Arizona republican., 1919-06-12

belief.
 All this merely has to do with the proposed construction of a gravity mu nicipal water supply from the Verde river-an adequate pure water supply for a city of 75,000 or 10000 people. It is an undertaking that compares fav- orably with the Los Angeles aqueducL regarded as the biggest public i'm provement of it's kind ever undertaken by any municipality in the United States. What the city of Los Angeles demed necessary and fitting, even to the extent of an expenditure of S25,- 000,00o, should also be good for Phoe- nix, was the belief of those who insti- gated the movement.
 .. Advantages of Verde Project
 The cost of the Los Angeles aque- duet, however, was more than three times as much, per capita, as would be the cost of the proposed improvement here In other words, Phoenix can have practically the same kind of a water supply as the city of Los An geleS at a cost of less than one third as much to each resident.
 Three principal sources of supply Were taken into consideration by the different engineers in their deliber auons, and all of them are unanimous in their reports as to the advisability and advantages of the Verde river project.
 ! No less an authority than William L. Church, consulting engineer of New York city, says that the only practical one is gravity supply taken from the sub-surface flow of the Verde river al a point substantially s miles by pipe line above Phoenix.
 1 One consideration which blankets all ! others, he says. is that the city already ! has a clear title to an adequate water l supply at that point. A corresponding l title to supply from either of the other two rivers taken into consider ation would undoubtedly involve long and costly litigation. The other two sources of supply taken into consider alton were the Agua Fria and the 1 Hassayampa.
 Water Almost Perfect
 A primary governing consideration ot the Verde river supply is, of course the quality of the water Variou. analyses of all three waters have beer made and show the Verde water to bt l practically the equal of any water SUD- l ply in the United States. John c ! Sparks of New York, consulting chem. lst, has analysed this water and de ciares it to be almost perfect for hu- man consumption as we'll as for com mercial purposes. Mir. Sparks is a par. amount authority on this subject and until recently, was the official chemist for the board of water supply for the city of New York as well as many other eastern cities,
 The Verde river not only is superior to both the others mentioned as a mo- l table water-and vastly superior to the present supply--but is especially mo- table for it's freedom from the sul- plates which form the permanent boil ! CT scales, says Engineer Church and | Chemist Sparks. The carbonates form ing the soft scale are present, but ir small quantity and are easily precipi- tated if necessary. Of chlorides there Is negligible trace. Tn all these re. i spects, 1 do not recall that the Verde water is materially surpassed by any supply within my knowledge elsewher. throughout the country" said Engineer 1 Church.
 Unlike either of the other proposed | sources, the Verde water will require neither sedimentation nor filtration since 1t is taken from an underflow through a stratum of open sand an6 gravel q to 2S feet below the ground surface.
 Plenty of Water A third governing consideration is the available quantity. In this respect the Verde rates above the other tive rivers naped, said Engineer Church although exact comparisons are no possible nor, indeed, necessary. In thi. regard, the report of Engineer Church 1 concurred in by all four other engin. eers, is as follows:
 The fact remains that your test well, drained by a Six-inch centrifu. gal pump, together with various bor, ings, has demonstrated a widely ex tended water bearing stratum with ar underflow far in excess of your maxi. mum requirements.
 Since you will draw from grount water and from a constant flow far il excess of hourly consumption, no i'm, pounding reservoirs will be required This will prevent not only extraneou, contamination, but the steady although slow concentration of soluble impuri ties by evaporation.
 Both the Hassayampa and the Agu; tria projects are necessarily based oI the impoundins of the surface flow o these streams in a collection reservoir The Hassayampa is subject to con tamination from the sewage of the vii lage of Wickenburg above the poin Of impoundment. The Agua Fria hai some small communities on it's uppe waters and possibly receives som mine wash, although this is not person. ally known 10 me to be fact. At al events, the sub-surface flow of tn Verde is subject to neither of thes objections.'
 Verde Plan Cheapest
 fourth and final consideration i that of cost. Here, again. the five en sineers concur. Following is the ex tract on this phase from the report o Engineer Church:
 Tn this respect, it is obvious iron inspection in conjunction with the dis tances that the cost will be less on tn Verde than that necessary to secure : corresponding supply from either o the other two rivers. No data is avail able for an exact comparison, nor i this necessary since the selection i controlled finally by other considera tions.'
 Regarding the proposed normal re quirements, one of the consulting engi neers said, in part:
 Your present population of 30444 i stated to use at present about 1000, ,00 gallons per day. You are proposing t serve an ultimate population of 75,00 at rate of 200 gallons per day pc capita Your normal maximum will bt therefore. 15,ooo,0o0 gallons per day the proposed rate of use above men toned is certainly far more Hbera than would be dictated by econom, alone. I understand, however, tha your policy is to allow a generous sup ply for lawn sprinkling through you long, dry season. in order thsf you