The coming of Christmas, with its many joyful ac companiments, is a reminder to FIRE AND WATER ENGINEERING to wish all its readers, their families and relations many happy and gladsome returns of the festive season.

Hartford, Conn., is very justly pluming itself upon the success which has attended the means taken by its municipal authorities during the last two years to prevent water waste. This most desirable consummation has been attained by commonsense methods. The plumbing in private houses has been most carefully investigated, and old and dilapidated fixtures have been renewed. A constant watch has been kept over the service pipes, and all leaks in these have been stopped, as has also been done in the case of leaking fire hydrants. Old services that have been in the ground from twenty to thirty years have likewise been tested, and in nearly every case have been found to be a source of enormous waste. By adhering strictly to these methods Hartford’s water waste has been appreciably re duced. A similar reduction in water waste has been effected at Waltham, Mass., and it is likely to be still further reduced in the future by the installation of meters. At present these have been installed simply upon the public water of the city, as the state of the funds will not admit of the system being universally adopted. The present per capita consumption of that city as well as of Haverhill tells its own tale of “wasteful and ridiculous excess’’—an excess which could at once be curbed without the slightest inconvenience to the consumer. If these and other cities would adopt the meter system, their experience would at once be that of their neighbors in New England which have established compulsory meterage, or are establishing it year by year. Not only would the consumers be satisfied with a system by means of which they paid only for what water they used, but the expenses of the water department, owing to the decrease of waste and consequently in the wear and tear of pumps, the cost of fuel, salaries and maintenance in general, would be so greatly lessened as within a very few years to pay for the purchase and installation of the meters and give a surplus besides. If. then, Hartford, in addition to the gain obtained by stopping leaks and renewing old and wornout mains, services and fit tings, would also adopt the meter system, its water department would soon prove a source of surplus revenue that could be diverted to other local improvements.

If you are a current subscriber, login here to access this content.

If you would like to become a subscriber, please visit us here.