Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1898 — The Water Was Shut Off. [ARTICLE]

The Water Was Shut Off.

Monday, about 8:30 o’clock p. m., people who use city water found in turning the familiar faucets that they gave no water. This dry state of affairs continued until 11 o’clock. This morning it was found that the sudden shut off was the result of a large section of the lead having been forced out of a joint in one of the large pipes, adjoining the waterworks building. The water poured out in a big stream and a considerable quantity entered the pumping room, through the walls around the inlet pipe, and from the pumping room it poured into the engine room and coal bins. The valve leading to the water tower was shut off, and then the flow ceased, but in shutting off this valve of course the pressure was shut off, all over town. The work of digging down to and repairing the leaking joint was begun at once, and by 11 o’clock the repair was completed and the water turned 011 again. One result of the leak was the immediate stopping of the court house clock, which can not run except when the water pressure is .on. The water was escaping at a great rate for about a half hour and the water in the big tank went down five or six feet. The amount of water this represented would be 10,000 to 12,000 gallons Things were lively around the plant until they got the valve shut off.