The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-11-23


tive inducing a change to Buffalo, "
any such change is contemplated, It is
certainly not that Of the cost of water.
And all statements TO the effect that
we are preventing desirable manufac-
lures from coming here by our water
charges have just about as much
ground as the charge that we are driv-
ing the Iron company to Buffalo. The
company that is prevented from COM
ing here by the water rates charged by
the three companies In this city will be
of no value to this community, any
statements of any one whatever to the
contrary, notwithstanding.
There is no truth in the statement so
industriouslv circulated that we pro-
pose to put meters on our domestic SER
vice 1t would cost us at least s250,000
to do this, and no one in the manage
ment Of the Water company has pro-
posed or thought of It, out of 5000
and odd customers, we shall probably
have meters on from 250 to 300. These
new meters go mainly on buildings con-
tanning liquor saloons, which with their
ever-running Champion pumps, urinals
and closets, we find to be the most
generally wasteful Of all our custom
ers. The fact is that, like all the lead
ing water works of the country, we
have been forced to begin the use of
meters solely by the extraordinary
waste of water in this citv.
Scranton is supplied by three COM
panies The districts in which our
pipes run have about $4,000 people. Yet
during the last five months our GUS
toners have averaged over 20 900, 900
gallons daily. The city of New York
lust before the completion of the new
aqueduct, when it had nearly 100000
people, used only S5,000,000 gallons daily,
in other words, $4,000 people in Scran-
ton have required about one-fourth as
much as twenty times the number in
New York.
The city of Syracuse. N. Y, with
about 125,OO0 and owning its own water
works, uses only from nine to ten mill
ion gallons daily. In other words. &C.,
900 people in Scranton use twice as
much water as twice their number in
Syracuse. our high service system,
supplying the heights on both sides Of
the valley say, 5000 to 5000 people
and which cost us over 100000 and
which has never yet earned one per
cent. on its cost, takes about 100000
gallons daily. Syracuse, which has
meters on domestic services supplying
53.500 people, requires for them only
! 1853 900 gallons daily. In other words,
| 5000 people in Scranton are using as
much as ten times their number in
| Syracuse. Ct may add that the city
$50 900 a year to its water department
! in order to enable it to pay interest on
| the cost of its own plant. Scranton
| pays us $4,000 Now, does all this in
! dicate waste here or not? 1t does, and
we are putting enough water into this
| city to supply a town of 100000 people.
When we finished Elmhurst reservoir
! in 1889. the town was taking six mill
! ion gallons daily. What increase has
there been in our population since 1889
to justify an increased demand Of 3ia
| times? Enough water is wasted here
| to supply Pittston and Wilkes Barre;
| more than enough to supply the domes-
tic service Of DunmOre. Green Ridge,
! Providence, Throop, Dickson, Peckville
and Olyphant. If waste is checked, we
! have water enough for a population of
800, 900 people. But if waste goes on in
creasing as it has done the last few
years. we shall not have enough five
! years from now to supply the city as
It stands today. Owing to the carpen-
ters' strike. etc, there has been COM
paratively little building here this sum-
mer and our receipts from water have
increased but little. Yet the water con-
| sumption has increased 21 per cent
over last year!
Now, neither we nor any other water
works in existence, whether municipa
or private, can stand that state Of af
fairs long.
Experience having shown that the
only way to check needless waste /:
by meters, we began couple of months
ago the experiment of meters on a few
properties, which seemed to be need
lessly wasting the most. The result has
certainly been astonishing. When {
fixed yearly rate is put on a property
1t is. of course, based on what waite
it is expected to use 1t was supposed
that certain liquor saloons on WhiCl
we charged $40 a year. might use, say
eight to ten hogsheads of water day
which is certainly enough for thei
legitimate needs. One such we founC
using only three hogsheads daily, while
it's neighbOr. charged exactly the sam
price, was actually using 230 hOgShead
a day! OF course. this was, practically
all waste Other saloons have beel
found using over 300 hogsheads daily
fully fifteen times more than really re
quired.
One gentleman who, I notice, com
: planned to the board Of trade that tn
! charge on his building had been raise
by the meter from $3.50 to $3.50, forgo
to tell the board that he had in hi
cellar running full tilt, two waite
motors of which he had never nOtifie
us. The water in this gentleman
, building has, by attention to vast
dropped from q ,525 to 2,460 gallons
day. When we first put n meter ol
the Board of Trade building, it shOwe
&c, 900 gallons daily. When last teste
it had dropped to 12,600 GALLONS Othe
people have dropped from 10000 to 1,2OC
others from $3.50 to $50.
, All this shows what can be done b
: property owners having their plumbin
made tight and waste stopped. Whe
waste is stopped meters are quite a
likely to cause reduction as an In
: crease in water bills, Most of the pee
pie now complaining so loudly haV
not vet been put on meter rates, an
will not be before Jan. l next. I suG
gest that they keep cool, not get scare
= TIL they are hurt. and, meantime. e
= to work and stop their waste and leaks
Only one Just complaint, so far as
} know, can be made against our seal
r OF meter rates, and that was tOuche
= upon by Judge Hand at the board {
trade meeting. It is the dividing lir
. between the rates on different aver
' ages, by which a man, using 10,100 ga
: Ions a day, pays less than the ma
Y using Q. 900 gallons. I admit that in TIL
Q respect our scale though in very ger
( eral use elsewhere, does not work quit
r euuitably. The method Of the Sprin
[ Brook Water Supply company. chars
: ing twenty cents a thousand gallons fC
the first 25OO00 gallons used MONTH!
fifteen cents for the next 250,0OO and :
on. is in that respect, perhans fairt
than ours, putting all consumers on e1
actly the same footing, and we stan
ready to adopt 1t, II desired.
In conclusion, take pleasure in say
irg that ~ after giving meters n IA