The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1923-10-18
BLACKFOoT's WATER PROBLEMS


8 move to double its water supply by
4 doubling the efficiency of distribu
Y ton. The move involves the mora
l status of its citizens, so an under
8 standing of the conditions is doubly
3 worthy of attention.
II hundred or three hundred peo
pie were doing as much petty steal
ing out of the stores as they are do
ing out of the city water mains. there
would be an uproar about it.. If q
!, dozen city officials and city en-
) ployees were doing as much stealing
| out of the city treasury as the loss OF
the water amounts to that is done by
the citizens listed as having stolen
), water from the taps and mains, these
same people who are listed as having
stolen water, would be shouting the
}, news from the housetops and making
], a great hullabaloo about it. If the
| Blackfoot business houses that fur
!, nish materials to the city added little
: petty thefts to their bills and got
them allowed and thus robbed the
s. treasury, it would make an awful
!, scandal when it became known,
The condition in Blackfoot is one
thruout the country, In chronic dis
respect for public property and
public treasures and is one thing
i that makes the taxes so high. People
| open their taps in the house and let
the water run to waste, and they
open the. taps in the yard and let it
run thru the hose out of sprinkling
hours instead of providing irrigation.
Some refuse to pay their assessments
in irrigation bitches and lay out their
hose without nozzle on the end and
let it run for hours out of sprinkling
periods and then during the time
they are entitled to sprinkle they put
on the nozzle or spraying device and
draw what they pay for. A few
citizens had meters installed and use
water whenever they want to, and
pay for all they use, while a large
number take the plan stated above.
So many have been doing that, that
the water in the tank runs lower out
of sprinkling hours than when the
sprinkling is expected. Quiet inves !
LEGATIONS made to see who are the
guilty parties, shows that there are
SO many of them it is considered i'm
practical to prosecute them all for
stealing water or to cut them of and |
make them pay the fine provided as
direct penalty. There would be so
much expense proving the cases, and |
there would be so many alabis, such
as 81 forgot it," or my clock was
fast" or "My clock was slow" and
a score of other lame excuses, the
city fathers gradually settled in the
conclusion that there was better
way to deal with so large a number
of offenders, and they will require
the installation of meters.
There is another and more serious
angle to the situation-people can
be caught and convicted of using
water for irrigation out of doors, but
it is pretty hard to convict them of
leaving their faucets open all night
just to make sure that their pipes do
not freeze up. A good many prop ,
erty owners have had their private ,
lines laid so shallow or so poorly pro- s
tected where they enter the house, ,
that thy freeze up at every cold snap
unless they leave the water running ,
80 they let it run. Some of them tie 5
1 cloth to the faucet SO it will not
make any noise, and the combined I
expense of pumping water to run I
INTO the sewer or into cesspools is :
adding hundreds of dollars to the
cost of pumping and adding to the r
ire danger. G
1t is estimated that half of the
water that is pumped for domestic /
lse and sprinkling is used contrary c
o rules or is run off in cold weather 4
o save the trouble of making pipes
rost proof. Some of this is due to
aulty installation of pipes and some
o taking advantage in irrigation;
ome of it by property owners and
much of 1t by tenants who use the f
property for a period and pass on, q
ceiling no loyalty to the town and v
openly boasting that the town has r
lenty of money and they are going /,
o use the water in any way they g
hose while they stay. Some of s
hese people move away leaving C.
vater bill unpaid and the property r
wner has to pay 1t because 1t Is a
len against the property. f.
The city Officials have been study "
ng this matter and have concluded (,
hat the best way to dispose of the p
hole grfst Of trouble is to require
1&ter users to install meters and re- Y
uire tenants to deposit their money
I advance for q months consump- =.
lon. This makes dishonest people !. :,
top wasting water, and 1t makes the :"
verage citizen thrifty in the use of >,
'ater and will aid in cutting down r r
he water tax. 1t will protect the =
areful water users from the extrava-
ance of the wasteful, and will in N
are water pressure for lighting fires.
The cost of q meter Is $3.50 plus
he cost of installation which is
bout IS and the city pays the in
,allation. There are 700 water
sers, and the city expects to ex-
end $500 while individuals
zpend $3.50 or about that,
,r meters. They will then
9 able to split the power bills
ear the middle or sell more water to
eople who actually use it. The mat
II has been under consideration for
,me months, and the installation of
eters will be gradually pressed
pom peoples attention and the 700
eters put to work as fast as it can