Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-06
LONDON TO OWN IT.
Experiment to Be Made With
Water Supply.
GREAT ANNUALPROFITS
THE PEOPLE PROPOSE TO TAKE
THE SYSTEM.
City Now Served by Eight Companies
Their Origin-Immensely
Valuable Stock.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

|
LONDON, August 80. 1892.
| The people of London are about to inaugu-
rate the most gigantic experiment in mu-
| nicipal control the world has ever seen. To
: supply water to six million people living
in an area of 620 sdfare miles of densely
| settled territory is the task they have set
! for themselves
| London is now served with water by
| eight companies. The rights and privileges
| OF these companies are the growth of five
| hundred years. The system began with
| water wheel moved by the tides under Lon
| don bridge, and is today represented by
! plants the aggregate value of which is
| nearly one hundred million dollars Public
| control of these plants has been agitated
| for many years and has finally eliminated
| in measure which, it is generally admitted
| by opponents as well as advocates, will be
| adopted by parliament at the autumn sit
| ting
| The taxpayers expect to derive benefit
| from the change of ownership. The man
ayers of the water companies assert that
| the people are not only doomed to disap-
polntment, but that a large number viii
ma their water costing them more under
! municipal than under private ownership
The reason they give for this is that. where
as under the present system water costs
more in some parts of London than 1t does
in others, under municipal control the rates
will have to be. universally alike A result
| only to be obtained by lowering the few
| and raising the many
However this may be the eynerip7ert is
| to be tried, and the task set before the
! London water board which Will control the
works is no light one Not only does the
present great area and population have to
De satisfactorily supplied but all future
increase of territory and population must be
PROVIDED Tor in ample time to prevent com
plant and even disaster
iS
extends into six counties. The tide Of hu-
mainly flows first in one direction and then
III another without apparent cause The
neldS OF yesterday are the suburbs of TODAY.
10 aud thlfty or forty thousand people to
the city population seems a mere matter Of
some great landlord or syndicate providing
the housing. When the streets are opened.
the houses built and TRANSFORMATION nro-
vided the people come as though il was h,I+
for this they were waiting
The Water Consumption.
The average water consumption is aho,,+
thlrty-siX gallons per capita This means
daily supply for the city of over POO 600
900 gallons. The Thames river now fur
nishes about l3o,0o0.oO0 gallons. The Bivar
Lea about 100000 and about 20 oao ooo
gallons more is pumped from the deem chalk
"elIs OF the surrounding country The near
ness OF the supply. the purity of the water
ana tne possibilities of future DEVELOPMENT
n
those VINO have shown sufficient interest to |
look into the matter
The Thames and the Lea with their COM
paratiVeiy snort streams of any volume are |
practically in the city. The wells are sum-,
within half hours travel Of where The
water is used. The people of London usa
less water than those of American cities
enouSh more IMAM do the people of nearly |
an the great cities of the continent SIM
ply OF thirty-six gallons per capita for on
aon looks small compared to the 143 GAL
IONS OF Washington. the 102 gallons of Chi /
cago, ID gallons for Boston co for M,
York or GA for San Francisco.
Inc density of population, the vast nre
pohderance of the poor, the lack of SAM |
tafy huShihg arrangements and above all |
a climate which calls for no irrigation of |
yards in summer must all be taken into az
count Then it will be realized that the |
discrepancy is not really so great The
proof of this lies in the fact that the neonle
use all they want and only in excantiopaI
instances Ior great drought do the comnonios
ind 1t necessary to exert the full power of |
their plants.
Pure Water.
No city Of magnitude in the world has
purer water than London, and for twenty
years past it has been impossible for the |
experts to trace the origin of water-borne |
diseases TO the city water supply. The av
erage death rate in London from this source
IS lower than other English cities and very,
much lower than in the principal cities Of |
the United States There are good req sons
for the purity of London water. for such as
does not come from deep wells nd fl
tered under the most rigid SUPERVISION and |
by the most improved methods.
Some idea of what the London water
companies have done to purify the supply
can be gathered from the size of the nIants
employed in its transmission Over 10 Ono |
horse power pump the water into reservoirs
and through the 5000 miles of pines The |
great storage and settling reservoirs hold
ypoi IproS EI,-,
voirs for filtered water hold 226 900 600 gal
Ions and 10 acres Of filter beds in reSer |
volrs are needed to purify the supply. 1t is
said that no water supply in the world 10 |
subject to more careful inspection or fiercer
or more constant criticism than that of |
London. AS to the cost to the consumer |
the American householder can make the |
comparison himself, for on a house which |
would cost the tenant from $500 TO 81 600 ner |
year the water charge is about s25 per an
mum. In some of the American cities wa
ter costs less and in others as much or |
more than it does in London
1t Is the question of rates, however which !
mas brought about the demand for munici-
pal ownership. This and the fact that the
water companies have been paying from |
to 10 per cent dividends to the stock hold
efs Inc measure as it will become a law
PROVIDES FOR the compulsory sale to the city
of all the plants "a such prices as a sneciai |
ly created board Of arbitra ton NAV aerae
upon. The price is to be paid in cash or
municipal water stock as the shareholders
may elect.
The city Is to take over the properties on
Christmas day. 1908, or at such a time as
the board of arbitration may elect. providing
IL Is not more than eighteen months later,
Thus the people of London have nrovidad
Christmas gift for themselves which will
occupy their attention for some years to
come; Inc vast scheme of a water supply
tot the future which has been considered
by distinguished commission, contem-
Plates water area Of $40 miles, a popula-
tion OF twelve million people and a daily
now Of water of nearly 400 900 600 ga Hons |
Inc commission has reported that this can |
all come from the Thames and the Lea over
either of which streams a man can cast a
stone. and from more wells in the great
chalk beds underlying the Kent and sSrre,
country to the south
Original Water Works.