The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-06-30
Ajacchus' Advice.
Weekly Letter on
Municipal affairs
IV.-Buffalo's Water Supply.

Copyright, 1900, ny Nlllam = 'IdhudlL)
UNICIPAL ownership has its weak points
M and failures as well as strong points and
IVA successes. II would not he logical to ar
que from the former premise, that all
municipal ventures are failures, nor from the
latter that all are successes. The facts would
fail to confirm either conclusion. In either case,
success or failure, if a careful examination be
made will be found to be due to local causes,
and not to the observance non.obseryancc Of
principle. Every city is not fitted or ready
to own and operate its public utilities. As a
matter of fact, most cities need a tremendous
amount Of reformation before they will be fit
for such responsibilities.
And yet il may safely be assumed that there
are certain public utilities which are sus-
ccptible OF successful opcration-under favor
able conditions-by the people. There is no COM
modify Of which this is truer than of water.
Out of twcnty.sevcn water works systems, care
fully inspected by the writer in many cities,
twenty-five of them were found to be failures
when judged from purely business standpoint.
But to the enthusiastic rcformcr they would all
appear successful. Two OF the twenty seven
would compare favorably with any private cor
poratiOn in the country.
The one operated by the city of Buffalo was
one Of the twenty-five mismanagcd plants This
system, taken as a whole, is so unique that it
is worth more than a passing notice.
Taking its supply from the Niagara river near
its source and located at the foot of the four
great lakes, it has a supply which. for GUAM
tity is only eycelled by the cities along the
st. Lawrence. That in itself leads to one of its
| greatest faults, for the people say, when eau
toned about the waste Of water: "Thcrc's
plenty of water. More than we can possibly use.
Pump il up to us" They do not stop to think
Of the millions invested in the plant, nor of
| the hundreds Of thousands of dollars which are
N fnr lie nti I.
| their humdrum life and does not interest
| them.
| The quality Of the water Is of the best when
| compared with other larger cities The water
| problems Of New York and Philadelphia both as
| to purity and quantity, would be solved il they
could only tap this incxhaustbe supply The
| typhoid death rate, and that of other diseases
| arising from an impure water supply is at the
minimum. Buffalo has not such conditions 10
| combat as the Quaker City.
The pumping station is the largest in the
| world under one roof II is a marvel of com.
petcness and efficiency To have the privilege OF
visiting it is worth a days journey. II has two
monstrouS pumps, each of 10000, 900 gallons ca,
pacity. They were built at an expense Of SGj, ,OOC
| each. They are Of the trple-cXpanson pattern.
The diameter Of each Of the two hy.wheels /,
twenty feet, aud they weigh thirty.two tons.
| They are driven by l,2OO horse power The
| stroke Of the engine is sixty inches, and with
each revolution 1919 gallons Of water are
| pumped
| These two, together with seven smaller pumps
bring the total capacity Of the plant up &c
Isl, 100000 gallons per day. These are inoompre
| hensbe figures to the average mortal
That amount Of water is almost equal TO the
flow of the river Thames. II is more thar
| enough TO supply the city Of London with il.
\ 100000 souls, figured on its present rate o
consumption. And after supplying the metro
polls Of the world there would be enough left
TO take care Of half dozen cities the size O
| Syracuse.
The pumping station, together with the watel
arteries distributed throughout the city, ant
| other necessary machinery has cost the city O
Buffalo, in the last thirty years, about 1000 900
| which is largely represented in bonded indebted
| ness, with an annual interest bill OF ncarl,
sl5O,000. And all this immense investment anc
expense to supply city of less than 400, 0OC
populaton
It takes the energy developed from SO, 5V