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The Water Works Problem

The Water Works Problem image
Parent Issue
Day
21
Month
July
Year
1893
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The water works question will prove a troublesome one to settle. There is a general and widespread demand among the people for a great improvement in the water service. This improvement does not consist in an extensión of the water mains, which is the way in which the company has been making improvements in the past, but in the improvement of the quality of the water furnished and an accumulalation of a surplus of water in the reservoir to keep up a steady fire pressure and to be prepared for the conflagrations which may at any time visit the city. The water committee of the council, Monday night, as will be seen by a glance at the council proceedings, prefers a stinging indictment against the company and especially against its superintendent. Such a report should not have been made unless it was the intention of the eomrnittee and the council to follow it up. If no improvement is obtained the report will do more injury to the city than good. If the state offacts is as the report sets themoutto be, to set them forth without securing an abating of the evil would be like stirring up a putrid pool without cleaning it out. The report is not as the superintendent of the water works calis it a declaration of war, it is war. It is a grave problem which confronts the people. What shall be done to improve the water system ? It will not do for the superintendent of the water company to deny that any cause for dissatisfaction exists. Part of the indictment may be unfounded, part of the recommendations may be faulty, but the truth remains that there is need of improvements in the waterworks system, and that as at present run, there is not an adequate supply of water, and proper care is not taken of the water at the receiving basins and reservoir. And the sooner the waterworks company thoroughly realizes this, and also the fact that the people are wide awake to it, the better it will be for all concerned. The company is a quasi-public one. It is in a sort of partnership with the people. It contracts to furnish good and wholesome water and fire protection, and it is paid a large sum of money for this by the city and by private consumers. If it does not fulfill its contract, it will find that it will be impossible to collect its revenues. The interest of the people and the company are identical. Both need a good water supply, and the problem should be approached in this spirit. The company should never have waited :or such a report as that made on Monday night. And if certain of its stockholders had been in control we do not think they would have waited. There should be no desire on the part of any one to tear down or injure the company, which contains among its stockholders some of our best and most public spirited citizens. But at the same time the city can not afford to palter with that which affects the health or safety of its citizens. As a matter of fact, the city should own its waterworks system. The public servants, directly amenable to the people, would then be compelled to see that good service was secured. Public ovvnership may be, after all, the only lasting solution of the problem. There was a time when the water supply was sufficient and when the quality of it was excellent. We cannot conceive why the change in condition. Can the company be pumping as much water as it formerly did? Are the pumps doing as effective work and is there not a tendency to economize too much in fuel? Does the superintendent see that the reservoir, basins and pipes are kept clean and are the sources of supply pure? These are some of the questions which must arise in candid minds, It is said that the amount of water used has greatly increased but has it? Meters have been placed on the motors, which have caused the Backus motors to be replaced by Pelton motors, which use much less water and the consumers have naturally been using less water paid for by the 1000 gallons than when paid for by the year. People do not play with their hose as they formerly did. The novelty has wom off. It takes too much time and it is now too much like work. To a man up a tree, who uses his eyes, it would seem that there cannot now be more water used than formerly. The Argus makes these few reflections because it believes that the company can, if it will, remedy the condition of affairs which now ists. It will not remedy the evil to make attacks on individual members of the council. That only looks as if the company thought that they owned votes in the cauncil, because some of the alderrnen owed water bilis. If they do, they deserve more credit for standing up for what they believe to be the city's rights. As the Argus has previously hinted, there are members of the company who wish to remedy the existing condition of affairs. Let us hope that they may be allowed to do so.

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News