Evening star., 1925-09-23
BUILDERS T0PLEAD
FOR MORE SEWERS
City's Health Menaced, 0per-
ations Held Up, They Will
Tell Budget Director.

Faced with the possibility of cur
failing their building activities in the
National Capital because Of lack of
sewerage facilities, Washington build
ers have obtained an appointment
with Director Lord of the Bureau of
the Budget to "implore" him for the
sake of the health and development
of the community to allow generous
appropriations for the water and
sewer departments of the District
government. Representatives of the
Operative Builders Association will
confer with Gen. Lord on Friday
afternoon and tell him that Wash
ington's present building boom is Sc
riously threatened.
City's Health Menaced.
Not only will the prospective build
Ing of 5000 more houses in the Dis
trict in the next few months be seri-
ously curtailed unless Congress al
lows a deficiency appropriation to
supply the needed sewerage, but the
city itself will be faced with a dam
gerous sanitary problem, according
to the builders.
Members of the association state
that there are now 5000 outside
toilets in Washington, or 500 more
than there were two years ago, due
to lack of sewerage. This number
is increasing greatly. they say.
The members point out that these
outside toilets are not In outlying sec
tions, but in such sections as the
vicinity of the Soldiers Home, various
spots in the Northwest sections of the
city, near the distributing reservoirs
on Conduit road and other important
parts Of the city as well as Anacostia
and Benning.
$4,000 Houses Without Sewer.
One spokesman for the builders
stated that he knew Of a builder who
had erected $4,000 houses and was
forced to install outside toilets because
Of lack of sewerage. This spokesman
also said that a certain section In
Sixteenth Street Highlands, bounded
by Sixteenth street itself, had been
forced to put in septic tanks. Outside
toilets would have been necessary ex
cept for the porous condition OF the
ground in that section, he said.
Builders say they have been paying
out their own money for sewerage, but
that they cannot afford to continue
this. One builder would have to pay
S75, 900 for sewerage to supply 10 to
Is houses if he chose to pay for his
own This cost would, of course, be
added to the price of the house and
thus the penalty of insufficient ap
propriations would be extracted from
the prospective home owners and tax
payers, builders declare.
500 Acres Affected.
Builders frankly say they are faced
with the alternative after January
of ceasing many of their operations
unless some means are taken to sup
ply money for more sewerage and
water. At this moment, they say, lack
of sewerage is threatening the de-
velopment Of almost 500 acres of val
liable property in various parts of the
city. 1t is estimated that about 5000
houses will be erected between now
and next June and that unless ade
quate sewerage facilities are supplied
this amount may be throttled to abou,
1900, confined to sections where there
is now plenty of sewerage.
Builders feel that appropriations are
being made for the sewerage and wa
ter departments of the District on the
old basis and that the present build
ing boom, the increase in costs, the
growth and ultimate size Of the city
are being totally ignored.
There are plans now, according tc
the Operative Builders Association
that will continue the erection OF
houses at the present peak mark fol
another two years. This will be ruin
ed IL money Is not forthcoming fol
water and sewerage, they say.
Fund Nearly Exhausted.
J. B. Gordon, sanitary engineer, ex
planned today that with new homes
being erected in all parts of the city
much faster than the District car
supply them with sewer connections
the sewer department is facing the
serious prospect of using up before
January 1 all of the money that Con
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