The blog This Day in Water History (“blog”) has an October 9th post which reviews an October 9, 1860 New York Times article titled “Cheap Water” (“Article”).
The post notes that the 1860 New York Times article expresses concern about the tendency to construct additional water reservoirs and related infrastructure that are quickly overwhelmed by demand which in turn requires more construction at significant costs.
A portion of the New York Times article is quoted as stating:
It would not be easy to exaggerate the importance of a bountiful supply of pure water to the general health and comfort of cities and large towns. But no sooner does this first principle of civilization assume the practical shape of costly water works, suited to the prospective wants of our growing towns, than lo! the reservoirs are but half full, and the engineers are threatening us with new reservoirs, aqueducts, engines – and taxation. It is only a few years ago that New York celebrated the introduction of the copious and inexhaustible Croton; what is the hydraulic condition of its streets and house to-day? Fountains as dry as the desert – hydrants that were to throw their full streams to warehouse tops, scarcely able to expand a hose; penurious drippings in the second stories of dwellings, and the dry whistle of air entering a vacuum, in the upper rooms; manufacturers taxed for water to an amount almost equal to the rent of their buildings; news columns filled with appeals to good citizens to refrain from the excessive use of water; official reports acknowledging the utter inability of the Department to check the enormous drain on the reservoirs. More than ten years ago we were told that the maximum capacity of the works was exhausted – works designed for a much larger population – and that suffering would inevitably follow an interruption of the water supply. And at this time we are paying for a reservoir of enormous cost and magnitude, to be drained like the rest, by the remorseless demand for water – a demand which increases with the supply – a thirst which the Father of Waters could scarcely quench.”
The New York Times article concludes by arguing that water is too cheap and is being wasted. It argues against the construction of new facilities and instead advocates metering water flowing into each dwelling and addressing corresponding charges.
The blog points out that while it was many decades before New York City began metering, as of 2011, more than half of the city’s customers are now connected to meters with digital transmitters. Such transmitters are stated to send real-time water use data to New York City using radio transmissions.
Click here to download a copy of the blog along with the 1860 New York Times article.
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