Evening star., 1915-12-08

| state OF Maryland IN tne near IL
| will be necessary that action be taken
| by the District of Columbia toward Sc
| curing the abatement OF these condi-
J tions During the past year several Of
| these towns have begun the fnstalla-
| ton Of sewerage systems discharging
| into these streams. and this will doubt
| less augment the present pollution The
only practical solution of this problem
| Is believed to be the formation of a
metropolitan district under the control
| of state and national board, with the
power to construct the necessary val
| ley interceptors for the removal of the
| sewage. and that these interceptors be
arranged so as to discharge at the
| state line into the interceptors of the
lsewage-disposal system of the District
Of Columbia. the District TO be reim-
| bursed for the cost of pumping and
! handling the sewage from the Maryland
towns and villages by a tax levied upon
the Maryland communities to be COL
! lected by the state. which tax would
also defray the cost of the construc-
! tion and maintenance of the state sys-
| tenn.
Sewage Disposal System
The sewage disposal system was in
continuous operation during the year,
handling the sewage of practically the
{ entire District. At the main pumping
| station. at the foot of New Jersey ave-
| nue., 21,S54 900, 900 gallons of sewage
and 296,00O. 900 gallons of storm water
were pumped. In this service 10,229,-
| 900 pounds of coal were used. Sub
stations a Poplar point and Woodbridge
i were placed in service during the year.
Sewer Construction
The following table shows the length
and cost of sewers constructed during
the year:
Section Length Feet. Cost.
l. County west of Rock creek. 20 03a.6s $40 s45 26
| .. County east of Rock creek. 26.31554 64911 O1
, 3. County west Of Anacosti8
4. County east of Anaeostia
wastnr,on river c,x ,s sass3 aaS7 20
| Parks
| No parks were acquired by the Com
missioners during the year. but con-
| demnation proceedings were instituted
| for the acquisition of certain small
parks under the appropriation of $685.
! 900 made for this purpose.
An additional appropriation of $685.
900 will be included in the estimates
for the fiscal year 1917. these parks to
| be located at the street intersections
not only outside of the old city limits,
as has been authorized heretofore, but
also within those limits.
Estimates have also been submitted
for the acquisition for park purposes
of the tract of land in the northeast
section of the city known as the Pat
terson tract, lying north of Florida
and also for the acquisition of the
tract of land in the northwest section
known as the Dean tract. located at
Connecticut avenue and Florida ave-
nue..
Water Mains
Sixty thousand and twenty-three
feet, or lila miles, of water mains Of
all sizes were laid during the year,
making the total length of water mains
in service at the end of the year
3,172,453 feet, or 600.S miles. During
the year 1878 feet of water mains of
various sizes were abandoned.
Two hundred and sixty-nine fire hy-
drants, 9 public hydrants, 2 sanitary
fountains and 1 horse fountain were
erected during the year, and 1874 fire
hydrants. public hydrants and
horse fountain were abandoned, max
end Of the year as follows: Fire hy-
drants. 3.374; public hydrants. 217: sani-
tary fountains, 13; horse fountains,
152; deep wells. A; shallow wells, 9.
was the laying of 1885 feet of thirty
| six-inch water main in 18th street and
Meridian street northwest, to the
Brightwood reservoir.
Water Consumption and Waste
By reason of the installation of
meters and the operation of the pitom-
eter service a still further decrease
in the consumption of water was ac-
complished during the year. The pres
ent mean daily rate Of consumption is
now about 52.512.000 gallons, and the
per capita rate IA gallons. Measures
to reduce the consumption of water were
started in 1905, when the mean daily
rate had reached $4,000, 900 gallons, and
the per capita about s27 gallons. The
decrease in per capita rate since 1905
is SO per cent. The safe mean rate of
flow in the only conduit supplying the
city with water is about 65,000,00 gal
Ions daily. 1t is hoped that the per
capita rate can be finally reduced to
130 gallons. and with the population
in the. past the mean daily consump-
tion would then reach the mean safe
daily capacity of the conduit in the
year 1880, when the population of the
District, it is estimated, will be about
500, 900. By means of the pitometer
service for the prevention of water
waste a total underground leakage was
found and stopped amounting to l.
S2S,820 gallons per day. The total ex-
penses of this service were $33,433.62.
The total pumpage of water during
the year was s.S73.566.s10 gallons.
Attention is invited to the very large