People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1895 — Water Works. [ARTICLE]

Water Works.

To the Editor of The People's Pilot: The town council of Rensselaer, lud., ordered an election to be held Sept, 3. 1895, for the purpose of voting for or against water works. Up to this time there has been very little said for or against the enterprise, and to many the inquiry has been, "What will be the probable cost of installing a plant for water works, and about what capacity wil 1 it be, and to what points in the town will it be distributed?” These, of course, are the three principal questions of interest in’this matter. and we shall try in this article to state to the voters the facts concerning these three important questions. The cost, of course, will depend largely upon the system that is decided upon; that is, whether it shall be direct pressure or a stand-pipe and in the supplies which will be furnished for the capacity, and it will there be shown to the voters that the probable cost will not be more than *22.000 for direct pressure and say *25.000 for elevated ta k and. of course, this may be varied more or less in accordance with the pirns and specifications that may afterward be made. Now, in regard to the capacity of the plant, we want to say that the town is desirous of installing a plant that will be of sufficient capacity to supply the town with water, sav anywhere from one and a half to two million gallons per day. This, of course, will require two large steam pumps of seven hundred and tif:y thousand or one million gahons capacity each per day, and these will be installed so as to run in alternation in the ordinary supi ply of water, but in time of tire they may both be put to work and will be connected to the same main. The boilers will, of cdurse. be of sufficient size to admit of additional machinery if required in the future. As to the question of distribution. we would say that it is the purpose to have these mains extend out to the various imits of the town that are*t present occupied and improved, and it will be left m such shape that when the improvements extend further out into the new additions! these mains can be extended so! as to accommodate the entire town when required.

ihe erroneous idea that some i have understood that these water works would be simply located in the business part of town should be dismissed from your minds at once. There has never been any intention of that kind, but if water works are installed in this town they will be put in with a view of benefiting every property holder and of affording protection from fire to every residence property and every business property in the town of Rensselaer. It does not seem that it is probable now for us to allow this opportunity to go by without casting our vote for water works, on account that we are daily exposed to tire, and in case we should have an extensive one we ■would be entirely at the mercy of the fames. The fact that we need the water works for individual supply is not a question of importance so much as a fire protection. Nevertheless, if we had water ’his year to use, our gardens and 1-iwns would have been in much better condition and more profitable than they have been to us. and if we consider the benefits to be derived from this system of water works and then j compare that with the nominal | cost it will be to each individual, we car. but decide that it is of | importance and that it is of mujtual benefit to each and every ! citizen of the town of Rensselaer i and that we will vote to have | water works i*u,staked in our town. The question of our being able to do so is. of course, a matter, to be considered, but when we | take into consideration that theie I are people who wifl take our i bonds and carry them on for five, ■ten, fifteen and twenty years, land that when this plant is once | installed that the rentals from ' the water will, doubtless, pay | more than the interest and the ; expense of running the plant, and at the rapid ram of increase in our town, noth a> tc the valuation of the property and the population, the taxes that will be necessary to be assessed to meet these expenses will be but a trifle, and during all this time we will be enjoying the advantages of the water works. And the facts are that the rental for water from the water works will, iu a very short time, pay for the entire ’plant. This fact has been demonstrated time and again in other towns, and some of those towns which have!

paid for their water works are not as large as this. It is a fact mat Fowler. Monticello and Kentland have all voted on water works, and it has carried there, and there is no reason why Rensselaer should not keep pace with her sister towns, and we are fully as able to have these necessaries as any vown in the state. The item of taxation should not be considered as a reason for voting against water works, on account ihay us we have stated before, the experience has been in all places ’hat water works are self-sustaining, and there is no question but what this one wil, before the expiration of fiv“ years. Again, our town is now rated for insurance of the fourth class, and as soon as we have a good system of water works installed m the town the insurance companies will give us a new rating ana we will be reduced to second class, which will make a material difference in the cost of insurance not on;y to business people residence owners as well. ” * r j ri 'i ■' will take a little over five tiroes o: mams, or about 28.o<i ' :) to supply the town, ranging in size from four to ten inches, about thirty fire hydrants and a pumping station. B. F. Ferguson. Keim.se;a*r, Aug. 27. 1895.