The Washington times., 1918-01-17
WILL RUSH PLAN
TO SUPPLY WATER
TONEARBY TOWNS

sewers to nearby Maryland "ommuni-
ties in Montgomery ard Prince
Georges counties withir the IL"
square miles OF territory known as
III" Washington suburban sanitary
district. at an average cast to each
user OF SID per annum. is tanned by
the Washington Suburbrl sanitary
Commission.
TIE commission. which was created
At the last session Of Ia" Maryland
legislature 10 study sanitary condi-
tiuHs in the dcnsely populated por.
ti"ns OF Maryland adjacent to Wash
inEtun. is ready l" make compre-
hensivc report L" the present session
Of the legislature, and 1t l. expected
that the findings and re-, mmenda-
tiuns Of the commission VIII be sub
mitt"d within the next ter days.
The commissions report covers the
entire territory in detail, tcpoEraph-
ically and geologicaIly, ard will pre-
sent a mass OF figures both as to op-
Grating costs, costs Of installation.
and bases os assessment.
Estimated Cost S2,I O.OOO.
SiNty-five miles Of water and sewer
construction is planned D. the COM
mission at an estimated t,,al cost OF
S2.1O0.OOO. according to i. Howard
Duckett. OF Rladensburc. 4 member Of
the commission. In addition TO this.
100000 will be required - take over
all existing water and sewer systems
in municipalities within tire sanitary
district, making the total cost Of the
project S2,JOO.OOO.
This amount will be raised by the
Issuance Of fifty-year ) per cent
bonds. which the commission will
request the present session of the
Maryland Legislature to authorize.
The amount necessary to pay back
with interest these bonds will be
Si4i,OOO annually, which VIII be raised,
to the plan OF the commits
SION, by a uniform tax OF 10 cents per
500 assessed property throughout the
sanitary area. yielding $4,000 an
nually, an assessment Of IL cents per
assessibIc foot of subdivision prop
erty directly benefited by the extern
sions yielding S9T. 800 annually. and an
assessment of cents per running foot
Of acreage and small unsubdivided
yielding $2l 900 annually.
There are 100000 feet of subdivided
accessible property. and 100000 feet
Of unsubdividcd property subject TO
The average dwelling in the sani-
tary district has a forty-foOt frost.
and the average assessment in the
sanitary district l. 1000. On this
average dwelling the land tax will
yield 81 per annum. the frontage as
seSsment $500 and the service charge.
based on a charge of l. cents per 900
gallons annually, will yield $3.50.
based on the average consumption of
10000 gallons annually.
The service charge Is planned to
cover operating expenses only and the
a Ear. oh a e.
meet the individual benefits received
by each water user.
1t will not be necessary TO raise the !
full SlI4.OOO the first year, as the
cost will only increase proportion I
ately to the installation.
More Than 5000 Connections.
There will be more than 1000 con
1ections within the sanitary area, the /.
population Of which is increasing
much faster than the population Of
the District of Columbia.
TakOma Park, Chevy Chase. Mt. ]
and HyattsviIle, all OF which |
have water and sewer systems which !
will be taken over and paid for by
the commission. Existing water and
sewer systems in the sanitary area
cost $500 900. and the commission is
said To be willing to make an allow
lnce for such systems OF S4OO,OOO.
municipalities having watef and
sewer systems will probably be the
first served by District water and
sewers, although il will probably be
feasible To serve almost Immediately
such communities as Friendship
Heights, EdEemoOr, DrummOnd, Silver
Spring, and Bladensburg.
Legislation enacted at the last SEES
sion of Congress empowered the Dis
tTict Commissioners to enter into con
tracts with the Maryland authorities.
and similar Legislation is necessary
by Maryland. which will be recon-
mended by the commission.
1t is under stood that the delegations
In the Maryland legislature from both
and Prince Georges
are prepared TO support the
measure.
The members Of the Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commission are
r. :. Curtis, chairman: T.
bucket, and Emory II. Bog
ley.