Four Per Cent on $1,000,000

In the city of Syracuse the meter rate has been reduced to 12 cents per 100 cubic feet. The consumer pays for the meter. The department charges the repairs to the consumer. It ought to be self-evident that the consumer will save by purchasing water at that rate. But there is one other important saving: On the conduit line at the outset the estimated cost was $1,000,000, or something less than that. Fifteen years following the installation of the first conduit a second one had to be built at a cost of, say, another million dollars. It is estimated that in 1925 an additional conduit, or additional supply, will be necessary. Four per cent on $1,000,000 means $40,000 a year saved to the taxpayers; so that while the consumer saves from his water payment the city budget is also saving a large item in interest charges per year every year that another conduit is postponed, due to the saving of water through meters.-H. C. Hodgkins, C. E., Syracuse, N. Y.

Capacity Charge and Output Charge

We supply a meter for every service. We make two charges on our supplies; the first charge being a capacity charge, or the charge we make whether we furnish any water or not; the second charge is the output charge, or the cost of supplying the water used. The first charge on a 5-inch meter is $1.50 for six months. It represents the cost of maintaining the service, interest on investment, cost of reading meters, etc. The second charge is 6 cents per 100 cubic feet, and represents the actual cost of supplying the water.-E. E. Parker, Superintendent Water Works, Madison, Wis.

A Saving in Investment as Well as in
Water Bills

It is not a question only of what the consumer saves on his water bill, but also as to what is saved in the way of additional investment in the plant. At Atlantic City some years ago the consumption per capita was from 250 to 260 gallons. After meters had been installed two years this consumption was cut down to 50 or 60 gallons per capita. We postponed an investment of more than a quarter of a million dollars for a number of years, and the saving in coal alone at the pumping station more than paid the cost of installing meters.

We

At the plant with which I am now connected we are furnishing a large population just inside and outside of the city of Pittsburgh. are on a meter basis exclusively, or practically so. Our consumers are paying less at the rate of 20 cents per 100 cubic feet than the people in Pittsburgh who have corresponding properties are paying on a flat rate. Pittsburgh has a nominal rate of 18 cents per 1,000 gallons, or 131⁄2 cents per 100 cubic feet, but is selling water to less than 10 per cent of its domestic customers by meter. In this case the meter rate is doubtless too low for the cost of the service, but when the city does go on to a meter basis, as it must in the not distant future, and has increased its meter rate to a reasonable figure, the great majority of those

now paying on a flat rate basis will save money, and the reduction in waste will materially reduce the expense of operating the city's plant besides deferring large investment for increase in plant. This is a concrete illustration of the saving to be effected by the introduction of meters, and, as shown, the saving is not alone in the reduction of water bills, but a material part of the saving of investment which would be necessary if it were not for the meters.-W. C. Hawley, General Superintendent, Pennsylvania Water Company, Wilkinsburg, Pa.

Economy of Metering Well Supplies

We are to-day operating about 1,800 meters. The consumer pays for the first installation, and after that we pay all repairs. If that meter for any reason wears out or becomes useless, we install another meter at our own cost; the consumer pays for one installation only. We find the result very satisfactory.

Our revenue is falling off in most cases where meters have been installed; but the falling off in revenue has been amply compensated by the saving in the cost of additional installation and in the consumption of water. We pump from well supplies, and the securing of this water is expensive, so that we think it wise to keep down the consumption and be paid for what we are actually serving. Our rate is 17 cents per 100 cubic feet. We do not use the term gallons because of the trouble in computing quantities, therefore we are using cubic feet as a basis, and 17 cents per 100 cubic feet is the maximum charge with a discount of 10 per cent. The first 5,000 feet consumed in a month is charged at 17 cents, the second 5,000 feet at 15 cents, and so on down to 9 cents for the large consumers. Our consumption is only about 60 gallons per day per capita.-Chester R. McFarland, General Manager Tampa Water Works Co., Tampa, Fla.

Reduced Pumpage and Increased Revenue We have something like 18,000 services, of which we have something over 15,000 metered. We furnish the meter free and install it. We do not install services. We keep the meter in repair without cost to the consumer. We have reduced our pumpage something like 15 per cent in the last five years, and increased our revenues 25 to 30 per cent.-Robert Elliott, Commissioner of Water Works, Nashville, Tenn.

All Services Metered, and a Flat Rate Within the past year we succeeded in weeding out the last 1,000 unmetered services. It has had a very remarkable effect in the reduction of our pumpage. For five years prior to 1913 we had an average daily increase over the previous year of from 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 gallons a day. This was cut down to 370,000 gallons per daily average last year, and the increase in our revenue per million gallons was $3.08. In other words, in 1913 we received $53,000 more for the same amount of water as compared with 1912. This shows that the general installation of meters is for the benefit of the consumer as well as the water company

or department. Our rate is 42 cents per 100 cubic feet. We have no minimum or service charge. We have 50,000 consumers that do not pay more than $5 a year; 13,000 that pay $2 a year. This is only made possible from the fact that we have 100 large consumers that pay 50 per cent of the entire assessment, otherwise we could not afford to furnish water at the same rate. We have some that do not pay more than 50 cents a year. The people in the city of Milwaukee have been educated that the small consumer has the same rights and should get the same rates for water as the man that makes beer out of it.-H. P. Bohmann, Superintendent Municipal Water Works, Milwaukee, Wis.

