Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-29
HAS REACHED LIMIT
Water Supply of the District
Of Columbia.
GREAT WASTE CONTINUES
Meters in Government Departments
Urged.
MAJ. COSBY'S ANNUAL REPORT
Quality Of Supply Good and Whole
some-Preliminary Coagulation
Recommended
GREAT WASTE CONTINUES
al. COsBY'S ANNUAL REPORT

Spencer Cosby, the engineer officer In
charge of the water supply system Of the
District In his annual report submitted
today to Gen. Marshall. chief OF en-
gineers.
In a chapter in regard to the consump-
ton and waste Of water Maj Cosby sub
mits tables showing the average con-
sumption Of water per twenty-four hours
by years from 1874 to 1908. The aver
age daily per capita consumption for the
fiscal year ended June 80. 1903. was 1872
gallons. and the maximum consumption
for any day during that year was 90,
$50 600 gallons. The average consumption
of water for twenty-four hours during
the fiscal year 1907 was Sc. 900 900. and for
the fiscal year 1908 was 6491O,0OO
I'm accordance with the act Of Congress
approved May 90. 1908" says Maj Cosby,
"appropriat!ng the sum of $4,000 for pre-
liminary Investigations and surveys for
increasing the water supply. an investtga-
annually for several years. the present
system cannot be safely depended upon
to supply q greater quantity OF water to
the city than 1t IL actually furnishing at
present. The investigation to be under
taken is only a preliminary step. and the
additional works necessary to secure an
Increased supply will require several years
to construct. even after they are author
ICED by Congress. It is absolutely essen
tial that measures for the prevention of
waste be continued in order that the in
creased demand due to an increased pop
ulation may be fully compensated for by
q reduction in waste>
Meters in Departments Urged.
1T is believed that universal metering
II adopted, should reduce the per capita
consumption to less than 100 gallons per
day, the experience Of other cities having
shown that that is ample for all house
hold, commercial and public purposes. 1t
is recommended that the federal govern
ment set an example in that respect and
that all federal buildings and institutions
be metered. According to an estimate
trict Of Columbia during the ear 1905
the quantity of water supplied daily to
these institutions was about 9,OO0,OOO gal
Ions At the prevailing meter rates. the
value of that quantity of water is about
$131. 400 per year.
Maj Cosby says that the upper por-
ton Of the conduit, between Great Falls
and Dalecarlia reservoir, was drained
and cleansed twice. and the lower portion,
between that reservoir and the George
town reservoir. once during the year. The
upper portion was found generally to be
in good condition and none Of the de-
fective places is considered dangerous
The upper third Of the brick lining OF that
part OF the CONDUIT Wncn passes over
Cabin John Bridge has never been plas-
tered. The mortar In which the bricks
were laid has In many places worked out
Of the joints to depth of an inch or more
and considerable proportion of the
leakage in that part Of the conduit is
probably due to those defective joints
Maj Cosby says that this leakage is more
or less serious. since the water finally
escapes through the masonry of the
bridge and In winter it freezes and tends
fo
Tunnel in Good Condition.
The Washington aqueduet tunnel was
inspected for q portion Of its length and
found to be in excellent condition with
the exception that considerable amount
of plastering had become detached from
the masonry lining and the side walls
had bulged slightly in two places These
defects were remedied so far as possible
Since August, 1905, the entire water sup
ply Of the District has passed through
the tunnel to the Mcmillan Park reser-
voir. and by mutual agreement the old
water mains are now operated and MAIN
Is again recommended that their formal
transfer to the city be authorized
The roads and grounds around the Nc
MILAN Park reservoir have been kept in
good condition. The top of the dam south
of the reservoir has been graded and
L.
Considerable space in Maj. Cosbys re-
port Is devoted to the filtration plant and
the preliminary treatment of Potomac wa
ter. and 1t Is stated that the practice of
closing the gate at Great Falls during pc
RODS of hig turbidity was continued with
good results.
An estimate of $4,000 is submitted for
remodeling the Georgetown reservoir and
constructing works to provide for the pre-
liminary treatment of Potomac water by
~
unexpended balance of the appropriation
for slow sand filtration plant.
Benefit of Filtration.
THE filtration plant" says Mai. Cosby.
has been In continuous opera ton
throughout the year. and the entire water
supply of the city has been filtered The
bacteria have been reduced from an aver
age Of ! .252 per cubic centimeter in the
Mcmillan Park reservoir to an average of
50 In the filtered water reservoir. The
average turbidity has been similarly re-
duced from 81 to parts per million. The
actual number of bacteria in the city wa
ter varied from 800 to per cubic certime-
ter. while the number in the river water
ran from $1,000 to 16 The actual average
reduction by months varied between 9S. 7
and 90 per cent. The total quantity Of
water pumped to the filters during the
year was 81 1924 million gallons. or an
average Oh O4.cI IIliiilOn gallons per day.
While the quality Of the city filtered wa
ter was excellent for the greater part of
the year, there were several periods when
the number of bacteria exceeded what is
considered by experts to be the proper
standard for filtered water supply. The
filtered water was unsatisfactory with re-
spect to turbidity for a considerable per.
centage OF the time. This confirms tn,
experience Of the two previous fiscal
years. and also the Judgment Of the thrae
experts as expressed In their report, dated
February Is, 1901.
ut is not believed. however, that the
slight turbidity In the water now fur
nished to consumers I'm the city of WASH
ington has any direct injurious effect:
there is no traceable relation between the
high bacterial counts and the death rate
eases. The cost per million gallons Al
tered was 1913. A year Of elaborate ex=
perimentation has shown conclusively
that the water can be materially improved
by the use of preliminary coagulation
during periods of high turbidity and high
bacterial counts. 1t has also been shown
that the methods Of preliminary filtra-
ton used at Philadelphia and elsewhere
will not give satisfactory results when
applied to Potomac water.
Good and Wholesome Water.
Experience since the filtration plant
was first put into operation has shown
that Washington is being supplied with
a good and wholesome water. 1t has also
shown that there Is still room for i'm
provement in certain directions. The ex-
periments conducted in the past year and
a half have shown how such Improvement
can be effected and they have demon
strated that Washington can be at all
A. ia Itch