2026-04-23T20:18:01+00:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/ Minnesota Environments https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu 2014-11-04T14:46:57+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/27 Justin Berchiolli , Isaac Shapiro and the Minnesota Environments Team Though abundant and accessible water certainly benefited the population of Minneapolis, it also set up some fundamental problems. An interconnected infrastructure drawing from a mixed-use water source inadvertently created a new vector of disease transmission: the modern series of pumps and sewers. Haunted by the specter of typhoid, city officials unwittingly propagated typhoid outbreaks by funneling the entire city’s water system to one source, the Mississippi River. Minneapolis’ two-pipe system ultimately resulted in a steadily increasing amount of waste being pumped directly into the city’s single water source. As a result, the Mississippi River was being transformed by municipal water systems that developed around using the river as both a water source and a waste repository. While the development of an extensive sewage infrastructure contributed to increasing the health and living conditions of Minneapolis residents, these benefits were localized to boundaries of Minneapolis. The incorporation of a system which cleared city limits of its refuse and wastewater simply transported refuse along the Mississippi. The amount of waste generated by the growing population of an entire city traveled downstream and ultimately degraded connected riparian environments and polluted the water supply of other communities who used the Mississippi as a source. The adoption and integration of a municipal water system greatly increased the efficiency with which water was procured and dispensed. Today, Minneapolis’ water infrastructure boasts over a thousand miles of pipes, an annual withdrawal of 21 billion gallons, and a comprehensive sanitation system including filtration, disinfection, sedimentation, chemical additives, and softening agents. The development of this infrastructural system brought about an enormous increase in water consumption, which continues to threaten the sustainability of urban water provision and the watersheds they depend on. As population growth continues, we must consider negotiating a solution that allows us to provide for a growing population with a shrinking resource base. The continued sustainability of the watersheds we extract water from is essential to ensuring not only future economic and ecologic stability but also for ensuring that millions of people receive basic provisions. For more, view the original article. 2014-11-04T14:19:33+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/20 Takuya Amagai , Sahree Kasper and the Minnesota Environments Team St. Anthony Falls and the area surrounding it became the milling capital of Minnesota in the second half of the 19th century. The mills, for both lumber and flour, were built alongside the falls to capitalize the power that the rushing water provided. In the 1850s, mill owners constructed canals and tunnels around the falls to supply the mills with water and to discharge used water and waste. Slowly, constant upgrades and modifications made to ensure the stability of the falls and the productivity of the mills tamed the wild and unruly St. Anthony Falls. Even though St. Anthony Falls provided seemingly ideal conditions for a thriving a milling district, the geology of the falls was more fragile and susceptible to erosion than its early developers realized. Characteristic of the surrounding area, the district was built on the base of a hard limestone cap and a soft sandstone base. This made it easy to drill tunnels through the soft sandstone under the falls, but it also created a geologically unstable landscape when combined with flowing water. In the 1860s, Minneapolis pushed for the construction of an “apron” over the falls, which would protect the falls by rerouting the water over wooden planks, slowing the flow and protecting the sandstone layer from further erosion. In 1867, a flood destroyed the recently completed apron, overwhelming the mills and sweeping away the lumber booms, the barriers meant to contain the logs. The flood further destabilized the falls and the thousands of logs released from the lumber booms battered buildings perched along the river. Fears were voiced that another flood like this would completely destroy the falls and the river’s infrastructure. By 1869, the construction of a new apron was underway. As its completion neared, an article in the Tribune optimistically wrote, “the mighty falls of St. Anthony have been made to succumb to man and are now as subject to his will as a child.” Unfortunately, the power of the falls was yet again underestimated. In the fall of that same year, Hennepin Island collapsed, resulting from one disaster after another. The owners of the island built a tunnel beneath it, but in October of 1869, the rushing water pummeled the lower end of the island and washed away a chunk of the island. There was no hope for mills on the island and volunteers began salvaging what they could carry. During this, parts of the tunnel collapsed and the volunteers tried to block the tunnel gaps with miscellaneous materials, such as logs and dirt, but to no avail. Their next idea was to build a raft from the lumber on Nicollet Island, which was guided over the collapsed opening. The raft could not withstand the powerful flow from the gap, and as it came apart, the volunteers noticed that another section of Hennepin Island had washed away. In 1870, spring floods washed the rest of the new apron away. Minneapolis and its millers felt powerless compared to the fierce falls. Despite these repeated setbacks, the residents of Minneapolis knew that they could not abandon the reinforcement of the falls or else their famous mills would be no more. Construction carried on, expanding to include the dikes and dams that were installed in the following years. By the mid 1880s, the wild falls were finally stabilized. The industry along the falls continued, and the flour mills powered well into the early twentieth century. For more (including 6 images), view the original article. 