The Washington times., 1936-02-04
METERS, PIPES
IN STREET
FROZEN

Company to assume the RESPONSE
bility for the frozen pipes led
Mayor e. C. Dawson to order City
Attorney Carl Budwesky to com
municate Immediately with the
CORPORATION Commission in Rich
mond to ascertain who is response
BILE for the critical situation.
Home owners. in most instances,
have also refused to shoulder the
responsibility and are being forced
to haul water to their homes IN
milk cans.
Water Meters Frozen
Already suffering from over 200
frozen water meters, citizens OF
Arlington county will be faced
with loss Of their entire water sup
ply If the ice in the upper Poto-
mac suddenly breaks.
The lone water main supplying
Arlington county water is carried
across the Chain Bridge, 10 feet
below the road surface Of the
span, and dangerously near what
would be the water line should
a sudden thaw follow the extreme
cold Of the last week, county Of
ficials pointed out today.
Damage to or loss of the main
would cut off the entire county
water source, affording citizens
only a few hours supply from a
reserve reservoir located in Living
ston Heights.
BON Air Lacks Water
Citizens of Bon Air, one Of the
highest sections of the county,
whose source of water is the Bon
Air Utilities Company, have been
without water for two days be-
cause Of frozen mains caused by
street grading done after mains
were laid.
Many OF Alexandria'S frozen
lines are the result of street grad
ing work that has been done in
these sections of the city. Much
Of the grading left the street level
much lower and consequently
brought many pipes above the
frost line.
Commenting on the situation,
Mayor Dawson said:
Responsibility for the fire
hydrants is undoubtedly that Of
the city, but it certainly appears
to me that the water company
Is responsible for the mains that
have frozen under the streets.
Ample notice was given to the
utility to lower their lines be-
fore the streets were surfaced
and In many cases nothing waS
done about the situation.
RESPONSIBILITY THEIRS
81 am quite sure that many Of
the lines between the mains and
meters at the curbS were laid
under the supervision of the
utility and therefore appear to
be their responsibility.
"UnleSS this utility can rem
der satisfactory service to the
people Of Alexandria, then
think its time that the city took
over the operation of the works
as q municipally-Owned plant"
City Attorney Carl Budwesky ex.
pressed doubt as to who could be
held responsible for the situation.
He said:
"My investigation, consisting
Of queries to the utility and to
the State Corporation COmmis-
sion, Is to determine who must
remedy the situation. The city
may be held responsible for
lowering the street. Most Of
these pipes were sufficiently be-
low the frost line for the aver.
age weather. They would not
have frozen, feel sure, but for
this unusual cold spell which
has prevailed during the past
few weeks. In most instances,
however, / believe 1t will be
found to be the responsibility
of the property owner to cor.
rect the condition by lowering
their pipes"
MADE FIRE HAZARDS
Having been under fire previ-
ously for what city officials
termed inefficient" service in
that two-inch mains were laid in
many places where six-inch mains
should have been laid, the water
company was charged with delib.
erately creating fire hazards in
several sections of the city.
Demands made by city officials
were finally compromised in that
the water company will be given
a number of years to substitute
six-inch mains for two-inch mains
over approximately is miles Of
mains.
Efforts now under way by Mayor
Dawson to have the city acquire
the plant by condemnation pro
ce dure are expected to be
strengthened as a result Of the
present situation, it was stated by
advocates Of the municipal owner
ship plan.