made up of the mayor and five physicians. The frequent visitations of cholera among the towns of the Mississippi River and places in communication with them operated as a warning to every city advancing in trade and popula- tion to protect themselves by suitable regulations. It will be remembered that Chicago suffered severely from a visitation of cholera in 1832, during the progress of the Black Hawk war. In that year the cholera broke out among United States troops brought there by Gen. Winfield Scott, and re- sulted in a mortality of eighty-eight soldiers. It was a wise provision of the new City of Milwaukee to ereate a board of health to prevent its possible lodgement among its inhabitants.
In apprehension of an outbreak of Asiatic cholera the City of Milwaukee created a second board of health by an ordinance passed July 15, 1850. The people had been warned by a visitation of the dreaded epidemie at Chicago in the previous year which in fact continued for several years thereafter in snecession. Hearing of its prevalence in other cities the Chicago authorities made strenuous efforts to prevent its appearance, but a man arriving by way of the lately completed Illinois and Michigan canal from New Orleans brought the disease with him. His death was followed by a general epidemie through- ont the City of Chicago, then a city of 23,000 inhabitants, resulting in the deaths of 678 sufferers from that disease.
The records show that in 1855 the mayor and common council of Mil- waukee constituted the board of health at that time. In 1856, J. JJ. Lek was appointed health offieer of the Second Ward, C. Mushmeiler of the Fifth Ward, Patrick MeGrath of the Third Ward, and Nicholas Engel of the First Ward. From 1856 to 1857, the mayor and common council apparently acted as a board of health.
In 1867, the state Legislature authorized the appointment of a board of health for the City of Milwaukee. Dr. James Johnson was elected presi- ident of this board and thus became virtually Milwaukee's first commissioner of health. Ile resigned in 1877. In April, 1877, Dr. I. H. Stearns was ap- pointed health officer for the term of one year, Gen. H. C. Hobart being made president of the board. In this year the office of health commissioner was created, having a term of two years.
Subsequent Appointments .- April, 1878: Dr. O. W. Wight, appointed health commissioner for term of two years.
477
478
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
April, 1880: Dr. O. W. Wight, reappointed for term of two years. Re- signed October, 1881.
October, 1881: Dr. Robert Martin appointed health commissioner, the term of office having been extended to four years. This appointment was to fill the unexpired term of Doctor Wight.
April, 1882: Dr. Robert Martin reappointed health commissioner.
April, 1886: Dr. Robert Martin reappointed health commissioner.
April, 1890: Dr. U. O. B. Wingate appointed health commissioner.
April, 1894: Dr. Walter Kempster appointed health commissioner.
April, 1898 : Dr. F. M. Schulz appointed health commissioner.
April, 1902: Dr. F. M. Schulz reappointed health commissioner.
April, 1906: Dr. G. A. Bading appointed health commissioner.
May, 1910: Dr. W. C. Rucker appointed health commissioner. Resigned September, 1910.
October, 1910: Dr. F. A. Kraft appointed health commissioner to fill un- expired term of Doetor Rucker.
April, 1914: Dr. Geo. C. Ruhland appointed health commissioner. Entered war service August 28, 1917.
October 8, 1917 : Dr. Louis J. Daniels appointed health commissioner. Re- signed December 31, 1917.
January 1, 1918: Dr. George C. Ruhland reappointed health commissioner.
The population of Milwaukee during the years covered by this record is given here as a guide to the reader, with a comparison with the Chicago ree- ord of population for the corresponding years.
Milwaukee. 9,501
Chicago.
1846
14,169
1848
16,521
20,023
1850
20,061
29,963
1860
45,246
109,206
1870
70,776
306,605
1880
115,587
491,516
1890
204,468
1,208,669
1900
285,315
1,698,575
1910
373,857
2,185,826
1920
464,639
2,701,212
1922
(estimated) 500,000.
3,000,000
It will thus be seen that in the year 1848 the two eities approached each other in population more closely than at any other period.
"The year 1921 will mark a new record in the health history of the City of Milwaukee. The death rate, as estimated for the year 1921, stands at 10.3 per 1,000, which is by far the lowest in the history of the city," said Dr. George C. Ruhland, commissioner of public health in January, 1922. "This is better than the previous best low rate, that of 1919, when the mortality of this city was estimated at 11.46 per 1,000. This figure means that there have actually been more than five hundred deaths less in Milwaukee during the last year than in the year preceding.
479
THE MILWAUKEE HEALTHI DEPARTMENT
"The result of what intelligent work can accomplish in preventing deaths is interestingly shown in the lowered infant mortality rate, which for the year 1920 again shows an improvement over the preceding year, bringing the mortality rate for the age period under one year to seventy-five per 1,000 births. This result directly reflects the educational propaganda carried on by the department through its nursing division.
"In the same way, the better control of the contagious diseases may be ascribed to the activities which the department carries on through its con- tagious disease division in conjunction with the visiting nurses. Diphtheria has been held down to a lower mortality by the excellently conducted cam- paign by the chief of the bureau of contagious diseases. By discovering the carriers, and promptly isolating them until no longer infectious, the spread of this disease not only has been checked, but the mortality from this cause has been lowered over that of the preceding year.
"Although these are gratifying results, it should be understood that it is entirely possible to eradicate diphtheria by the application of the newer methods under which the susceptible child not only can definitely be dis- covered, but more important, by means of which the susceptible child can be immunized so that it will not develop this disease. Since diphtheria finds its greatest period of susceptibility between the ages of one and six, or what may be called the preschool age period, this becomes a problem essentially for the private practitioner.
"Through the division of school medical inspection, over 58,000 physical examinations of children were made up to December 1. Out of this number over 21,000 were found in need of medieal attention and over 16,000 were referred to their family physician for such medical attention. Much of the disease of adult life, and many a premature death finds its beginning in the minor defects that are discovered at school medical inspection. The fact that almost half of the cases examined showed conditions in need of medical attention, proves the need for school medical inspection. It is safe to say that the actual need for the service is greater than the facts brought to light. With the limited number of doctors and nurses, obviously the situation can not be as thoroughly and as fully covered as would be desirable.
"In spite of its handicaps, the sanitation division has been doing splendid work in keeping streets in a remarkably clean condition. This becomes . especially noticeable as one compares Milwaukee streets with those of other cities. The sanitation of restaurants, the supervision of tenement houses and public buildings, of barber shops and beauty parlors, and of sweat shops, all of which fall under the supervision of the sanitary division, show that in spite of a rather small force of inspectors, an acceptable control is main- tained over these places.
"Similarly good work has been maintained by the division of food inspec- tion. The addition of one inspector, authorized last year, has enabled this department to increase the total number of its inspections by more than 5,000 over those of the year preceding. Under the present ordinances, all meats not inspected and supervised by government agents must be inspected and tagged by officers of the Milwaukee Health Department. There can be
480
IHISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
no question that under this ordinance the supervision of the meat supply offered to the Milwaukee public has been improved. This service is much in need of additional help, and it is to be hoped that as soon as the city is able to increase its reventies, it will utilize some of the moneys available for strengthening this service.
"The compulsory pasteurization law, together with the requirement of thermo regulating devices, and the farm inspection service of the department, have combined to give Milwaukee one of the best milk supplies in the country, vet one that is offered at a cheaper priee than is obtainable in most other cities of this size.
"In conjunction with the work done by the food division must be men- tioned the splendid work as carried on by the chemical laboratory, which fur- nishes the technical data on which the food division is able to take its cases into court. During the first eleven months of the year over fifteen thousand samples of foodstuffs were examined in the laboratory. This is an increase of 73 per cent over the same period last year.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.