The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-07-16

The WAFER t}ueSbiofk.
Rlcnmond Is not By any means The on'5
city which has found n difficult 70 secure ?
regular and full supply Of COED water. we
alluded Yesterday TO The water troubles 10
Chscsgo, which city few years ago was
supposed to have the best supply Va Tue
wor,d Of The best wafer 10 the world. New
yark c,t,. zoo, has her wstsr troubles
Governor CORNELL has recently vetoed ?
bin which had been passed by the Leg'sla-
ture providing for the construction OF u
new Crosen aqueduct and otherwise ex-
tending the Croton system OF water sup
psy: and The Spectator, the organ IN New
York city OF the insurance companies, says
that In thus vetoing that bill Governor
CoRxsLL "added TO the obligations 'ne
peopIe OF that State were under 10 nim'
The Spectator adds:
"Tbe supply OF Croton water brought
daily TO this city 10 more thsn adequate ,Sl
all rs legitimate needs. 1t amounts, ~ TUG
f;overner says in his veto message, 70
az f0D 600 gallons q day, or ABOUT ninety
csi,ons for each man, woman, and chlid III
nc c,ev. This amount IL absurdiy IN ex-
rees ~ the legitimate requirement, ana u
greater than can be used for proper puI.
noses. What Is needed Is TO stop the waste
Rightly gallons would be nearer the 'uarK'J
The waste Is everywhere the trouble ex'
cent where meters are used. On this SUP
,ect, Governor CoRSELL's veto message says:
eThe most forcible illustration OF the
needless waste OF water add It's practicaDle
remedy may be drawn from tne experience
of the city of Liverpool. Ten years ago
that city was threatened witn water'Iani-
inc. The supply had become so measle
that The people could only ootaln wafer az
c@stain bonrs each day. Intelligent and
,vell.diyec,ed efforts were undertaken to
atom unnecessary waste, which fesulteu
within a few months, without increasing
the supply a single gallon, In converting
deficient and inadequate flow OF wafer lnto
ar, annie and superabuDdani quantity. Inc
same nlan applied in several other cities OF
ENGLAND has produced similar results.
Hence II cannot be doubted that equal Dene-
81 would be derived from like efforts here.
T.iyerpool has now abundant water In
daily supply OF about twenty gallons per
capita"
Liverpool has an abundant supply OF
wafer. and vet furnishes only twenty gal
Ions day for each soul. Twenty gallons
day for every man, woman, and child IN
Richmond would require that Dir. DAVIS
should daily send into the reservoirs little
over Que million OF gallons. Aud he now
sends daily three times that quautily Was
there ever more causeless water famine Z
In Providence, r. l., Lowell, Lynn, ana
Fall River, Mass, and Rochester, N. L.,
water.mefers are used, and those cities ind
that from % to 80 gallons day for each IN
habItant Is all that is required. The old
reservoir In Richmond GIN furnish TO each
Of orr inhabitants more than 25 gallons per
day. So II Is pure waste that causes all our
trouble. OF course the City Council is re-
sponsible for this waste. We are not trying
10 find an excuse for our city fathers, but
10 induce them to buy new engine at
once. let il cost what it may, and put
II IN work where il can insure 1ulI
supply OF water to our people. we
would not have meters used except to pre-
vent waste. Every household should be
allowed TO use at least twenty gallons per
day for each member. Let the meter record
the excess, aud let that excess be paid Tor.
So long as Mr.. DAVIS furnishes four mil
lions Of gallons per day, there would every
day be over two and bali million OF gall
Ions to be paid for. Think Of that.
The Spectdtor makes as TO wells sugges-
ton which may be good one. II says:
"some time since the authorities [of
northern ethyl insisted that the largest OF
these fmanufacturiugl establishments should
use Water-meters, and pay WatertaXes pro-
portionate TO the amount consumed. ms
seoual,zed' their taxation TO such an eX-
tent that many OF then could not afford to
nav il, and, IS q consequence, they puf down
wells. and thus, at small cost, obtained an
abundant supply Of water. IL would be
good thing II other large consumers were
forced to adopt similar measures. There
il no Justice in compelling small con-
sumers TO pay too much in order That
others may pay too little. There are
eomparatiyey few sections OF the city
where il is not feasible TO put down
driven wells; they are inexpensive, and IN
nine cases ont Of ten where they have been
tried they have been found to answer 'he
purT ose, furnishing abundance OF WAFER OF
better quality than the Croton. Every
such we'll is a relief to the present system
OF water supply, and is also an added means
Of fire protection. IL The use OF water
meters was made compulsory, there would
be thousands Of these wells put down with
out delay. Already many OF the large
sugar-refnerles, brewerles, distilleries, ETC.,
that are large consumers of water, obtain
their supply directly from the ground"