The Great Sewer Debate of 1890
North Yakima’s council faces a high-stakes decision on a controversial new pipe system.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The plans for a system of sewerage for North Yakima are now before the council for consideration. The matter is an important one, and much money is involved. That this city greatly needs sewerage there is no question. The people are a unit in favor of the establishment of a complete and adequate system. Health is at stake, and the fulfillment of our wishes in this respect can not come any too soon; but the council should consider well and act only after due deliberation and when they are well advised in the matter. The plans submitted by Engineer Jones are based on the George E. Waring pipe system, and there has been much controversy in scientific journals on the value of this system. Many engineers maintain that it will do for small towns, but that for cities it is a failure. City Engineer S. W. Arnold, while acknowledging the plans are in the main good, advises increasing the size of the pipe, noting that the system is experimental and has proven a failure in places like San Diego where it was poorly constructed.
“Health is at stake, and the fulfillment of our wishes in this respect can not come any too soon.”
Infrastructure expansion is a perennial challenge in Yakima; today's debates over water rights and municipal services echo the same anxiety about rapid growth and the durability of costly, unproven technology.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.