Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-07-25
THE WATER METERS.

When the old (and incOnyenient) or
der changeth- giving place to the new, the
shifting is apt to produce friction. and
the friction is apt to develop electrical
conditions. That is exactly what has
happened in Brownsville in passing from
the loose fiat rate system of collecting
for water consumption. to the close met
or system. That is also what we have Il
right to expect. Many people are sure to
be Inconvenience by the change. espcc-
tally those who had gone on fiat rates and
took no account of the water actually
consumed
Those of us who were on flat-rates and
acquired tn G happy-go-lucky habit of al
lowing the hydrant to drip in the yard,
i'm the bathtub, and in the kitchen sink
did not really know how much water
we used. We took our time about sending
for the plumber. As a matter Of fact 1T
seemed like an act of disintereStcd and
patriotic virtue to send for him at all.
since the city lost and we did not lose
unless we lost the esteem OF the people
at the pump house
LIE cStdD1lSHIltHt vi tHt IIltttT Is Dt-
ginning to open cur eyes to the quantity
of water that can leak through a hyd-
rant i'm a little while. AT first we fatty
refuse to believe it. 1t is only after we
have time to get the facts fixed in our
memory. not only as to the city's gain
by giving us q meter. but the city's loss
when it failed to give us and several
hundreds of our fellow citizens that
little accurate scientifically constructed
machine that keeps tab III our water
consumption every minute Of the day
and night, that we begin to appreciate
the %soundness of the meter idea. After a
while we shall remember the meter and
send for the plumber when the faucets
leak.
One thing we must never forget: No
business, public or private. can succeed
that is not conducted on sound cconom
jcal principles. A city cannot afford to
waste principal or interest on its cap
ital any more than any other business
concern can.
Furthermore we must remember that
the waterworkS belong to the people.
We are partners in the cncern. Each of
us is entitled to all the water he needs
within the city's power to supply it
to him: but he must pay FIR what he
uses. That i STAIR. If he leaves the hy-
drant open and wastes more than he has
use for. let him pay for that. If 4 and
Il have the same fiat rate and a uses as
much as b and wastes a lot more, it
is not fair if b pays the same amount
at the end of the month The only alb
%solutely fair way is to make each man
pay FIR what he gets. no more and no
less: let each thcref,re be supplied with
n meter to keep tab on him.
On the question of economy. ut the
water works, it is no trouble at all to
see that The meter system is the only way
for the manager to do the right thing
by the people. With the meter system
fully established it should not be long
before the manager can Get at the exact
cost Of every gallon consumed or wasted.
If the water is wasted ii is not far that
the city should stand the loss. The loss
should be to the man who wastes ii.
Let us not be in too BIG a hurry to
find fault with the system. The trouble
is not with that. The plain English Of
it is that sometimes we GOT more than
we paid for-not that We intended any
thing of the kind. but because We were
running under a bad system