Evening journal., 1907-04-23
Chief Engineer LeiSen, in
Annual Report, Tells of
Improvements
TO USE LEA WATER RIGHTS

NAt@ ~ 10 get tie water iiEntS ana real
estate for 100000. In the report Engl-
neer Lessen says
The current receipts Of the depart D.
ment for the year, exclusive Of loan OF
$4,000 made IN December, amounted TO
S225122.56, and the disbursements pro-
perly chargeable to The maintenance
and operation OF the department. ag-
gregated Sl26.2l042. The difference be-
tween these two amounts or SOS, ,SS2.14.
represents what under normal condi-
tions might be termed ;he surplus earn
ings, and this amount added to the
S39, 600 loan, or total Of S137SS2.14 Is
the amount of current funds devoted to
defraying the cost of the W ork on the
new plant In addition 10 the current
receipts the balance from the special
fund together with interest, amounting
to Sls6,590.4 was likewise expended on
the new Improvements Combining the
disbursements for the years 1905 and
1906 It VIII be seen that the total eA-
penditures on the new work will
amount TO Si39 90S.93, OF which S20S.279.23
was received from the piuceeds of the
special bond issue, and S2Ji,719.7O was
derived from the current funds.
Amount of Water Pumped.
The total quantity OF water pumped
from the Brandywine during the year
was S,2SS557,O 600 gallons. an increase of
l59,l64000 gallons over tho previous
twelve months. The quantity repump-
ed to the high service was 770, 400 900
gallons. an excess of s4.0lb,00O gallons
over the preceding yea~. The consump-
tion from the extreme high service sup
piled from Rockford water tower was
SSl5O,OOO gallons.
Careful attention TO the operation of
the water-power pump mas resulted in
maintaining the same high standard Of
efficiency which was attained the pre-
vious year, the quantity pumped by
this power being practically the sano
as for 1906
A division Of the quantity of water
consumed by manufacturing industries
and for domestic purposes, shows that
52.7 per cent was used by the former
and 47.6 per cent by the latter. the So
called domestic service including all
water used by residences, schools
hotels, and for fire purposes. The aver
age consumption per diem per capita,
based on an estimated population OF
$500, was 1929 gallons. subdivided as
follows; Manufacturing industries 54s
gallons; domestic service 4S7 gallons.
These figures show a reduction in the
per capita consumption duo 20 domestic
purposes with a corresponding increase
for manufacturing uses and accentuate
the statement made IN the last report
dencting a favorable exhibit I'm indus
trial growth and an equally desirable
showing I'm reduction Of waste I'm do
mestic service. this latter condition
being in all probability due to the in
creased use OF meters.
Many Meters Used.
The total number OF meters in use
at the end of the year was 4.09S' an
Increase Of $50 during the year. OF this
number about 5000 are on private dwell
fngs OF the total amount Of revenue
received from water rents 5i.5 per cent
is from metered service representing
64.4 per cent of the total quantity con-
sumod. The number OF services meter
ed. however. is only PAP per cent OF the
total. In addition TO metering the or
binary supplies for manufacturing
plants the rule has been established
during the year to place dctector met
ers on all nenv private fire systems
these meters to be installed at the ex-
pense Of the owners Of tbe property.
A total Of l0SlS feet Cf new mains
were laid during 1906 Of which 1,730
feet was for the low service, and 90SS
feet for the high service 256 feet re-
placing old 4 inch mains. There is a
total of 119 miles of water mains with
ing the city, of which 30 per cent. IS
eight inches I'm diameter and over.
Sixteen new fire hydrants were put in
bringing the total number Up to $50 and
6s new gate valves were added. A total
OF 567 new services were laid, and PA
c'd services were renewed during the
year.
Reasonable progress has been made
during the course Of the year towards
the completion Of the construction work
for the new supply, although both fin
ancial and climatic conditions have
been something Of barrier in retard-
ing the work.
Work On Reservoir.
The work on the construction Of the
reservoir under the contract with j..
T. Finch. has Jagged somewhat, but the
excess OF wet weather throughout the
year was to a great extent the cause
of this delay In consequence. whereas
this work should have been finished by
December I. 1906. only about seventy
five per cent is completed.
As II became apparent that the re-
servoir could not be finished on time,
the urgent necessity for completing tho
laying Of the forcing ana distributing
mains was of less importance, and a
portion Of this Wcrk was therefore al
lowed to so over until next season. A
total cf 6.4S2 feet of As incn steel mains
have been laid TO date. Work on the
reinforced concrete bridge AT Van
Buren, street also had to De- abandoned
In December owing TO excessively colo
weather. and this limited the laying OF
the Distributing main az that point
The bridge contract was started on
July 3. 1906 by the erection Of a trest,e
across the creek for construction pur-
poses, which was carried away by n
flood on August 9. before actual work
on the bridge had been started. The
trest2c was not replaced, a series Of
dorricks placed in the creek being Sub
sthuted, ana no further trouble was
experienced from flood waters.
In order TO meet the demands OF the
owners Of the wate- rights In the
North Long Race, Cthe Lea Eace) under
a threat Of injunction, the original de-
sign OF the bridge was altered the soaH
across SAID raco being increased from
2s feet TO SO feet, occasioring delay
and an extra cost of Sl.25l The founda-
+i.,,s for niars were also carried down