New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-11

Mr. DE vARONAS STATEMENT.
o- Wurster is going TO confer with City
commissioner Willis regarding the con-
WIZ" .ho cfty's water which Health Commits
d"'" ruerv has declared 10 be dangerous and
sN' tive Of danger The Mayor said yester-
day: -,, CLEANING the reservoirs
.onds and will increase the force we
. take Immediate steps to remove the con-
s'H ,,cn have given rise to complaint.
ci'. .aye n talk with the City Works Com
'.,,rsr about II as soon as practicaoie'
'r,,ss,oner Willis did have talk with the
.mo- Yesterday but whether or not the ques-
90" urder discussion was the water supply was
70, learned os.-
.-s and ponds constantly. we SNAIL ho"eNe'.
v'"' .he force as far as is necessary" said
Mr. Wills. ,,-,,,,. so,,uoa -
DIV" ,,,a,,on as 10 where the cleaning is be-
~ dors at present. how many men are EN-
"e ,s how many more men are to be put
pO'' r,or these details Commissioner Willis
raferred reporters to MT lie io""' O'''e'
raer of the water supply
me- IA varona likewise refused specific
1T, ,,.be, asked these same questions.
- ,.,.,,,aa that he would have a complete
~ . - q dav or so Of the exact work he
,,ro or intends TO do toward relieving the
....er y, the horrible little creatures with Jaw
..,n,,o names that DR.. Emery's experts
.ou,d In the source OF supply.
u..,.her the retcence about giving specihc IN
,,rroa.i,n about the work Of cleaning the sources
.. simply arises from the fact that nuch vi 'he
civ surface water is drawn from private pohus
w. -, ae,art,oent wants to avoid stirring the
,,,o, ~ owners and local boards Of health.
.ho,her Commissioner Willis is awaiting the
,sDor, Of his own expert. Professor Leeds OF
c.a,ars, Institute before beginning active work,
,or no only matter If conjecture TO IT'D
rne reporter Mr.. De Varona said;
on- ,,rss and streams. far from being in worse
,1S.i3n man in past wears, generally are cleaner
e2.-ii' Goa many cases the Improvement is re-
Gsrkabe We have Always been and are c.eanins
y nr,ner.v-owr,r, on and that We do no, own.
Yver in those cases we have PREPARED maps ana are
do1..ai!ne our surveys 20 determine what amour
1sa.f mn; 6c purchased 20 proec; the water sup
py ani ars purchasing ln9 ianS a. las, 1s
owns ard far a. our resources or extend b,1,
I'M method 4sff5s'Ty yav@s s Ss n one o ReT
curse Gov - pursue ne situation al Hsm lpS,ad
perfectly We known to as' we nave n,sns
ne question thoroughly ara prepArssa pans 70
po n war aB9ly n H. HUGE hd for 5ec sal:
say appFop alton 20 carry on ms WGrk Wa aSheu
Vsnrsitad s,orlse j. really he weak point Q. oiT
y: as far f gee source Of sHppy IS
snail one W have shut j, off. however TSe
SAi g, % nq Ssv Ton 20 and tXsnne IT, We are
w,Ts pa'To-.ag ard cleaning n. sream II should
,he var no wholesale emptying Ar cleaning OF the
ponds car he done, because ne iGca. boaras Q!
re- surface Of Inc ponds would breed malaria. etc
W. Rave 70 DO this work gradually Al no time
ore.haf OF he supply derived from surface water,
and the legei rlnor Of c2anSe IN the proportions
does no; deserve any reiutatloh.
It would appear from this that some of the
Aldermen who have done as much as they can to
liz the hands of Commissioner Willis In the mat
ies OF water maintenance. are largely responsible
for the bad condition of the water. Commits
soner W Ills asked for the usual appropriation
for water maintenance this year. and the re-
luotaut Aldermen attempted to ignore the re-
Guest Il was only when Mayor Wurster called
d special vacation meeting Of the Board that
that body reluctantly doled out part of the
money needed to take care of the peoples drink
ing water
Water Purvcvor Knapp. who is responsible for
the distribution Of the water, does not agree
with Engineer De VaTona that the bad odor and
iaste Of the water develops wholly after it
bayes the reservoirs. He thinks the trouble
originates in the sources of supply and partly
Ii the reservoirs
w, have been blowing out pipes wherever
there Was complaint" said Mr.. Knapp 10 a
Tribune reporter. -. But do not think this
blowing out Of mains does much more than to
carry off accumulations Of iron rust and such
vegetable material as may have gathered in the
lpes | think the impurities come from the reSer-
foirs and primarily from the sources of supply.
d. not think the trouble is in the distributive
system. Notwithstanding some Of the gentlemen
Upstairs.
SO far as | can learn the Ridgewood reser-
lCirs have never been cleaned. No one of the
present keepers remembers to have heard of the
IFS ,strpl.h lin nee a
no had been there a long time could not re-
member hat the reservoirs weie ever drained or
cleaned. The old reservoir is more than twenty
Years old and the new ones are about three
.fars old
Il noticed the physical tests that were made at
the reservoirs The water that tested was
IN the surface What would have been the re-
suit II the water had been taken from nearer
the bottom? During the latter part OF July the
arges, and ~ the new ponds was emptled
10 within about eight feet Of the bottom, so that
repairs might he made. A screen was taken
out and found 20 be covered with thick scum
q vegetable material 1t was so thick that the
water could scarcely go through.
II was about the time that the water was so
0~ In the reservoir that complaints began COM
ing In. have idea that 1t was the part
implying Of this reservoir that was respohsIp.ie
10y the worst condition OF the water IN certain
arts Of the city The tendency of foreign matter
n water is to sink to the bottom The purest
.e'r is always on top. so when water Is draW i,
"a ne first TO 90 is the purest water ana the odu
Water remains II is important that the sources
VI supply should be cleaned but also imporl ah'
mat each Of the reservoirs be cleaned. But be-
loe this can be done 1t will be necessary TO make
pipe connections that will enable us to supply
ms entire city from the remaining reservoirs
ce one OF the reservoirs Is being cleaned:
o.. Commissioner Willis will probably nave a
meh boring machine made this fall FOR the
@reV'Nc purpose Of connecting the Albany-ave'
rttn "l,h The Atlantic-ave. pipe. such ma
oiihe VIII cost upward Of $1,000, and the hitch
a present is a financial one IF we get such
ndVhihe we can make the connections at the
c,sen that are necessary to enable us 10
cream out the reservoirs
MI hnapp has bottle Of water brought In by
a. eh,ased Macon-st consumer that has nan
on ''Ch oi brown vegetable matter In the bottom
all" hdt when shaken looks like mucilage.