New Britain herald., 1928-06-28
FILTRATION SYSTEM
 WILL BE SELECTED
Water Board and Special Com.
 mittee in Session Tonight

Tonight at 7:sO o'clock. the water board and the mayors advisory committee will hold their first joint meeting of series which. it is ex- pected. will result In rejection of the filtration scheme proposed by Hazen x Whipple. water department con- sulting engineers.
 Commissioner Joseph F. Lamb is out of the city. but it is expected that's tonight's meeting will be att tended by Chairman w. l.. Hatch, Commissioners Ernest w. Pelton and James J. Watson, and the advisory committee which includes Senator Edward F. Hall, Alderman John F. Maerz and David l.. Nair, and for Parker.
 The principal question to be de- termined is whether slow sand filtration system shall be installed in accordance with plans and speciti- cation furnished by the consultants. or whether mechanical sand filter shall be used. The latter type Is
 
 modern. A similar plant is now in operation in Providence, K. l., where 1 1t is designed to handle approxi- mately 10 times the capacity expect Cd of system here.
 Hatch FavOrs Slow Sand Filters Questioning the claims advanced in favor of mechanical sand filters over slow sand filters, Chairman ] Hatch this afternoon issued q l lengthy statement. one paragraph of
 which states: Mot only will the
 slow sand filters cost less to build
 than the rapid sand filters. but they
 will cost less to operate and here
 the difference is more marked.
 "1'he principal costs of operating
 rapid sand filter are labor and
 chemicals. By far the greatest cost
 oi operating slow sand plants is the
 labor of cleaning them. This item \ depends to great extent upon the
 water at New Britain will have the
 benefit of long thorough settling in
 the large Shuttle Meadow reservoir
 and will clog the filters but slowly.
 The labor cost of cleaning them thus
 will be low.
 In estimating the cost of operat-
 ing a rapid sand filter in New Brit
 ain, the board has been extremely
 conservative in assuming the amount
 of attendance required and chemi-
 caIs used and in estimating the cost
 of operating the slow sand filters.
 ho nf he f.
 ford plant has been used as check
 since this plant handles water un- I der conditions which are very simi- lar to those which will obtain at New Britain"
 A table Of comparative costs pre- pared by Mr. Hatch shows a s14,4o0 operating expense for a slow sand filter, and a s3o,715 operating ex- penSe for a mechanical filter both being of 1S,O0o,o00 gallons a day capacity.
 Not only is the expense less but the quality of water produced is bet ter under the system favored by the board and frowncd on by the mayor. according to further statements in the report. provide additional supply and filtra- ton. this city may find itself re- auired to curtail uses of water and accept. a dirty product. Mr. Hatch states he fears
 Seemingly contradictory of state nents which have gone out with regularity from the office of the water department and the board Of health. the Hatch report declares: "The water at Shuttle Meadow should be filtered even as it is now. Its quality has been condemned by the state board of health and they have caused 1t to be chlorinated, The worse the water gets, the more chlorine must be used and the worse the taste becomes.'
 Discussing the two types Of filter, Mir Hatch states, in part:
 Each system has its advantages l under conditions favorable for its
 use. The general statement that either is best must be modified by \ consideration of the water on which 1t Is to be used. It is fact how
 ever, and one that the board is in a
 position to demonstrate that for
 conditions at New Britain, the slow
 sand filtration system will cost less
 to build and much less to operate
 than will the rapid sand system. Not only will this system be more economical but it has other advan- tages as we'll. It will require no k chemicals in its purification process, except a small amount of chlorine required by either type It will re- move a higher percentage of bac- teria present and it is far superior lin the removal of taste and odors. According to the report, the slow
 sand filter, with its necessary ad-
 1uncts will cost $1.225,900 while
 the mechanical filters would be s1,- E?73,000 with the small covered
 coagulation basin and $1,33O,O0O with the large open basins.