The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-02-26
INTERESTING COMPARISON OF
WATER RATES IN DETROIT
WITH THOSE CHARGED BY THE
PENSACOLA WATER COMPANY.

Editor Pensacola Journal:
Mr.. Bingham told me a week ago
that he had another letter ready tOl
submit and / have been patiently
awaiting its appearance. had one
more point reserved from his first
letter for discussion but as it will not
| spoil / will pass 1t for the present
and write of a really up-to-date NUM-
cipal water works. A few months
ago the average Pensacolian would
have looked upon sthe facts that
/ shall introduce in this letter as the
rawlings of wild-eyed dreamer but
/ after several months of education it
will be much better received.
II is no exaggeration to say that
( some of my former letters had the
! effect of actually supplying the under
/ standing of many Pensacolians. One
of my early letters, quoting from the
/ very best authority in the world,
! showing the low prices that water is
/ sold for in many of The cities of the
! United States, was lost on the aver
! age citizen, and l have been trying to
/ determine in my own mind for my
own satisfaction why it was so. It
hardly seems reasonable that because
! Pensacolians have been paying fifty
cents a thousand gallons for water
for twenty years that il would make
/ it so hard to convince them that wa
ter could be produced and sold at
I profit for five cents or less per thou
sand gallons. With all the figures
and rates of the various cities that
| have published there are some people,
! though not a great many. who regard
the ordinance rate of Pensacola of
five cents a thousand gallons as a
''preposterous proposition" just as de-
clared by Mr. Bingham. For the bene-
fit of that class of people | admonish
them that there are things in heaven
and earth that they never dreamed of.
and a reasonable. first-class water
works is one of them.
Detroit Water Works.
The city of Detroit, Michigan. es-
tablished a municipal water works
fifty-three years ago. This may be
news to some of our citizens who are
prone to think that municipal owner
ship is simply a theory and believed
in only by extremists" like Tom
Lawson and myself. Mr.. Bingham
will certainly be glad to learn that
Detroit had theorists" and "cranks'
who established a municipal water
works before either he or were born
and hence / am robbed of all glory OF
being the original crank on this
: question.
Detroit Water Works Success.
Although the city of Detroit estab-
. lished a municipal plant so many
years ago it seems that the "cranks"
that got it up had level heads for the
plant is still in operation and is doing
business at The old stand. 1t > has
: Worn out a great deal of machinery
and many water mains, yet the plant
to-day is worth 1884, $3.50, a sum
in itself equal to more than one-half of
all the taxable property of Pensacola
at its assessed valuations. | want the
small fry" to read that last sentence
again and see if something will not
percolate through into their under
standings.
The population of the city of De
troit is 353,23S. 1t would take about
: twenty cities like Pensacola to equal
il, yet in that vast corporation there
are only ninety-three families that do
not use the city water. The reason
is the rates are better than those of
! the Pensacola Water Company.
Average Use of Water.
According to the Pensacola Water
! Company, Mr.. Bingham only uses SO 11s
! gallons of water day, but in Detroit
the average use of water for the en-
tire city is 1873 gallons day for each
person in the city making 923 gallons
for each family each day, which is
nearly as much as the Pensacola
Water Company says Mr.. Bingham
uses in a month. Now | submit that
when the average family in Detroit
uses as much water in one day
as does Mr. Binghams family in
one month that either Mr.. Bing-
ham is altogether too economical in
the use of water or else the Detroit
! citizen is Outrageously extravagant.
Those are the facts IN the case and
now leave it to the Pensacola Water
Company and Mr.. Bingham TO draw
their own conclusions.
Effect on the City.
The use of such a large amount OF
water has had a gOOd erect on the
city. Detroit has long been noted for
its beautiful lawns, handsome resi-
dences, magnificent streets, Clearly
surroundings and healthful conditions,
J barring those of so rigorous a climate.
The extensive use of water is largely
responsible for these desirable fea-
lures.
That "Preposterous" Water Rate.
But how can the people Of Detroit
afford to use so much water? At the
rate charged by the Pensacola Water
Company it would cost the average
family of Detroit approximately
$4,000 a year for water.
The Detroit water rate for the first
10000 gallons per quarter is FIVE
CENTS A THoUeAND GALLONS.
All water over 10000 is charged for
! at the rate of ga c-HTS THOU
SAND GALLONS.
What do you think of that, Mr.
Bingham? Water at two-and-a-quar-
ter cents a thousand gallons, and no
meter rent. either. Cut those rates
out and paste them IN your nat