Los Angeles herald., 1890-06-19
WATER WORKS.
Citizens Meet and Discuss
the Subject.
The Reports of the Different
Committees.
They Think the City Ought to Own
Its Own System.
The Opinion of City Attorney Mcfarland.
Resolutions Adopted by the
Meeting at Large.

temple, at the corner Of Temple street
and Broadway, last night, for the pur-
pose of considering the question as to
whether or not the city should own and
control its own water system.
The meeting was we'll attended, fully
800 persons being seated in the audito-
rum of the lecture hall at the appointed
hour.
The chair was occupied by Mr.. C. NJ.
Wells, and there were also present on
the platform Messrs. E. w. Jones, C. N.
Earl, j. Robson, DR.. j. p Widney, E.
E. Galbraith, G. Galpin, B. A. Breakey,
j. d. Bailey, H. G. Register, J. Yarnell,
A. M. Ellsworth, J. A. Anderson, Sr., B.
N. Smith, j. T. Steward, G. p. Dorland,
Ralph f, Hoyt and A. j. King.
The chairman, after calling the meet
ing to order, stated the object for which
it had been called in an eloquent and
forcible manner, which aroused the en-
thusiasm OF his audience, and he was
frequently interrupted by applause dur
ing his address, which he closed with
the hope that the municipal control of
the water system would lead to many
other changes for the city's welfare.
Mr.. E. E. Galbraith, of the committee
on statistics, then read report which
he had compiled, in which he compared
the rates charged in Los Angeles with
those of forty other cities in the union,
showing that the local rates were con-
siderably higher than anywhere else.
comparative table of the rates of 1853
cities, of which 15S were in the United
States and in Canada, showed mini
mum average of 9.04 cents per 1000 gal
Ions, and maximum average of % cents
per 200 gallons.
Mr.. Stewards Report.
Mr.. j. T. Steward read the following
report:
=. The water is taken out of the river
considerable distance above Ivanhoe,
and is brought to Ivanhoe in an open
ditch. A part of this open ditch runs
through pasture where large number
OF cattle are kept. This ditch runs
along the bottom of a succession of
hills, and the cattle in this pasture have
free access to this open ditch. The
winter rains washes the accumulation of
filth into this ditch, which accounts in
the water. This water is screened
way the large substances are kept out by
man being stationed at this mesh, or
screen, day and night to push away the
accumulations, but the odor and the
screenings of the filth are still there.
There is nothing to prevent cattle from
dying in the ditch, and remaining there
for several days, or until such
time as some one maay hap
pen along to pull the animal out.
The main supply pipe between Ivanhoe
and the city is 13-inch main, repaired
in various places with a Pinch pipe
This main has been in the ground long
enough to be almost valueless for other
than immediate use. 1t will not bear
digging up, and will probably not last to
exceed five years, and in the interval
with new pipe. A l3-inch main is not
sufficient to supply the present number
of consumes now paying for water, and
as the section grows and extensions are
made it simply means reduction in
quantity to the present consumer.
There is an ample supply of water at the
fountain head for city of 200, ,000inhab
itants; and good, pure water can be had
In abundance by piping this open ditch
from the headwaters to Ivanhoe, and in
this way secure ample force for
all portions of the city-giving
us better force and better fire
facilities by the increased pressure. The
pumping facilities of the Citizens Water
Company is ample for all needs, if a
sufficient supply of water was brought
into the pumping station. Less than
one-third OF the consumers use water
pumped up into the reservoirs. The
other two thirds take water direct from
gravity pressure. The most serious
trouble lies in the distributing mains,
most OF which are only two-inch screw
pipe. Sixteen half-inch taps uses up
the entire capacity of twO-inch main,
allowing nothing for friction. The re-
suit is that ten or twelve consumers on
comparatively low ground get what water
they need. while those on higher ground
get none, and consumers at the farther
end of the pipe get the vilest quality and
lnvery small quantities, which is the
only redeeming feature.
The Citizens Water Company has
about four miles of three, four
and eight-inch cast iron pipe,
mostly on Temple street, Bunker
Hill and Grand avenues. The castiron
pipe is all valuable when it is. The
sheetiron pipe is of no account only for
present use, and the two-inch screw
pipe mostly in use for mains is entirely
too small for present needs, and utterly
worthless in event of fire. The fire COM
panies use 211a and 27a-inch hose, and
we have two-inch mains to supply them.
1t would be folly on the part of the
city to advocate the purchasing of the
Citizens Water Works, as the entire
system must be rebuilt before an ade-
quate supply of water could be obtained.
The city owns one of the finest reservoir
sites on the hills near Ivanhoe, and the
city owns the water in the Los Angeles
river, which places the consumer in
position to insist upon a policy that
means pure water and plenty of it, at a
reasonable price.
Considering the amount of water that
comes into the city, the number of con-
sumers and the size of the mains, the
present service is all we can expect. Be
fore any improvement can be had longer
pipes must be laid to bring the water
into the city, and long stretches of two
inch mains must be replaced with larger
pipes, and until this is done, matters
will continue to grow worse, in place of
better. In outlying districts we should
have four-inch mains, and in the more
thickly settled districts the mains should
be at least six and eight inches, where