NEED ^ THE 0;y op /Hew York 'FOR' MQRE WATER ftisp Where it Can i^EST ^E OBTAINEP. