New-York tribune., 1897-01-30
A THIRSTY MULTITUDE.
DAILY CONSUMPTION OF WATER IN
NETWORK CITY is 235,000o00 CAL
LONs-FACILITIES FOR DOUBLE
THAT AMOUNT AT HAND.

THIRST OF MANHAT-
TAN ISLAND.
Tho water supply of Greater New-York VIII IN
some respects compare favorably at the ou'se'
with the best provided cities Of the Old World
Though New-York will not be what Paris is IN
The yav Of sewers having as Victor Hugo says
g.. shadow skeleton OF itself below its streets IL
will be in a position supply its citizens with as
,nuch water as they we'll consume, even
should the doctrines of Moody. Francis Murphy
and others take preternatural oooih' l"e
amount Of water that must be allowed per
capi,a in a city Is puzzling 10 aqueduct ensl-
ncers For instance, in New-Iork l4o SalIohs
are now consumed daily 10y each person. IN
London 81 gallons is the consumption, whhe IN
Providence r. l.. each man. woman ana chilo Is
credited with an allowance daily Of II gallons.
From these figures It is necessary to conclude
that either New-York is more wasteful than
London, or that London is more thirsty for other
rou,ds But not even the most rabd patriot
could claim that there is greater sobriety in
Providence. r. J., than In London and ProVl-
dence uses eight gallons more per capita daily
+ than London. Just at this season New-lork is
using a great deal more water than is ordi-
nary The engineers of the Croton Aqueduct
say that this is because wise housewives leave
water taps flowing all night. for fear that they
In New-Ycrk now is 23j 100000 gallons. or
thereabouts. and the source of water supply Is
such that IL the necessary additional pipes were
laid the supply could be increased by 2o0'VoO,-
600 OF gallons daily or enough TO alarm Ken
tuckan.
Additional reservoirs at Jerome Park and the
Cornell Reservoir IN the Croton water shed are
In process of construction and with the growth
Of the city greater pipe lines for distribution
will be sought at the hands Of the Legislature.
There is really chance that the greater city
will be dryer city.
The Jerome Park Reservoir Will have
pacity Of 1000 100000 gallons and the Cornell
Reservoir Is designed to hold $500 5000 gal
Ions. upon both of which work is rapidly being
pushed. This will increase New-Yorks supply
100. .0O0. 900 gallons daily.
The Forty -second-st. distributing reservoir
is to be removed to make way for the great IL
brary that will be the outcome Of the Tilden be-
quest 1t will never be missed. for now. as
Chief Engineer Birdsall. of the aqueduct. says,
five times as much water passes around the
Bryant Park reservoir to the lower part Of the
city as stops in It," The water that now stag
mates there is chiefly used in case OF an instant
demand because Of large fire, and there is
really no occasion for such an increased supply
at such times. The distribution of learning
from the library will be of much greater public
benefit.
The improvements in Fifth-ave. that now
inconveniencing the coachmen along the line Of
that thoroughfare are in the way of increased
distributing facilities, and the two four-foot
mains that now being laid are intended TO
carry large quantities OF water by the parts Of
the city where only champagne is drunk When
those two mains laid there will then be
100000 gallons more available daily in case
of necessity. According TO Chief Engineer Bird
sail the next improvements in the way OF dis
tribut.on that wise city government will look
for will be additional mains down Eighth-ave.
and in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth
wards.
The Croton watershed that has recently been
purified by ac. of the Legislature. and forcibly.
includes an area Of $50 square miles. and it is
considered ample BY the engineers for all ex-
pected growth of the Greater New-York. bar
ring the Long Island and Richmond County Sec
tions. with which. Of course. it has concern.
The problem Of fltering the water for a city
Of the first magnitude has yet to be solved.
New-Oreans has the largest fltering plant in
the world and its capacity is only S.0O0,OO0
gallons q day. Engineers say that. with exist
ing mechanical devices, there would be no prac-
tical way Of flterng the supply for city re-
Quiring 1O00O0000 gallons daily. much less
New-York. This problem is considered by en-
eineers more important for London. Chicago
and other cities deriving their water supply
from lakes and streams that are more or less
stagnant than for New-York Mr.. Birdsall
says: II should hate to have charge OF filter
ing plant under existing mechanism" New
York's supply is only allowed to settle in its
reservoirs and then is strained through wrought
iron netting. That keeps out fish. but no germs.
should such exist.
1t is many years since private enterprise sup
piled water to New-York. with the exception OF
one corporation that now furnishes water in
the Westchester County annexed district, and
covers an area greater than that Of Manhattan
Island more economically than the city has yet
been able to do
This corporation supplies water In the Twenty