The times., 1897-07-20
DISTRICT WATER SUPPLY
Capt. GaiIIard's Annual Report
On Washington Aqueduct.
FIGURES AND SUGGESTIONS
Nearly Two Hundred Gallons Per
Capita Supplied Daily-Half That
Volume Sufficient for Actual
Needs Public Uses Of the Coz
duit Road Special Appropriation.

reuair Of tic Washington aqueduct and IN
cTeasing inc water supply of Washington.
| In it the captain says the lowest stage ol
the reservoir during the fiscal year was
0.es fout higher than theiowest stage dullng
| the preceding year, and 3-63 higher than
curing the year 1895.
! Capt. GailIaIG says in this connection;
1.-The marked improvement in tie noinai
! level of the icseIvoir aIiscs from the fol-
! lowing causes: First raising the dam at
| Great Falls. second, removing DEPOSITS
| from the conduits, and third, putting the
Dalecatlia reservoir into service
Continuing, the report states that the
entire conduit ana by onduits were
Thoroughly cleaned during the preceding
wear for the first time, and that S,S46
cubic yards of deposit had been removed
| To afford fairly efficient service, he
states that the entire north connection ana
! the portion Of the by-conduit adjacent to
! it must be rebuilt
Referring to the increased travel on the
! Conduit road. the report states that at
! the present Time the cost for repairing
this rnad entails a most serious drain
upon the very limited annual appropria-
| ton for the maintenance of the Washing,
ton aquedHct aud its accessory structures,
amounting during the last two years for
uhe surface repairs Of the road alone more
/ than IL per cent OF the tosal annual ap
! prop.iat.ua for tie Washing gton aquedueG
during thar period. Although the Con-
duit road is the property Of the Washington
! aqueduct. it is SO extensively used as
! public driveway that it does not seem
fair To charge the annually increasing
! cost 3f maintaining entirely against the
| appropriation for supplying the District
If Columbia with water. thereby reducing
the amount available for on other
parts of the system.
Although 1nuch appreciated in its
present condition by the thousands of
persons who use it, the condition of the
road would be greatly improved If a
fixed amount were appropriated annual
" exclusively Cor supplying and spreading
road material upon the road, the repairs To
| the bitches. cIlvertS, bridges, etc, being
essential to the safety of the Washington
| aqueducs. TO be paid, as at present, from
the regular appropriation for the main
tcnanca and repairs OF the Washington
aqueduct"
With the exception of the wooden floor
ing OF the roadway over the Pennsylvania
| Avenue Bridge, and that of the wooden
bridge across. the spillway OF the Dale
cariia reservoir, all the bridges are re-
ported to he in good condition Concern
ing the roadway of the Pennsylvania
Avenue Bridge Capt Gaillard says 1t is
| 53 > feet IL clear width, ''and is con
tractea on the bridge TO a clear with Of
but seventeen feet, and as drivers are re-
quired ia walk their teams while passing
over tie bridge. a congestion OF travel
results during the busiest hours OF the
day, as there is not room for one team to
pass another, ana consequently the speed
of all teams or the bridge moving in the
same direction is limited by that of the
team in 'front.'
Especially is this annoyance felt by
thousands OF bicycle riders who daily
pass over the bridge, and who, unless ex-
perenced riders, are frequently forced
to dismount and lead their bicycles over
the bridge, tie rate Of progress of the
teams blocking the roadw ay ahead being
too slow to allow an inexperienced rider
to maintain equilibrium In addition, the
sighuy appearance OF the avenue is much
injured by the extreme contraction at
this point. This bridge. the property of
the Washington Aqueduct, is very grace
full in appearance, and is unique among
the bridges Of the world, in that the road
way il supported upon arched ribs formed
by TWO 4S-inch cast iron pipes through
whicIi flows ar least half of the water
consumed by the city. 1t would seem,
therefore, that any plan to widen the
bridge should preserve both the grace
ful form and the distinctive features Of
the bridge
Concerning the consumption of water,
the report sets forth: "By the police census
ora pril 1, 1897, the population Of the DIST CT
of Columbia was found to be 277,TS2. or
this number, Capt. Edward Burr, Corps Of
Engineers, assistant in charge of the dis
tributing system OF the water department
OF the District, estimates from data in
his possession That 261 ATS persons are
consumers of Potomac water Assuming
these figures as correct, and taking
mean of the daily consumption and waste,
measured Oh June 23, "a, % and 80,
there is obtained daily per capita con-
sumption and waste Of 1913 gallons for
every inhahitant of the District OF CO.
lumbia, and of 173 gallons for every person
using Potomac water,
although the total daily consumption
and waste in 1897 is less than in 1898,
OF what it should be. Careful and trust
worthy Investigations and measurements
made in various cities in the United States
show clearly that per capita daily con
sumption OF seventy-fiye gallons is ample
for all domestic, business and public pur
poses, and that any considerable increase
above this amount must be attributed tc
waste due TO defective mains and
service pipes, defective plumbing and
willful waste. During periods OF
very cold weather the quantity OF
water actually used for necessary
domestic and public purposes is less thar
usual, and the abnormal consumption al
such times Is due to the fact that the water
pipes in many buildings are so located as
to be in danger of freezing up unless Tho
water is kept running.
From experiments made In this office
itwasshown that an increased d consumption
| of 10,00o,000 gallons per day would cor
| respond TO about 1000 900 ordinary size
spigots running twelve hours per day a;
the rate usually employed to prevent freeZ
ing. i would therefore repeat that this
eXtravagant use Of water, unless un-
checked, will add greatly to the difficultie:
and expense of ever providing suitabls
methods of filtration, as the cost Of opera
5 ton Of filter plants after construction
2 varies from S4 to IS per 100000 gal
2 Ions Of water filtered.
5 although the ultimate daily capacit,
z of the conduit is still about 81 900 900 gal
4 Ions more titan tie present daily consump
tion, yet il shosild I've remembered that the