2026-04-23T08:57:43+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. 2014-11-04T13:54:36+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/13 Justin Berchiolli , Isaac Shapiro and the Minnesota Environments Team The first municipal water pump opened in 1867 primarily for the fire department’s use. This pump was located along a canal that fed mills on the west bank of the Mississippi River just north of the city limits. As Minneapolis’ population quadrupled throughout the 1870s, city officials expanded the water system beyond the original pump. In 1871, the city bought an old stone building above St. Anthony Falls and transformed it to a pump house which catered to businesses and residents rather than fire departments. Both pumps took water directly from the Mississippi River. With access to piped-in water, as opposed to well water, the average personal consumption grew to 50 to 100 gallons per day. This exponential increase in water-use overwhelmed the previous system of cesspools and outhouses for handling wastewater. Even before this marked rise, the cesspools and privies were already in a poor state. Unless lined perfectly with cement, bricks or other sealants, waste from the cesspools would seep into the groundwater supply. The issues with the original waste management system were exacerbated by the increase in wastewater. To ease the pressure on this system, Minneapolis developed sewer systems. The original sewage pipes were located in a old stream bed which sits under present day Washington Avenue. These pipes delivered waste directly to the Mississippi River. This system of using the same source for both water supply and waste repository, known as the two-pipe system, was common throughout budding American metropolises. While low population density allowed this system to flourish in its early stages, as populations rose its imperfections became exposed. For more (including 2 images), view the original article. 2014-11-04T13:54:19+00:00 2019-08-13T12:59:07+00:00 https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/11 Justin Berchiolli , Isaac Shapiro and the Minnesota Environments Team Over the next several decades, the exact cause of typhoid remained elusive and contested. As late as 1910, the Minnesota Board of Health insisted that drinking water was not the primary cause of typhoid. Instead, Minneapolis officials attributed the spread of typhoid to the ‘Three F’s,’: fingers, food, and flies. Minneapolis’ decision to focus on augmenting water infrastructure as a response to typhoid outbreaks was the result of two separate phenomena. On the one hand, a fundamental misunderstanding of disease causation shaped city officials’ response to typhoid and drove them to orchestrate a transition of water source from the ground water running beneath the city and accessed by wells to the Mississippi, a water source which was removed from the city. On the other hand, Minneapolis’ decision to develop water infrastructure was the result of apprehension over acknowledging a link between typhoid and municipal water which had the potential to jeopardize the reputation of Minneapolis as a sanitary city. As a result of apprehension over reputation, city officials remained recalcitrant in their defense of municipal water quality while directing the focus of typhoid eradication towards expanding the umbrella of water infrastructure. The city championed hygiene and immunization efforts to combat the spread of typhoid. In hindsight, while Minneapolis city officials were doing the right thing by addressing water source, their efforts were misplaced. Instead of improving the safety of water coming from the Mississippi River, city officials focused on phasing out private water sources while expanding the municipal water grid. In 1893, following another harrowing typhoid outbreak, the city of Minneapolis established a committee to examine wells. Of more than 1,000 cases of typhoid fever, the committee determined that half resulted from drinking municipal water. Typhoid prevalence was indistinguishable between private wells and the municipally-sponsored Mississippi River. Though the link between pollution in the Mississippi River and typhoid outbreaks throughout Minneapolis was becoming harder to refute, the city postponed infrastructural modifications such as filtration systems because they were unproven and expensive. By 1902, Minneapolis’ population had reached 225,000, and typhoid outbreaks persisted. With the arrival of bacteriological tests in 1903, the city concluded decisively that its current water source was in fact dangerously polluted. The first response was to change the locations of water pumps along the Mississippi River to move them more upstream of the sewage being discharged into the river. Despite these modifications, typhoid persisted and city officials realized that Minneapolis was not the sole city that piped waste into the Mississippi. Moving pumps upstream of where Minneapolis pumped its waste had no effect on the waste coming from upstream industries and cities. The realization that the Mississippi River carried pollution farther downstream than was previously understood gave rise to an initiative to install a sand filtration mechanism for Minneapolis’ water pumps. Altering the established two-pipe infrastructure built to deposit waste and collect water from the same area was impossible. Instead, the city had to focus on addressing the source of its water. Yet even after city officials realized what they could do to prevent typhoid outbreaks, the cost of infrastructure modification prevented an immediate response. It wasn’t until 1913 that the first purification plant was opened. For more (including 4 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.