The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1884-09-03

into the 80 it. hole aforesaid, after the
bottom of said we'll had been cemented
and made water-tight. From this the
pumps take the water and force it into
the mains direct, being the Holly Sys-
TEN.
But such water is of course unfit to
drink even by animals. A greenish
scum and muggy color greets the eye as
one gazes upon the dead, poisonous
looking stuff, suggestive of typhoid,
cholera and yellow fever.
The good people of Jacksonville are
consequently obliged to resort to rain
water and drive-wells, not whit better
off than we are at DeLand, except that
they have an abundant supply for fire
purposes, street-wetting, irrigation &c.
The capacity of the engine is $50 horse
power, and the pumps about 100000
gallons per day; the quantity actually
consumed though, is only 100000 per
day; this includes Jacksonville and her
suburbs, Brooklyn, LaVilla, &c.
The mains are IA inches in diameter
feeders to 10 inches. The quantity
of wood consumed last year was, 800
cords, making just one cord per day.
The total cost of operating, including
labor, wood oil, &c, was, last year,
1881 per day.
The engine being upon the Holly sys
tem-that is forcing the water from the
supply source directly into the mains
at Il uniform and heavy pressure of
steam-necessitates, of course, constant
operation, day and night, for that is
what gives the water its head at the by
drants.
1t has the advantage, however, of
doing away with the necessity of a res
ervoir, but has the of-setting disadvan-
tage unless there be duplicate engine
set up and ready for instant use) of leav-
ing a city utterly unprotected, at crit
ical moment, such as the bursting of a
cylinder head, the breaking OF a shaft,
or other accident.
When a standpipe or elevated reser-
Voir is used, there can always he SUI
ticient supply therein to tide over such
emergencies, and are more economical,
because the engineer need not be on duty |
at night, provided, of course, that the |
reservoir be of sufficient capacity.
Upon asking whether the experience |
of the past had proved a success finan- |
cially, l was told that at present, the |
annual water rental was only enough to |
defray the expense of operating the |
works, leaving nothing to pay dividend |
on the invested capital.
But considering that the consumption
of water and consequent water rental |
would be greatly increased, if the quail
ity of the water were such as to be fit for |
drinkin purposes, and the additional ex- J
pense of furnishing the extra supply |
would be very small, it would seem safe |
to assume that it might be made pay
ing institution.
c,t Tn ID T.e existing conditions then the
the entire interest IN her water bonds,
for supply of wate1for fire purposes.
The price of spigot for one family
is 1920.
Taking the above statements as basis
of calculation, the logical deduction
would be that the individual or corpora
ton who propose to embark in an enter
prise of like character, must exercise
extreme caution in the outlay of capital,
practical knowledge, and Judgment in
the kind of system resorted to, and
the closest economy i'll the expense of
operation.
As an individual would possess greater
freedom of action in this respect, than a
corporation made up and controlled by
a number of persons who must necessa-
riIy leave the matter of operation to
board of directors, who could not give
the subject their individual attention,
because of their private business affairs,
the chances of making such business
financial success would be decidedly in
favor of the individual, at least, when
conducted on as small scale as would
be required in DeLand, and under con-
ditions peculiar to the geological and
Typographical formation OF Florida in
general.
For instance hotel keeper who would
need large quantity of water for his
own use might secure water supply
from a we'll and build good-sized tank
and Law main through the business
centre of town, with few hydrants for
free purposes, for which the Town
Council could pay a reasonable rental.
He would thus earn his own water
expenses, and could surely sell enough
water to pay for the extra labor and
fuel, and have fair margin for profit
left
But for corporation to invest large
capital, and keep an engineer in constant
employ, would be mistake, financially,
under present conditions at least, unless
the stock holders were all property own
ers, and would realize indirectly from
the appreciation of real estate, which a
reliable water supply for all purposes
would naturally create.
Wishing the enterprise the best of
success, am, sir,
Yours very truly,
~