A Record of 1,917 Meters

At Waterloo we have 4,600 consumers and 4,500 meters. The meter rate is 25 cents per 100 cubic feet. On the old flat rate the average was $15 a year. Out of the last 1.917 consumers who were changed from flat rates to meters, for 97 of that number the rates remain the same, for 1,106 the rate was reduced an average of $3-43 a year, for 714 the rate was increased an average of $4.80; making a total decrease for the 1,106 consumers $3,800.68; the total increase for the 714 consumers $3,429.39, or a total loss on 1,917 meters of 19.4 cents per annum each. In 1910 we had 3,100 consumers, and our pumpage was 526,000,000 gallons per annum. In 1913 we had 4,600 consumers, and the pumpage was 490,000,000 gallons.-G. Shoemaker, Secretary Waterloo Water Works, Waterloo, Ia.

Increased Population, Decreased Pumpage

Years ago in Columbus we could scarcely pump the water as fast as they could use it. We arbitrarily made a rule that we would increase the flat rate 100 per cent and the people could take their choice-accept the new rate or go on the meter rate of 6 cents per 1,000 gallons. In 1901 the then superintendent of the water works department reported that it was pumping 21,000,000 gallons per day. The city of Columbus, according to the 1900 census, had 126,000 people; in 1910 it had 182,000 people. I reported for 1913 a pumpage of 17,500,000 gallons, as against the 1900 report of 21,000,000 gallons. We have something like 30,000 consumers in the city, and we have a fraction over 92 per cent of these metered.

There is no question about it, we could not go back to the old flat rate. If we did we would have to simply impound more water and make provision, at an enormous expense, to meet that increased demand. I really cannot see any side to this question but the meter side.-Jerry O'Shaughnessy. Superintendent Water Works, Columbus, Ohio.

A Practical Demonstration

I do not see how any town can ever think of selling water by the old flat rate. Everybody in Richmond was at first opposed to meters, because they said people did not use water enough to keep their premises clean, and that the question of saving waste was simply imagination on the part of the head of the water department. On one occasion, to test it,

I had four houses supplied from an 8-inch tap under 80 pounds pressure. Our rate was at that time 15 cents per 1,000, with no scale. I put a first-class meter on that tap to demonstrate to our city council that they were mistaken and not the waterworks people. The meter was started at 3 o'clock on the 31st day of July. I sent for the man who set the meter, and said to him, "Go down there now on the 31st day of August, which will make it just thirty-one days, and bring me a report of that meter." He brought it back to me, and I looked at it. The meter read cubic feet. I put it into gallons, namely, 456,000 gallons of water for four houses in thirty-one days. That is going some! The rates they were paying at that time were $3.38, $2.38, $2.88 and $3.25, respectively, per quarter. We have never had an excess bill over half a dozen times in three years for any one of those houses. They are all getting water now for $2 for three months and using 13.500 gallons. There is a difference between the flat rate and the meter rate.-E. E. Davis. Superintendent Water Works, Richmond, Va.

Noisy Meters Often Due to Faulty Piping

We have had quite a number of complaints of noisy meters, and in fully nine out of every ten cases we find that the fault is not in the meter direct, but is due to the faulty construction of the piping system in the house, which simply acts as a telephone or vibrator, carrying the noise all over. When we get complaints of that kind we send a man around to investigate. He puts a few pieces of felt between the pipes and their supports, and then there is no more trouble from noisy meters. In the few cases where the noise is directly attributable to the meter, on investigation we find that something has gone wrong, usually in the gearing, which allows more play than there should be to the working parts. A. A. Reimer, Superintendent Water Works, East Orange, N. J.

Cubic Feet or Gallons

It strikes me that reading meters in gallons is a very cumbersome method, and that the trouble connected with reading meters would be multiplied if you figured them all by gallons. For the last few years we have used cubic feet instead of gallons. Our original rate was 25 cents per 1,000 gallons. I found that 20 cents per 100 cubic feet less 10 per cent was practically equal to 25 cents per 1,000 gallons, with a slight difference in favor of the consumer. It works very satisfactorily indeed, and eliminates all the trouble that you will have if you work it out by gallons.-C. IV. Wiles, Superintendent Delaware Water Company, Delaware, Ohio.

