Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-29
GEN. BLACK FAVORS
PATUXENT SOURCE
FOR C|TY'S WATER
Former Chief of Engineers
Says Situation Calls for
Prompt Action.


Columbia is favored by Maj Gen.
William NJ. Black. former chief of en-
gineerS of The Army. in his annual re
port to the War Department made
public today
He invites urgent attention 'to the
need for ifnmedia tely initiating active
measures for increasing the District
water supply" and says that care
full computations show that with the
normal increase in the popula ton of
the District the water that can he
delivered through the present system
Will become Inadequate by 1925
BY that year. therefore," saws Gen.
Bthck. IAN additional supply must be
completed, The work under any plan
that may be adopted is one of Tnagni-
tude and will require substantially
al OF the intervening period Of time
Tor its execution. Unless plan is de-
cided upon and sufficient funds ap-
proprlated for vigorously prosecuting
the work. the District is. therefore.
faced with water shortage in the
comparatively near future"
Record Of Consumption.
In long review Of the existing wa
ter situation Gen. Black says that the
present line from Great Falls has a
limiting capacity of 80. 600, 900 gallons
Z day and that the safe daily capac-
ny OF the system is considered to be
D.
oo0,0 600 gallons a day, compared with
previous estimates. The maximum
capacity of the filtration plant, with
all pumps in service. is stated at go
100000 gallons. The average consump-
ton during the past fiscal year is
stated at 65,26o.oo0 gallons, making
the average per capita consumption
1856 gallons per day. Those figures
show. says Gen. Black. an increase Of
:, per cent over the average daily
consumption of the fiscal year 1916.
In the fiscal year 1918 the average
daily consumption was 62.670.000 gal
Ions and the per capita consumption
15S.
According to the chief of engineers,
the filtration plant may be given a
capacity almost double the present
amount by relatively minor addi-
tions to the present works"
Gen. Black considers at length the
three projects for permanently in
creasing the local water supply. pre-
scented to Congress, namely, the power
project, involving the construction of
a dam near the Chain bridge. the
parallel conduit project from Great
Falls and the Patuxent project.
He says that the total initial expend-
iture to be met before water can be
supplied from the power project is
100000; that the initial cost of
the parallel conduit project is So
12S.720. and that the total initial ex-
penditure, under present prices, for
the Patuxent project is estimated at
81 fs955.300, including the acquisition
of land, erection Of compensatory
highway structures and damages.
All Three Merltorious.
All three of these projects are con-
sidered meritorious by Gen. Black,
and he says that ANY one of them
would afford the District supply Of
water ample in quantity for many
years, and of thoroughly satisfactory
quality SO long as present conditions
continue, perhaps for an indefinite
period"
AS already has been pointed out. he
said, choice between them must
now be made. for it is essential that
work be begun"
The power project, he says, is by
far the most costly of the three. and
in his opinion is neither in quality
nor in quantity more desirable than
that secured by the parallel conduit"
Comparing the parallel project and
the Patuxent project, Gen. Black says
that. while the initial cost of the for
mer project is $2.S25.0O0 less than the
Patuxent and the annual charges
$4,000 less, the actual operating and
maintenance cost is estimated at $1S,-
500 more than for the Patuxent prof.
ect.
Among the advantages Of the paral-
lei project are that the plans have
been completely developed, that 1T re-
ouires little if any additional land,
and that 1.-The completion of any por-
ton of it will serve to increase i'm
nlediately the available supply of
water and remove the present hazard
Of the consequences of breakdown
in that link, provided the destruction
Of one line does not involve the
ether"
AS to the Patuxent project. the chief
of engineers says it has vt been
studied in the detail of it's structures
nor in the precise alignment that is
he adds that mo relief can be secured
through the system until the work
has been practically completed"
He explains also that an enabling
act of the Maryland legislature is nee
essary before the source of supply can
be utilized. The water from the Pa
tuxent, Gen. Black says, would be
softer lin quality than that from the
Potomac and would be obtained from
a water shed of restricted area not
subject to sources of extensive pOllu-
tiou.
question, therefore, is whether a bet
ter quality of water from the Pa
tuxent system and the security af-
forded by such an entirely separate
line will justify the added cost of
that system"
Future Potomac Pollution.
A more weighty consideration than
the greater softness of the PatuXent
water, in the view of Gen. Black, is
the possibility of the future pollu-
ton of the Potomac supply by the
development of the Potomac river val
ley into great manufacturing re-
gion, with considerable population
and many factories discharging trade
wastes in large quantities into the
stream.
1T is impossible to foretell," says
Gen. Black, whether the Potomac
will or will not be so polluted in the
future, but it is believed the part of
wisdom in expanding a large sum for
a permanent increase OF the water
supply of the District of Columbia to
go to a source that runs no danger of
future pollution"
1.-THE Patuxent." Cen Black declares,
"is such a source, as its watershed is
agricultural land, not subject to in
tensive cultivation, close settlement
condition, however, may not last in
definitely, and, if the Potomac should
now be decided upon as the source OF
supply and it's pollution occur, the
conditions in the Patuxent valley
might have become SO changed as to
| fenQeT lHdl d iVSo oCoAi q LUG ~ ukS &c VI
supply than If it is now acquired and
protected from future contamination
Danger in Parallel Lines.
''The security to be attained by an
| entirely independent supply line is a
| further consideration leading toward
| the choice of the PatuXent as an adj
| ditional source of supply. In the
proposed parallel project the present
and new conduits would be in close
proximity throughout the greater por-
| ton Of their course. The destructive
effect of the escape of large volume S
of water is enormous. and if an acct
dent occurred in one of the lines or il
one were maliciously destroyed there