Evening star., 1943-06-25
Our 'Archuic' Water System

The District Water Department
ought to be reorganized and a mod
ern system of unified control, of
metering all water used and charging
for its use, of collecting bills and
accounting for waste, should be in
stalled The Controller Generals
sharp criticism of the water regis
trar's Office, and Senator McCarran's
brief comment that the water system
is, archaic" are additional reasons,
If any were needed, why this should
be done. Perhaps the Commissioners,
with the additional funds allowed
them in the pending District bill, can
initiate some reforms to meet the
criticism of the Controller General.
The water system should be run
as a public utility, with the stock
holders, who are the taxpayers,
getting their dividends in cheaper
water Control over the supply and
distribution systems should be uni
fed. The Federal Government, the
largest single consumer, should pay
for the water it uses and this water
should be metered. Systematic effort
to detect and stop water leaks should
be maintained. Some incentive should
exist comparable with the incentive
held out to operators of a private
utility, whose jobs depend on efficient
operations. Until such far-reaching
steps are taken, the water system will
continue to function wastefully and
the cost of water will tend to go up
instead of down.
, The Controller Generals criticism
OF, the registrars Office includes the
practice of holding the occupant Of
premises responsible for the water
bill. suggesting that such responsible
ity should be divided between the
owner and the occupant. That seems
illogical. Water bills should be paid
for by the consumers, just as elec-
tricity, gas and telephone bills are
paid by the user. The fault is not in
charging the occupant of the prem
able system of bill collecting A
tenant, unless he can establish his
credit to the satisfaction of private
utility, makes deposit In advance
for services to be received, and If he
does not pay his bills the service is
discontinued. The same practice
should be followed by the water reg
istrar's Office. The authority to cut
water off for payment of bills
exists, but, as the Controller General
shows, it seldom Is exercised. Why
cannot bills be collected by the water
department as efficiently as they are
collected by private utility?
There have been any number of
studies of the water department, de-
signed to form the basis for its mod
ernization. Yet nothing ever seems
to come of them. Senator McCarran
had one made and the late Riley
Elgen, as chairman of the Public
Utilities Commission, prepared an
exhaustive report, full of sound sug-
gestions. But nothing resulted except
appropriation of funds for further
studies.
The people of the District hold the
largest investment in the water sys-
TEN. The National Government is
aasubstantial investor also, but much
OF it's investment long since should
have been written off as obsolete or
obsoleScent. The Government is
merely consumer of water now, for
which it pays nothing and wastes a
great deal. The Commissioners them
selves would perform a service of
value if they drew up complete plan
for water system operation along
efficient lines and submitted it to
Congress for approval.