To Economize Time in Reading Meters We read 5,600 meters in thirty-six hours by two men last month. From the time we started reading those meters until the bills were ready was seven days. The meters are located on the sidewalk. We have mostly straight meters, all set at the curbstone, with 24-inch covers on the meter boxes and 18-inch extensions on the meter. There is no box to open. There is a

small center cap on a large top. We use a 20-inch concrete box. In the center of the large top there is a small cover 6 inches square, and in reading that a small stick is used, about 18 inches long, with an iron shoe on the end of it. All that is necessary is to leave that center cap so that you can see the dial. We never leave the caps down, because they are protected by the iron top. It is generally a question of reading only one figure. We use the card system entirely for preserving the reading. These cards are distributed according to routes, and when they are taken out they are thrown in route form in their consecutive number, so that a man can carry these cards in his hand, just slipping one over the other so that he can easily refer to the former reading. We never read the odd feet, we just read the nearest hundred, so that on the ordinary house service it is generally necessary to read only one figure.

We are troubled very little with moisture under the glass. I think two years ago last February in the extreme cold weather we had a little trouble with moisture; but we carried an extra man who broke the moisture loose. It possibly reduced the record a little at that time; but very seldom do we have any trouble with moisture.-W. S. Cramer (C. E.,), Superintendent Lexington Hydraulic and Manufacturing Company, Lexington, Ky.

A Device to Prevent Fraud

It strikes me that in this meter discussion perhaps it might be well to give you the benefit of a new arrangement that has been worked out by one of our men to be used in case the consumer resorts to the practice of reversing the meter, which we have sometimes found

M

has been done where the seals were left intact. We put a small change gear on that will make the dial register forward whether it is set in the line of forward motion or backward motion. When we found that the readings were dropping off, and suspected that the consumer might be reversing his meter, without letting him know anything about it we put on one of these reversing gears, so that he can continue to reverse his meter but it still reads forward.-Morris R. Sherrerd, City Engineer, Newark, N. J.

Keeping the Meters Repaired

We have had some meters in service since 1874. After having registered probably 28,000,000 to 30,000,000 cubic feet of water, I have had them taken out and repaired; they then started off again, with a good prospect of lasting for many years more. If a meter is installed where it has a nice, gradual run of water, say 25,000 feet a month, it will last you for a long time; but if you run off 25,000 feet in a couple of hours that will use it up faster. I have a meter that was put in use about ten years ago; 14,000,000 cubic feet of water has run through it and it is perfect yet. I have other meters that were put in about the same time, and which pounded themselves to pieces in four or five years. It all depends upon the class of service that the meter is put on. Repairs to meters are made so gradually that we do not feel the cost; we fix them up as we go along; make new pistons, new discs, or whatever is necessary to renew the working parts, so that we make a new meter out of the old one every four or five years.-P. Walsh, Kansas City, Mo.

ANY questions have been asked about the work of making Redlands a flyless town. The means by which this has been accomplished is the faithful and wide use of a large fly trap, invented and manufactured by the writer, and shown in the pictures here reproduced.

The first of these traps set out on the street attracted much attention. In a few weeks practically every store in the city had from one to six of the traps placed in front of its property, and hundreds had been put in service in the rear of residences and around barns, outhouses, etc.

In order to organize this effort, an asso

ciation was formed to coöperate with the Board of Health, and funds were raised by popular subscription to place the work on a permanent basis. The writer accepted the position of "Official Fly Catcher," with the duty of seeing that all traps in the business district were baited and cleaned at regular intervals, and a few months later the office was made a city one.

An extensive campaign was carried out to eliminate breeding places of flies. Owners of stables were required to provide covered boxes for manure and were urged to provide hard clay floors and keep them. as clean and dry as possible.

ground. The trap may be set on top of a garbage can if a perforated cover for the can is provided. Three or four traps on each side of a block will ordinarily be sufficient.

Some kind of fresh or canned fruit should be used for bait at all seasons. In cold weather highly flavored syrups diluted with water or water and a little vinegar, and given a sprinkling of cinnamon powder, will be effectual. In early summer it is necessary to use fresh fish, run through a meat chopper to prevent cats from stealing it. Add water with a small percentage of formaldehyde to prevent the fish from growing stale. The best of all summer baits is rich, ripe, highly flavored cantelope, with sweet watermelon a close second. It is better to feed the fly royally outside under a trap than inside on the dinner table.

FLY-TRAP USED IN REDLANDS

The most important feature of a large street fly trap is that it shall be absolutely escape-proof. The traps used here are of wood, and are substantially built to stand hard street service. Each has two cones and a boxed-in space at the bottom, about one inch from the ground, for feeding, which furnishes a comfortable place for the flies to congregate in hot or cold weather. The fly can enter freely; when it leaves the bait it takes wing and is thrown toward the nearest light exit, which is one of the cones. Thus a large percentage of the flies entering are caught in the trap, and the sound of their buzzing attracts others. A fly trap should never be set inside the house. If properly baited it keeps the flies from trying to get into the house.

For city service the best setting for a trap is along the curb; for residences or the rear of stores a box top or large board should be provided, as the traps do not appear to catch well when set on the bare

THE FLY-TRAPS ON THE STREET

Coöperation has been the keynote of the methods used in Redlands. The first month's record of dead flies collected from street traps was between 70 and 80 gallons, and the residents collected as many more. The result is that a fly inside the house has become almost unknown.