New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-01-20
TIE WATER MFTER QUESTION.

THE USE OF METERS TO PREVENT THE WASTE OF
CRoToN ATTRACTING GENERAL ATTENTIoN-ME-
TIERS FOR LARGE FACToRIrs-THE LIVERPOOL
SYSTEM FOR TIE CITY GENERALLY.
At a meeting of the hldernlnic Committee
Oh the Croton supply which took place on Wednesday
the Commissioner Of Publc Works, Mr.. Campbell again
EXPRESSED his opposition to water meters hut 80 TAR
modified it as say that they might be used advah-
taccously in large manufacturing e. Establishments The
opinion prevails among many city icals fat the me-
tiers in possession of the cir nnher the hisph'en
contract made with the Department Of Public "orks
while under Tweed - hay eo he paid for,and
can be used IN factories, dis p, I' re Buildings with
numerous Offices and the - '- where water is
largely consumed and was q AT Is now nearing
se Element aud question ~ ,he OF these meters
VIII doubtless present itself before the Summer sets H.
To devise some Of stopping the wastage OF the
Crocn which engineers cde TO he the simplest and
cheapest form Of socilri: ample supplies OF wafer Iii
the seasons Of drouth. > -e,Ogzed by engineers
oenrrally and the Commissioner OF Public Works cs-
pecialy as the di'It proo preseiting itself
in the city administration always "yccptng the reiuc-
ton of the city debt II IL ct tc the one subject Ut
present most absorbing the attention OF city engineers
The account in Thursdays Tribune Of the Liverpool
system Of wastewater meters, by which WAS shown
that ;ho asage in any district could bc Instantly and
automatically detected then al traced to the very
house where the leak or abuse eX ted ana corrected IN
r. Few hours interested Officials generally Engineers
have long familiar with the system, but most OF
those III authority in the CITY Government heafd
Of it then for The first time The system was not de-
scribed az clearly as IL misht have been, and a
further account Of It's operations Will be found Of in
tercst. 1t given to TEIBvE reporter by AiDtoSo
Thompson, practical engineer and late agent OF inc
British Board OF Trade. lie is well acquainted With the
Liverpool stem, and in abiding 70 its operations stated
follows:
The waste and cost OF water In Liverpool caused an
official Investigation he made to see If some means
c,i Inc ryiso 10 arrest IL taltiough the waste NJ Liy
crpooi was never comparable e that Of NewfOrsl IhG
engineer Of the Board at Works. after careful ana
scientific inquiry, discarded al idea ~ meters, property
50 called and invented the system you inquire ab0tt,
based upon the Velocity % water ID PIPES anu
recording IL y mcc inisln Oh diagram, similar 10 the
dia -rarn Indicator ~ steam engine. Applying these
instruments 10 certain districts. say one p"ck. wv"
blocks more any waste aud above what was due
10 population OF that district Wa ~ once ana a'
curaciy recorded, and the waste hayn2 been no'e ,ho
Inspector obliged 10 lind and r"n'iFlt fS'ctt,$
III very little while, the diagram iiStf would indicate
him IN locality OF the waste aN H. became ihoIo5bS
couycrSant Win The n-iruWcht: the advantage o'her-
wise of these districts Is very obFi0us. .,,.
The prevention a. waste has Incidentally produced
very important result. the reduction 81 ltioty OF hDM
In the uuins, anl c"nsea'n' dc'rc~" &" lc.on lN l"-
caused an Increase of Tr>Sure 81 nearly 90 per cent
which is Uniform and provides eilcciiaiiy TOT hre pnr
poses. - ~, . T., ' t,..,,,,, T. "a NOR
1000 gallons When This waste water system nae. n'''i
applied portion of the population only, an annual
sdyin- OF Sl7,llJ was realized III TIE inc"mpee 'lac
OF the y.ltlh; ys cory or wa, my 'uPi" ,
water At present in Liverpool, with no sort q" rr'lfc
tic consumption by ihe pIciPai uiItS ~ ~! P.,p.
purposes, but Including hotels public houses VAR.
head prI day, fer the whole r"pIaliol. IL 'hr Traces
ard public pur 0scs included then ne toai tolHi-
tiun i, % gallons Per head per DAY for me 'ftfc
reputation md the WAFER laid at All times 30 every
house at pressure Oi from 10 L. 100 pounds per sdte
isCs urEs y tho waste water system he has previously
discovered mat privileges are being abused OF t"at
broken pipe defective Trap Is allowed TO ciu5a con
iined waste not 2i{ oostS 10 ,e COMMUNE ''' III
frffl I
a marked contrast 20 that OF N,%-lorS where itgkeor
eats t3r heay iTv 's , R is weed
ingy doubtful and whore oye-intiebied city Is now
asked stand the further Expense OF T20OOOOOo lOf
new reservoir In the face Of such known facts ~
have spoken Of IL seems strange that the NcwNork
naone can bo pcenty asked 10 submit 10 thu burden.
It may objected thai the mains OF Newiork are not
cnsc yyld no Involved in arniying 10 Nrw-York the
liverpool 5, stem or course this il Something
not be done for nothing, and little ingenuity ana an
expense nmeasuraby bcucltL The resulting benefit may
he called Tor Jnst now indeed, a Hu!o properly
cured would not only benefit the city on ths
water questioI but give much needed employ m NJ
to w3msn GI o better tysc g'" OF Gaee e o pS
scented just the same difficulties as does New-f0rk'
aud moreover Mr. Gale, the water engineer OF Glasgow,
wa Sey 0TSeb Ic No No acmp was mfde to nitro
duce force the system on Glasgow yet the logic OF
has been this Mr.. Gale Is now lrm believer IN
the Liverpool system ana GLASGOW adopted II oIg a-o.
The Is tr1lc Of other large towns IN Great Bain
has h little difference OF arrangement OF pipes,
which has called for modification Of the service pipes
saving resulted has been admitted by all engineers
abroad In Liverpool every item OF cost mas been paid
of the Increased revenue. withOut increase IN the
rates. besides a0rdinG constant instead Of intermittent
service The results wonderful In short time.
SO far this meter u concerned apart from the whole
system II seems To the Department Of Public Works
in Newf9rk must know all abont IL. Gen fitz John
Porter examined and says records most accurately
the cf-Engneer, john G. Campbell made report
In which, speaking OF the Liverpool meter he says: at
is accurate Its registering streams varying from
$3.50 gallons per hour down to 20 gallons per hour the
latter test extending period OF II hours. IL Is
very sensitive tho compression Of the hose through
which water discharged showing on the da-
grains did the sudden turning of appear to
affect the meteor fur her Than recording such fact"