Q I heard that at a staff meeting at Emporia High School, they were told there would be no more toilet tissue purchases before the end of the school year, and that they would have to get by with what is there already. I also heard that some bathrooms do not have toilet tissue now. Is this true?
A “Even though we are trying to limit spending across the district, it certainly is not to this extreme,” said Nancy Horst, community relations director for the school district.
Horst said that she had spoken with EHS Principal Scott Sheldon, who had said that the rumor is not true.
“If any school restroom runs out of paper supplies, a student or staff should let the office know and it will be restocked,” she said.
Q At the corner of Prairie Street and 18th Avenue on the grassy area on the northwest corner there has been a pool of water for easily over a year. Why is it there? Is it a leak from our water supply? Does it need to be repaired?
A The pool of water seeps from a tiny leak that apparently began after repairs had been completed there earlier.
Gary Sadowski, underground utilities supervisor, said that contractors with leak detectors have come in to determine exactly where the leak is.
“This is a very, very small leak, very difficult to find,” Sadowski said. “It’s a very complex system so we can’t just go in there and start digging.”
The area once housed an old booster pump station, where two main lines run in from the water plant and others run out to deliver water north and south on Prairie Street.
The 20-inch and 16-inch main lines that come in from the plant feed into 12-inch and 10-inch lines for distribution. If those crossover lines or crossover valves were damaged in digging, it could shut off water to much of the city, so Sadowski is being cautious.
“We think we’ve got it located,” he said. “That leak is not putting any customer out of water and my other leaks — if I don’t get them fixed — I will be putting people out of water. So those always come first.”
Sadowski said that water loss from the leak has been minimal, though ongoing.
“When I say a small leak, we’re talking maybe a little larger than a pinhole size. We think it’s a joint leak, so probably about a 16-penny nail size,” he said.
He estimated that repairs would be made within a month.
- Readers may send questions about local topics not covered in news stories to Because You Asked, c/o The Emporia Gazette, Drawer C, Emporia KS 66801. Questions need to be signed, but names will not be revealed.
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Posted by BigGuy (anonymous) on May 10, 2008 at 10:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The real problem at Prairie and 18th Street was the decision by former city manager Steve Commons to have the small building that housed the booster pump station at the junction of the mains bulldozed for aesthetic reasons. This decision took little or no account of what role that facility played for the water department and its role in maintaining the integrity of the junction.
Posted by Bjnemp (anonymous) on May 11, 2008 at 12:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BigGuy: I wondered what happened to that old structure. I always enjoyed seeing it standing there in that open field. It was an interesting old building and hinted of Emporia's past. It was a piece of history and I hated to see it go. Sounds like it was another brilliant move by a clueless government official that led to it's demise.
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