, 1881-12-25
WATER AND WASTE.
chief.Engineer cregier on the
Liverpool System to Pre-
vent the Latter.
Chicago Has Plenty OF Water and Can
Afford to Keep Clean-Needless
and JustitiabIe Waste.

Chicago Has Plenty OF WAFER anu IAN
Afford to Keep Clean-Ncedless
and Justilab1e Waste.
The subject OF tho water-supply OF Chicago
and the waste thereof is one that has long en-
rageq the attention alike OF officials and private
citizens, and yet seems today to be as far from
satisfactory solution as ever. -That City OF
100000 people, situated upon the bank Of nat
ural reservoir capable Of furnishing an unlim-
tied supply for ten times that NUMBER Should
be threatened with shortage Of water seems In
credible. Yet the fact remains that there arc
certain scasonB-the depth Of winter and the
heated te1m-in which the demands made
upon the present Water Works very
nearly equal the maximum capacity Of
those works. IN such case, the breaking
Of main pipe or the temporary disability Of a
puuaptug-eugine might lead to tho most dis
astrons results, and ut the very least would rob
a portion of the city Of its ncedful supply Of
water. -.~.>. ... :: p -"
Everybody knows the source from which Chi
cago derives its water supply. and knows. also,
that the supply, II sufficient mechanical means
arc used, is practically tnexhaushble. Lake
Michigan could furnish water to every city from
rae:Ailcghenies TO the Mississippi and from Cairo
to ST. Paul il sufficient conducttn:-pipes and
pumping works were provided. Chicago has ut
its doors the most magnificent supply OF puro
drinking water in the world
TEE QUESTION UNDER DISCUSSION TODAY,
however, Is uor that of supply, but Of wastage,
ano remedies therefor, and On this point re-
porter Of TEE TRIBUNE yesterday sought fnfor-
nation from Mr.. De Witt c. crcgicr. the City
Engineer ..
The attention Of Mr. Cregier WAS directed to a
statement published in regard to the means
used in Liverpool, England, to determine vast
Creeier saId that he was perfectly familiar with
tho Liverpool system and had received seyeFa4
letters from that city on the subject Mr. Deg
con. an eminent civil engineer, had plan which
be had tried 10 Liverpool with much success.
This plan was as follows: ...a.
Liverpool was formerly supplied with water
on the 4tnterulittent system that Is, the
cisrerns wero hlied during one hour OF tne
twcnty-four. The capacity Of the 'water-1orks
,xay ay f hne It d his time The
one.third Of that Of Chicago. VI. Deacon
npred IN raas ase 81 s ot he night and
onstra1ed thatthis waste could be stopped He
put Int " ~6en ne G
supplied with water by single main. 4 meter
was placed in the street where the water was
taken for any one OF the dlstracts ano 1n1s meier
REGISTERED AUTOMATICALLY -
the flow Of water per minute. Thus, il there
was an extraordinary 1iow. Of water between
midnight and q. u,-. it followed that the meter
would show the extra consumption Thlst now
ever simply dcterruined tho district in which
the waste occurred, and the services Of experts
were required to show what particular resi-
dences factories, Or, hotels should righttufly be
pipes, it could be shown whether the water was
1unutng or not, and wherever q w1Itful waste
heinz suy or he
TEN wera good. Extravagant use ct water was
stopped-for England has system Of summary
non per capita in Liverpool was cut down to
Nj. Cregier was questioned as to whether the
vintage in Chicago He said that in bis opinion,
the system would -'cost more than !. It
f1o% sa% ope eeeafS S2ookYn efea fnasspSs ssy
to its water-supply. In ,all Of these cities the
Sc! o ha ces on the
was an ample supply OF the duld It was I'M
possible to conceive Of any Of the lakes running
Pniiadelphia on tie schuylkill, Boston on the
limited watershed. and so on. Hut Chicago had
a supply which nothing short Of u CONFUSION OF
nature could intersntt, and its conditions differed
entirely from those prevailing in any other city.
1t must be remembered, therefore, that Chicago
could not possibly 20 short m of + Tater ,,s
not adaptable to Chicago, because it was r
cuEApEn TO PUNT MATER TRAN TO LOOK
AFTER WAsTAGE. Z: 80.
He drew broad distinction between 5u stiff
able expenditure" and md - actual 4. waste ste For
household turned on the water for the purpose
Of flushing the pines. drains, ana sewers. that
rather @ than Condemned Where a lazy janitor
turned on every pipe in downtown building,
and allowed the same to run from Satur-
waste entirely unjustiiable. In tho. first |
case = the !. sofl-pipes and sewers were
flushed. and sanitary requirements complied
ahead Of dollars and cents. = |
Furthermore, the City Engineer believed that |
an apparent wastefniness Of water: might after
turned his hose loose and wetted down the |
street. The result would be that an indcteruiu- |
table matter, and the ike would be carried to
the sewers An overplus Of water thrown into
these would simply have the effect. of still |
lending to rendering It innoeuoas.'
OF course. there would still remain percent
age Of waste which ought to be reduced # q
tcicntly wetttng down bis plants, allowed the |
water to run over his ground. that was clear
through closets, Us aforesaid, there would be q |
waste, after the desirable object Of flushing the
pipes and drains had been accomplished But
where the head Of u household determined once
each week or SO to flush the drains, and allowed |
the water to run for an hour for that purpose, |
it was entirely justihablc. :* + - - ]
ITO SUM UP MATTERS. .
City Engineer Cregier held that Chicago could !
afford to waste water, having so much Its COM
mand. Neither MIR. Deacon's plan nor any other !
echeme OF the ike character was necessary.
The people ought to understand that the Wafer |
Works we're their own. aud that by not wasting !
eFutcr they could diminish tho cost of running
them. He did not believe in limiting the supply.
cvcu though it might seem to he excessive OF |
course, there ought not to be any unwarrantable |
waste The system OF houSe-to-hnu5e iuspcc-
tou Ind been tried with pour results. Where a
complaint Of deliberate waste was made, au is,-
yestagation followed, and the city or
dinances prescribed the penalty This year,
the winter being. mild. there had been no cxccp-
taonal waste and no reason existed for special |
Investigation Sometimes it happened thar the
city was compelled to let the fire hydrnnts run
all tho time Technically this was q waste Of
water, but IT: was preferable to having the by
drnuts frozen up when fire broke out There ]
werc many other incidents of like character.
MIR. Cregier seemed to be committed to the
idea OF further extension Of the pumping IA
ciiities, and considered certainly that. although
It might be desirable to reduce wastagc, that
WAS a very small matter as compared with the |
Increase Of water supply He thought Chicago
could pffQtd tn wash 2s11d be clean u ufnd dcal