New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-02-08
THE WATER SUPPLY.
A STATEMENT FROM COMMISSIONER TH0MPs0:
pp..slNI SnlIiaN THE CRAIAX

A STATEMENT FROM COMMISSIONER THOMPSON
THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CRoTON.
The Commissioner of Public Works. Mr.. Thomp
6On, has addressed the following letter TO the pubic
in answer to the criticisms which have been made
on the Department of Public Works because of the
short supply of Croton III various parts OF tho cry
10 Ne PaGiic:
The reduced pressure in the water supply throughout
the city calls for Official AMI authoritative sta cmcnt
OF the pesent condition Of the The amount
OF water consumed III the city should not exceed the
carrying capacity of the aQueduct. This amount has
careless and wasteiul lis that the draucAt upon
the mains and supply pipes the wStSr from
ly responsible for it. have exhausted all neaus In
powr To- check waste ana hSvs evsn sol 10 tne eX
houses where waste is continued, Keeping up constant
theextent Of the practice oi letting The water
tiuuaily-a practice which Is Unjust to others aud DIS
The extraordinary drouta of last summer, extending
large section Of the country and exceeding any
srcgDns ,s7 re 81
Putnam Coanty could be rcPlanisasd SO AS To
SUPPLY tue See,sncy of tue CSoD MSF d@s f
manly tue tural flow Of tie Croton River which,
re rnS % tte r the Croo dam has grad
uay subsidized until ID now considerable es than the
capacity OF the sueduct. Iavew of The almost total ircS
Ofwater sOraee do not consider 1t advisable that the
city should Consume more or much uorewaier thdn Tue
short time 10 limit quantity consumption sti
further until relief is al ried by the melting OF snow
lis mistake to suppose that there Is lack OF sun
ciept wafer IN cass OF fe. rect c0mminic ation Il
established between the FIRE Department rcspOn.
stole stationed day and night ut the gates OF the
given In whatever part Of Tie city fire may Octur
In case OF accident to the aqeducI winch II the only
OF bringing water 10 tue city I'VE would ne entirely
dependent on The water in the park Reservoir until
repairs could be made The necessity of maintaining tho
present height VI water Is therefore imperative again
cali upon all to exercise the utmost care 10 the
ue Of water, that the present unfortunate condition OF
affairs may be mitigated as much as possible.
Engineer Campbell said Yesterday, in speaking of
:" We cannot safely increase the amount of the
duct to its full capacity o. 10000 gallons daily
Since Saturday last 3O,000,0Oo gallons have
bsen drawn daily n6 from the sSagS {r%
the Croton River. This is a singular con-
-iitlon of thing. We have drawn Oh the storage
reservoirs Ill January. but never before IN Feb
"What is the supply Of water actually available
ip the storage reservoirs u
III there were no other source available than the
storage reservoirs there would be- supply for twenty
days Bit with the rver also 10 draw from,
the supply will last very much longer.
do not anticipate much more serious trouble, how
ever he exceptional cold spell is probably nearly
over. Our inspectors report that the snow and ice
are somewhat slushy, and the Croton River aud the
reservoirs will soon be full
"How is the reservoir i'll Central Parkr'
"The water in the large reservoir is now drawn
down sn to ~ fSt S inches five The fire
This was an exceptional case. however Since yes
terday morning there has been reduction in the
amount of water in the reservoir. The waste is not
so great as it was. BY the way, the Controller
toned hls family against allowing any waste of the
CrotUn, and their pipes were frozen last night.
"ln reference to the assertion made by certain
newspapers that the CrotOn revenues show
falling off, that is easily explained Formerly every
mandatory where there is a steam engine we
charged by horse power. Now there are water
metres attached to each OF these manufactures and
the rate charged is only about one-half what it
was. Then again We always collected on May
4 vaQr
lect until after the expiration OF SIX months.
Persons and firms who have water metres attached
TO theirsbuldings pay for the amount OF Croton
actually used. The metres very good in prevent
ing.V aste. When a person knows that he will he
charged for the quantity of water used 1t to his
interest to prevent waste"