Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-19
ARTESIAN WATER
BILL DECLARED
GREATLY UNF AIR
Fairly Morning Hearing Before
House Committee Pro-
duCeS Protests
BILL TABLED LATER
RY ACTION OF HOUSE
Rapid Transit and Hawaiian
Electric Ready to Furnish
at Low Cost

That House Bill 3iN, introduced hN
Representative William Williamson
TO regulate the use Of artesiam water
Is discriminatory against the Hawai-
ian Electric Company, the Honolulu
Rapid Transit and Land Company
the Alexander Young Hotel Company
and the Honolulu Iron Works and that
IL Is obviously an attempt to curl
the use OF artesian water by those
companies" as one expressed it, was
declared by several speakers at the
public hearing Of the house commit
tee on agriculture early this morning.
Partly as a result of the hearing
and partly owing to the fact that an
act has just been approved calling
for the appointment Of a commission
TO investigate and inquire into the
water resources of the territory and
to report and recommend such legis-
lation as is needed for the regulation
of artesian water flows, the commit
tee i'm its report to the house later
today recommended that the bill be
tabled. On unanimous vote the bill
was tabled.
General Manager Ballentyne OF the
Rapid Transit company referred to
the bill as the work Of one unfamiliar
with aftesian water systems but
yeFsed in the language of the law. He
cited the last section of the bill,
which states that the act goes into
effect Immediately upon approval.
THE bill makes 1t mandatory for
the owners Of artesian wells to main
tain cooling towers, which would have
to be at least $50 feet high, and when
this bill goes into effect, which would
be Immediately upon approval, we
could not have our towers erected
and as result we would all be GRIM
inals and in Jail. One sentence in
the measure reads, used for condens-
ing water Evidently 1t was. drawn
up by one unfamiliar with water sys-
TENS. for you cant condense water,
gentlemen; the water Is used to con-
dense steam 5. al
Mr. Ballentyne said that his com
pany has made many offers to the
government to take its supply of wa
ter without cost, but the offers have
never been accepted. He said it would
cost more for the company to pump
the water into cooling tower than
into the city mains. Attorney Hem,
ehway, representing the Hawaiian
Electric Company, told the committee
that the company had offered to pump
the water from their private supply
into the city's mains for $40 miIli-
on gallons. -
Assistant Manager Harry Murray
Of the city water works admitted that
II cost the city $22 million gallons
to supply its own water, and further
admitted that this figure did not in
clude overhead expenses, interest or
the sinking fund, and Marston Camp.
bell. former superintendent of public
works. declared that at the figure the
Hawaiian Electric Company offered
the water to the city, the muHicipali-
" would make S35 a million gallons
clear profit, while the electric COM
pany would make only expenses out
OF the deal T. ia1-.. ~-.
Murray said the object of the bill, |
which does not make Il mandatory for
the city to accept water, Is to pre-
vent waste of water He said the city
would take all water that had been
cooled and which contained no oil. |
He said that In the case of the Homo
lulu Iron Works sea water could be |
used for cooling as cheaply as arte-
sian water. He did not dispute Attor.
ney Hemeuway's claim that It would
be impossible for the electric COM
pany TO USE sea water a. A. Young
and Attorney Sutton represented the
hotel company and pointed out the un-
slightly effect Of a cooling tower in
the city, as wen as.the defects in the
bin mentioned by the other speakers.