Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-02-11
THE CONSUMPTION OF WATER.
An Article of Interest to the Rich
mond Public.


streets. its works of art its lovely homes.
Its water supply is on a magnificent
scale. An aqueduct. through which water
may flow at the rate of nearly seventy
millions of gallons per day leads from the
falls OF the Potomac to enormous reser-
/ voirs. 1l5 feet above the river at its
/ wharves. While there are areas higher
| than this within the city. which are sup
piled by pumps. they are small in COM
| parison with the rest. If, even with these
conditions it has come to pass that
check is found to be necessary upon the
extravaganza in the use. or rather in the
waste of water i'm Washington, Rich
mond. forced TO fill her reservoirs by
means of costly machinery; Richmond,
sustained by her own industry, drawing
sustenance from no parental breast; Rich
mond, whose watchword for twelve
months past has been economy and who
in her severe retrenchment is mourning
censure on account Of ill-kept streets and
defective drainage; Richmond, now in
earnest quest of revenue. may not despise
! the lesson taught by the experience Of a
community so near at hand as Washing
ton.
These reflections result from the peru
sal Of a communication in the Evening
Post. Of New York. which is here given
for the benefit of those who are hesitatinS
as to the wisdom of applying meters.
NJ.
The communication reads as follows:
Representative Mahlon Pitney, men,
Der Of the subcommittee Of the House
having in charge the appropriations for
the District Of Columbia. has been con-
Quoting some Investigations relative to the
water consumption in Washington which
may be Of interest to residents of other
cities. Perhaps. i'm an endeavor to live
up to the name of the city, as the town OF
washing the people here have come TO
use f72 gallons per capita daily. 1t i5 "a
somewhat expensive undertaking 10 sup
ply water for the 5000 taps or con-
sumers of this District. and since the
householder pays according 10 the size
and frontage of his residence, and not by
the amount used, wastefuness and care
lessness have apparently run riot. This
is an interesting commentary on human
nature and doubtless applies as we'll to
other articles.
Mr. Pitney says the population Of Nor
ristOwn. y. j.. where he lives, is COM
posed in considerable part Of wealthy New
Workers. with lawns to sprinkle, horses
and carriages to care for, etc, and would
normally use more water per capita than
Washington; but as a matter of fact II
uses less than one-fourth as much. The
water is metered in Morrstown. and that
is what the District committee is attempt
ing to inaugurate here.
1t would obviously be contrary TO pub
lie policy to offer any inducement 10 mig
gardliness in the use of water, and so the
committee has devised a plan by which
minimum charge of 50 "a year will give a
householder 100000 gallons Of water. This
is 1000 gallons a week-about 300 a day. or
60 gallons for each person in a family OF
five. Such a scheme as this plainly offers
no premium on dirt and yet part of
the local public continue so to regard ii.
and inveigh bitterly against il. They as
sert that water is something In which
people ought not to be stinted, and that
it is a disgrace in the national capital TO
attempt to limit the per-capita consump-
ton of so necessary and use
full an article. Arguments Of this
sort, which are more than usually
effective here where only half the
taxes are paid by locaI P-57ersy-owners,
have heretofore prevented the general in
PRODUCTION of the meter system. But. as
Mr.. Pitney points out. filtered water,
for which the District Is constantly ask
ing. is expensive water, and no city can
afford to filter 172 gallons per capita day.
The movement for the meters is not in
tended 10 make any more expensive the
fullest legitimate use of water; but it will
enlist the argument of self-interest in the
prevention of needless waste and the cor
rection OF bad plumbing ana leaky pipes.
Mr.. Pitney has prepared a table showing
the per capita consumption OF water in
various cities, in relation to the meter
system. The subjoined percentages are
on the basis of total number of taps"
and in most places certain reasonably |
sufficient quantity is furnished at mini |
mum cost as proposed for Washington:
Gals. |
Albany, n. Y, one-tenth metered...... 100 !
New York city, one-fifth metered...... l23 |
Nashville, Tenn, one-fourth metered.. l25 |
Jacksonville, Fla, one-third metered.. 120 |
Harrisburg, Pa, one-tnrd metered.... So |
Lowell Mass, one-third metered...... 80 !
st. Paul, Mimi, one-tenth metered.... 60 |
Rochester, n. Y, one-fourth metered.. IS |
Syracuse, n. Y, one-tenth metered.... 81 |
Aurora. ILL.,. one-half metered.......... 70 |
Montgomery. Ala. one-half metered.. 50 |
Madison, Wis, three-fourths metered. 80 |
Newton, Mass, three-fourths metered. GO |
Pawtucket, r. l., three-fourths me-
tered OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. ~ |
Providence, II. l., three-fourths me-
tered ......-.................. Of |
although a heavy consumption for
manufacturing purposes, and running
hydraulic elevatorsD
Morristown. n. j., all metered. ......... 40
New Rochelle, y. Y, all meterec...... %
Danville, Va, all metered. ............... ~
Irvngton on -the-HudsOn, all metered.. 10 |
In one city thirty-one of the most costly |
observation-disclosures in the city. furnishing
homes for 1851 persons, show, as deter
mined by meter, per capita consumption
of 50 gallons daily. In another block of
less expensive apartment houses the con-
sumption is 46 gallons; in the. poorest
apartment houses. 1916 gallons, and the
average per capita I'm all dwellings sup
piled by meter there is AS gallons.
But such a table as this IS not necessary
TO show the effect which the communistic
principle has upon water consumption.
Experiments undertaken i'm this district
have exhibited startling results For In
stance, between midnight and 4 o'clock
A. NJ, when nearly all the city is asleep.
the consumption OF water is three-fourths
as great per hour as during the daytime.
This indicates that there Is a steady drain
through the whole twenty-four hours
from leaky pipes and from faucets which
are allowed to run all the time, OF three
times as much as the actual voluntary
consumption. wasteful as that may some
times be. city ordinances already forbid
the waste OF water; hut they are practi-
cally incapable OF enforcement. While an
officer was ringing tho door-bell prepare
tory to finding out II any violations Of