The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-20
SAvANNAH'S WASTE OF WATER.
HALF OF THE CITY's DAILY SUPPLY
UNACCoUNTED FOR

4
| Jr;s, Figures on the Water waste
in American Cides-When Con-
| cumptiOn Exceeds 40 Gallons Per
Capita Per Day Hhere Should BE
| an Investigation, He says.
| savannahs water supply and ITS distri-
button are likely to receive a thorough in
vestigation before any considerable ex-
| present supply.
| The series of articles in Harper's Week
| ly by Col. George e. Warning. Jr., the dis
| tinguished sanitary engineer of New York
upon the water waste of Brooklyn, APP
| pear to have been written especially to
meet the situation in Savannah. In his
last article Col. Warning makes the re-
markable statement that where the
amount of daily water pumpage of a city
or for any section of city exceeds forty
gallons per person, it is time for an inves-
| tigation.
If Col Waring were to visit Savannah
he would find city where
the daily water pumpage ex-
ceeds 100 gallons per person.
| With probably less than 6OOOO people max
| ing use of water from the water works
Savannah's daily pumpage Is over $780,
| OO gallons, and occasionally rises to T.
| VOOOo. Even this supply does not seem to
| De sufhcient and the mayor and the
| water commission are now discussing an
| expenditure of between $4,000 and $50 900
| 10 OBTAIN more water. According to Col
| Waring, Savannah already has a water
| supply sufficient for two and a half times
IT'S present population All pumpage
above forty gallons per person he consid-
| erS pure waste and Of that amount he
allows nearly half for waste which can
| not be well prevented
| water works are not constructed for
| the sub-irriga ton of the site of a town.
put that is their general and increasing
functions" states Col. Warning in a re-
! cent article. whatever else NAV han
| pen, the underground leakage may be de-
| pended on twenty-four hours In the day
and 800 days in the year. 1t may also
| De depended on to increase as time goes
on and as the demand for water grows.
Underground leaks rarely close up with
USE they grow larger rather than smaller
| ana IL more head is put on at the be-
| ginning of the ppage to get more head
at remote points, every leak will be made
| to run faster in consequence.
| PROBABLY the individual engineer will
| Halter himself that in the case of his
| works this waste is not operative. If he
Is furnishing more than forty gallons per
| head per day, it will be wise for him 10
make careful investigation before he is
| too sure of his immunity The general
| test is not difficult to make
| mere Is a period of an hour or two
| somewhere between midnight and in
| the morning when there is very little wa
| ter used, unless in the case of some man
| ufactories, whose supply can be quite
| closely estimated. During these five hours
| gaugings should be taken every fifteen
| minutes, the supply to the reservoir being
| entirely cut off, Unless the area is very
large indeed, vertical gauge-board is
| sufficient for the rough estimation in
| hand. When the time of least use is de-
| tected, it will be found by closer readings
| that there is then very little variation.
| What flows out into the distribution sys-
| tenn during this period is practically all
| waste-mostly ground waste Twenty
four times the flow of one of these hours
| will be the daily loss. The result will
| probably make the engineer rub his eyes
! in establishment. Hope says this is the
| first step toward producing that convic-
| ton as to the facts without which no eff
| cient reduction of the existing loss is like
| ly to be undertaken. When this convIc-
ton has been reached all doubt as to the
| expedience of taking remedial measures
will be removed
| According to Col. Warning the greater
| part of Savannah's water pumpage Is
waste, as the annual reports of the super
| intendent of the water works shows the
pumpage to be nearly as great in the early
| morning hours as at any other time dur
| ing the twenty-four hours of the day. This
certainly merits investigation. What use
has Savannah's population for ten gallons
an hour each while asleep, to say nothing
| of while awake, Is a question for the city
| authorities to answer.
Col. Waring discusses at some length the
| Of oh nd
| overhauling of the Liverpool system of
water supply a few years ago. When the
| investigation was begun the consumption
| in the various districts varied from "a to
| 4770 gallons per head After the applica-
ton of the test system the consumption
per head, showing an average daily con
was found to vary from Is to
| q gallons per head showing
| an average daily consumption of
| 1898 gallons per person. Taking the low
est rate of saving Col Warning says. there
is indicated an economy of about SS5O,0O0
a year for the city OF Brooklyn. In one
district of Liverpool with a population of
| Sl,0S0, the supply was reduced from 40.2
| gallons per person per day to 1896 gallons,
and later to about IA gallons, as the result
of the stoppage of leaks. The investiga-
ton showed that in some of the districts
| of the city the actual consumption of wa
ter was from to gallons per person per
day.
1T is quite generally assumed" says
| Col Warng, that 100 gallons, or so gall
| Ions, or 60 gallons per head per day is a
| limit below which a supply of water must
not be allowed to fall This requirement
is supported by the theory that the
American people are accustomed to such
a free and lavish use of water that II Is
| impossible TO bring them down to anything
| like the European standard. That may
possibly be true of the whole population.
| 1t is undoubtedly true OF the classes with
which our engineers come into social con-
tact. II is by no means, except to a very
slight degree. applicable to the enormous
masses Of our people who are poor and
who live in a very simple way"
| large percentage of Savannah's popu-
lation is certainly as economical in the
use of water as any to be found In LIVER
pool, New York or Brooklyn, and the
| large apparent consumption can certainly
not be attributed to any excessive use on
their part either internal or external.
| Chairman Dixon of the water commits
| sion was shown Mr. Warnings figures, and
| acknowledged that they were startling.
eff we have more water than we need