The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-05-28
(From Thursday Advertiser)

Water wastage, water rates, and the
increase in both came up yesterday for
the serious consideration of the cham.
Der of commerce. All the speakers
agreed that before there can be any
intelligent discussion of remedies, 4
must first be known: x
/. How much water the city receives
2. How much water the city delivers
And that means meters. 'As,+sri
There is waste, duplicated waste and
reduplicated waste in the whole water
system. The city has no knowledge OF
what proportion of the water poured
into its pipes leaks out before it is de
hvered. It does not know what pro
portion of the water it delivers Is used
and what proportion is run into the
sewers. 1t does not even know where
its pipes run.
As well attempt to reorganize 9
bankrupt business without statement
of its liabilities and assets as essay
putting the water system of Honolulu
on its feet without first finding out
wnat 1aA taets are. - ~
The discussion was opened by an ex
PLANTATION from Raymond c. Brown, sec
rotary of the chamber, Of the new rates
proposed by Superintendent Murray Of
the water department. which Mr.
Brown said amounted to an increase OF
from ten to tweHty per cent. Superin
tsndent Murray, he added, was strong
~ in favor of a system of universal
meters, and advocated changed rates
only in lieu of something better. b.
y Former Governor Carter moved that
| the question be referred to the commit
tee on county and municipal affair,
and asked permission of the chair u
speak to his motion, which subsequent
BY. was adopted unanimously.
Nobody Knows Anything E"Gt 49,
1.-THE trouble with the Honolulu wa
ter works" said Governor Carter, "il
that nobody knows anything about
them; and do not except the superin
tendent. .-,.,.
1--WE know that the average con
sumption of water per capita in Homo
lulu is three hundred gallons, which, il
my memory serves, is greater than thu
per capita consumption of any city il
the United States
Glow much of this is wastei I don 7
know, we don t know, nobody knows.
Inspection Attempted
During my term as Governor, there
was an attempt made to inspect the wa
ter system. Under the appropriation
allowed, it WIS possible TO hire only
three inspectors and with the hug,
mileage Of pipes we have, it was soOr
shown that any such inspection was al
absurdity.
"Thc three inspectors, however, II
their brief term of activity did enough
to show that there was an enormou,
wastage. remember they discovered
one enterprising vegetable gardener
whose plot was supplied from one tap
for which he paid dollar and a hall
year. He had knocked the top of
the tap and it was running night ant
day, full force. Yet he paid no more
than any other consumer who might
use his single tap for a few hours OF
a few minutes day.
"There is individual waste like that
Of course, and then there is wastage IL
The system itself and in every building
it serves. In other cities it has beer
shown that this leakage from the pipe.
amounts to between ten and forty pei
cent, according to the state of repair
in which they have been kept.
What 3 the Wastage Ell? I rs'j5
CHOW much dO9s this waste come t
in Honolulu We don Z know and We
never shall know, until we find out
how much goes into the pipes and how
much comes out.
owe don even know where Oul
pipes are. | remember when / was
Governor that, whenever the question
Of repairs to a section of pipe line came
up, it always was necessary to send for
the contractor who had put the pipe
down.
'Oh, yes, he would say. TT,
about here or there And then VT
would dig for it and it would be found
but there never were any maps of tn,
water system.
House WastaRe Large
$50 much for wastage in the pipel
themselves. The additional wastage il
buildings that have been metered hn,
been found in different cities to run be
tween forty and sixty per cent. A,
much as is wasted, so much can b,
saved, but we never shall have any
economy until we have meters,
~ know they are expensive to in