New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-08-27
THE WATER SUPPLY.
CONDITION AND COST OF THE SERVICE.
REPLY OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS

CONDITION AND COST OF THE SERVICE.
REPLY OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC wohhs
TO ruE QUESTIONS OF THE BOARD OF ALDER
MEN.
Tn response to the questions suDmt'eu "
Gen. Porter the Commissioner OF Public VOTES, '"e '
lowing communication was received ny the oo"," -
Aldermen at its meeting yesterday, 10 DC oon''"'
when General Order No. s33. empowering the commis-
soner to increase the water supply shall DO '"Aeh "p
TO he Honorable ne Board Of AIdermsn ,,,, .,o
- GrsTipNrS: / have the honor to acknowledge tne
receipt Of your resolutions or tue iot ,n n claion
70 the measures necessary to increase uie nca. ".
delivery Of Creon water the present Of the
receiving reservoir in Weschcser County, ana .ne
nTinaI cost of the works connected with the water sup
nlv and the amount expended upon them during the last
ten years In reply respectfully submit the following:
head Of water. which win insure its delivery TO con
smers in quantities they have right 10 receive
In answer to this would say that the consumers are
getting the amount Of water for which they pay ont III
many rHnSed by the the Necessity q passing vol
ume Of consumed thron2h sna! plies Inc capac
voir is no larger the capacity OF the aqnednct.
The water through the aqIeduct win el, veuc
iy night and day. but the CONSUMPTION occurs mainly
between the hours Of a. H. and p m the water con-
smed must he forced through the distributing pipes
OF the dow in the aqnedut aud reducing the volume on
water in the distributing res rvors ana conseiueh'y
tho head or force This illustrated by the fact tha t
night aud on Sundays when the d'aught IL small war
is obtained on upper floors OF houses whore u docs
not reach during day time working days The remedy
for This is more large mains The present system OF dis
tribnon adopted when much smaller quanti! g,
water WAS consumed when manufacturers anu steam S
en- gnes did nol eXs in other building III Tue lower
part Of TIE city. AT the High Bridge reservoir tas
been constructed, and tower, containing TANK Tor
supplyng water the higher groundS Oh tne lsin'i
This reservoir and tank are now fed hy lmmpng iron,
fhc aaucduct This supply Is dependent upon one engine
and another should bo put up as soon as W 40
avoid siopn%ge of %o fhe sy nr Ss ana day wv
Secod vi at Is present m ase cn
in charge OF the line OF the work,i .,.. 1, =,
The i,res mt condition Of the CrOtOu A1"educt IL III
genera! good, ard il has delivered an uhilerupu sup
ply during the last year. except ten days ID Deeoianer
last the supply was shut on 10 MAKE g, t
anneduct between Ninety -socond and One-bundredand
fhir;ccuth-sts removed by order OF the Legislature 10
Tine aqrcdnct is patrolcd daily, the culyers bridges
aud entertainments carefully eXa !ied ana hept ~ isi','
An engineer Is kept tie lue TO supervise ,hs woh
ana mis- certificate Of its present condition Is hereto an
of t lower receiving reservoir In W Stchester county!
Has IL ever been ceanscd or rurih a. ana aos s o
struct on admit OF being ceased "hol' Shutting u" 'l0
Tie lower reservoir Croton Lake, is formed by
dam of earth aIl across the river below Inc en-
trapcc OF the alueduct The weir OF the dam Is az ct
the owwater level and % feet a,3he Tue u OF
line l. 81 feet, The lower face of the masonry curved
The vertical. Above the inasonry an nt
~ earth is filed in with a slope Of one 10 I'VE on the up
stream This dam sets the wafer OF tIe rfcr Dack
miles ana forms reservoir OF 400 " a"nenct
from near the surface OF tire lake IL Is purified ny
,,,ssng for five miles through this LAKE. TINS allowing
IMPURITIES 10 settle wasteculvcrt II built through
the dam with suitable iron gates to draw on the water
bnt IL cannot b. draw OF the lake without stopping
the supply aquduct, neces,iting me erection
of piiijs to supply the aqueduct we tIe water 10 50
drawn down 1nis has never been emed nec'Ssary or
Advisable since its construction, rs with each Eea'y ram
the LARGE body of water coming down the Croton RNtr
entirely changes the water in he LAKE. During the last
three weeks TIE water in this lake has pen changed
eight times by late rains In tic Croion Valley, the
surplus watt wasting over the dam. The wafer on the
l4th in t. passed the dam at depth oil 20 nclts
Iou,th: What the original cost Of the works iOr
water eipply and what has been the amount EXPENDED
mon tLesc works during the last ten years.
The total amonnt ext ended for works, structures etc,
connected with the waicr supply including maintenance
and repairs, to Jan. !, lSC WAS S2OO3o2%l 3D. JIG