Evening star., 1895-06-03
A WATER WARNING
There May Be a Famine if the Hot
Spell Lasts.
WASHINGTONIANS GREAT WATER USERS
What Maj. Knight and Col. Elliot
Say on the Subject.
IMPROVEMENTS BEING MADE

The citizens of Washington must stop
their lavish use of Potomac water if they
do not want to bring about a water famine.
The intense heat of the past week and the
lack of rainfall have caused the water IN
the dam at Great Falls to sink steadily,
and while there is today enough water in
the reservoir and at the dam to supply all
| the legitimate needs of the city, there Is
just enough danger of famine to warrant
| every householder in being careful not to
| use more water than he really needs.
There has been no rain for over week,
! and the intense heat that has prevailed in
| this part of the country has dried up many
Of the small streams that flow into the Po-
| tomac, and has decreased the supply to
n certain extent: But the great trouble is
| that at just the time when the supply gets
fainter the demand upon the water service
| grows greater. Thus there is the grea test
| draft at the time of the least stock
People should Be More Conservative.
| Should this dry spell continue many
more days it will possibly be necessary for
| Major Knight, the officer in charge of the
Washington aqueduct, to warn the people
| that a water famine is impending unless
| there is a marked decrease in the con-
sumption. To a Star reporter today he
| said that he felt that while there is no
| immediate cause for alarm he thought the
people ought to be told that they should
| be more conservative in the use of street
washers and more careful to see that
J spigots are not left running without real
need.
"The work of raising the dam at Great
Falls" Major Knight went on, cannot be
| pursued except at very low water, and
| hence 1t is not likely that it Will be COM
pleted for good many months to come.
Therefore, viii not feel the benefit of
| the improvement this season. and probably
not until late next season. So we must
not count on the increase in the supply
this summer. We know, by reference to
the annual report of Colonel Elliot of
last year. that 1t is impossible to fill the
conduit unless there is water three feet
deep over the dam at Great Falls. When
the stream gets below that point the con-
! duit runs at less head and gives less of
supply. This morning the water was the
| lowest it has been this spring, being only
| nine-tenths of a foot above the dam, so
that the conduit was two and one-tenth
feet below being full of water.
| Il cannot estimate just now how far that
| can continue, but fear that II the people
do not shut down on their waste of the
| water this flow, which is more apt to de-
| CT ease than to increase, will hardly suffice
for the consumption 1 have had no COM
plants yet Of insufficient service, but l
| IL ok for them to come in at any time At
all events, it is well to anticipate such
matters and to give warning in time.
|
at is no exaggeration for me to state
that this city uses just about twice as
much water per capita any other city
II the country. We are tremendous water
i users here. But, while this is true, we
know that FULLY two-fifths of the people
do not Use bucket of water a day for
their own personal needs, while the general
average for The people is about five barrels.
Yet those two-ifths of the people mana age
to get along with less than bucketfuL
OF course, there is a very large consump-
ton somewhere to make up this average
! of five barrels per capita. There is, in
other words. frightful leak. The govern
ment may be responsible for some of it,
the many park fountains may do their
share of the waste. and the waste caused
by each householder probably fills up a
large part of the balance.
| But it is my belief that if you will find
| a large commercial establishment where
water is used to condense steam in the
engines, you will discover the main part
of the waste. 1 have been informed OF
| several such cases, but 1 have no definite
| information, and SO cannot do anything.
| l believe though, that such people ought
densing the steam from the river by means
| of their own pumps. 1t would serve their
purposes fully as well as the water from
the aqueduct."
| The Delcarlia ReserToir.
Col George B. Elliot formerly the officer
in charge of the aqueduct, but who, upon
his retirement from active service a few
weeks ago, was retained in charge of the
work of completing the improvements at
the Delcarla receiving reservoir, said to
the reporter that this reservoir would be
ready for use in from six weeks to two
months. 1t will not materially affect the
supply, but it will reinforce the head of
water and will also insure reserve supply
1f f.,1
dam. 1t is estimated that this reservoir
will hold enough to supply the city for two
and one-half or three days, though this
would necessitate draining it to the bottom,
which might not be quite practicable. Its
chief function will be to settle the water
before it reaches the distributing reservoir
and so improve the quality served through
the mains.
THE people of Washington should thank
The Star" continued Col. Elliot. 'for the
magnificent aid which 1t rendered in Sc
curing the appropriation for raising the dam
at Great Falls instead of the proposed sur
| vey which would only have delayed the
necessary work and would have made still
| more certain the event of water famine.
| This work should have been done several
seasons ago and because it was not done
| then the people of the District will suffer
| this year and next year for the lack Of an
adequate supply of water. l do not see how
| the new coping on the dam can be finished
before the fall of 1896 and so it is unlikely
that the increase in the supply will come
| before two heated seasons have passed by.
| Meanwhile there will unquestionably be
considerable distress for the lack of water
| and everybody must be extremely careful
| not to waste in the summer when the sup
ply is shorter and the demand is greater.
Potomac Supply Sufficient.
There is no question in my mind, and
| have studied the matter thoroughly, that
| the supply of water in the Potomac river
| is enough for the city of Washington for
all time to come. But the time is rapidly
approaching when it will be necessary to
duplicate the Washington aqueduct from
Great Falls to the city. This present work
of raising the dam will give relief for
| some years, but it will only enable to
keep the conduit full, and the time is soon
| coming when even that conduit filled to
the crown cannot supply the city ade-
| quately. We should at once begin the work
| of agitatng the necessity for new con-
| duit running from the dam to the city
| mains.
| Il very much fear that there will be
need of great care by the people to prevent
| a water famine this summer. From my
| experience in this connection 1 would say
| that it will soon be necessary to restrict
| the people very considerably in their use