2014-11-04T14:08:27+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/18 Takuya Amagai , Sahree Kasper and the Minnesota Environments Team The mills of Minneapolis had a humble beginning, but they soon emerged as a world-renowned flour powerhouse. On their path to fame, the mills struggled to tame St. Anthony Falls and to mill and market the coarser varieties of spring wheat that grew in Minnesota. The mills and St. Anthony Falls formed a close-knit connection; the mills would not have without the falls, and the falls would not have been reinforced without the mills. Because the state’s harsh winter climate eliminated soft winter wheat it as an option for Minnesota wheat farmers, they grew spring wheat which they could plant in the spring and harvest in the fall. Yet hard spring wheat created challenges for the mills. Because it had a brittle husk, the wheat produced a darker and coarser flour than the more popular winter wheat. It was also difficult to mix evenly, resulting in flour that soured more quickly than the flour produced from softer winter wheat varieties. To solve these problems Minneapolis millers applied and adapted two innovations. The first, called a “middlings purifier,” blasted air through the flour, removing the undesirable bran and husks from the valuable flour, making the final product less coarse and lighter-colored. The second, a process called “gradual-reduction,” replaced the traditional millstones made of stone with roller mills made of porcelain or iron. These new rollers successfully mixed the gluten and the starch, which gave the flour a longer shelf life. With the unique challenges of milling hard spring wheat solved, sales skyrocketed - along with the reputation of Minneapolis millers. In 1870, there were thirteen flour mills by St. Anthony Falls, versus a total of five hundred other mills throughout the state. That year, the Minneapolis mills produced 200,000 barrels of flour. As wheat production shifted from southeastern Minnesota to the northwestern part of the state, the Minneapolis mills became more central to the wheat economy. With its direct connection to the Mississippi River and its proximity to the Great Lakes, Minneapolis became a hub for flour. By 1884, Minneapolis was the world’s leading flour miller. In 1890, the Minneapolis mills produced a record seven million barrels of wheat. Even though less than four percent of the country’s mills were in Minnesota, these mills produced nearly a fourth of the nation’s flour. It was the golden age of flour milling in Minneapolis, fueled by the falls and by innovations in the mills. For more (including 6 images), view the original article. 2014-11-04T13:54:47+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/15 Justin Berchiolli , Isaac Shapiro and the Minnesota Environments Team Minneapolis’ population and size continued to expand throughout the 1880s. Typhoid outbreaks maintained a positive correlation with the population and size of the city. Baffled city officials searched for a source to blame and settled on the portion of the population that drew their water from private wells. After 453 people died from typhoid in 1883, Dr. J.H. Salisbury, the City Physician and Health Officer, stated that the ground lying beneath the city was “saturated with filth” from cesspools and privies. Dr. Salisbury and the majority of the medical community at the time subscribed to the dominant contemporary theory that miasmas caused disease. This theory presents illness as originating from bad air. City officials believed that typhoid was caused from air coming off of waste in cesspools and outhouses. They referred to typhoid as the “filth fever” and came to associate it with the houseflies that gathered around human waste and garbage. City officials believed they could solve all their problems by piping what they called “the purest water in the United States” to their citizens. By connecting everyone to the municipal sewer system, they would eliminate the miasmas that came out of outhouses and cesspools and stop the spread of typhoid. This plan was largely realized by the end of the 1880s at which point the majority of Minneapolis’ residents drew their water from the municipal water grid. The city thought their problems with typhoid were outdated, but the worst was yet to come. For more (including 3 images), view the original article. 2014-11-04T13:54:18+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/10 Justin Berchiolli , Isaac Shapiro and the Minnesota Environments Team In the 1860s, the city of Minneapolis bore little semblance to its modern day metropolitan nature. In comparing the historical map to a present-day map of Minneapolis, the minuscule size of the city becomes evident. The mid-19th century city was contained around St. Anthony Falls. Though the city's boundaries were small, it was not densely populated, as it housed only 3,000 people. Given the city’s small size, there was little desire to develop municipal utilities. Citizens were in charge of their own private systems, relying on wells and small pumps to provide water for their families. During this time, the average Minneapolitan used three to five gallons of water per day. Bringing drinking water into their homes and getting rid of wastewater were separate endeavours. Citizens placed their waste, both solid and liquid, into cesspools and outhouses which were dug in close vicinity to wells and pumps. At the time, people did not understand bacteria, so they put little effort into separating their waste from their water. Eventually, filth from outhouses seeped into the same water table tapped by wells and pumps. This led to the occasional outbreak of infectious diseases, like typhoid fever. Though a lack of population density spared the city from larger outbreaks. While Minneapolis’ system of water management was well suited to small towns and rural areas, as the city expanded, in terms of both geography and population, it became clear that the city needed to create a municipal water system and move beyond its existing approach of private management. For more (including 2 images), view the original article.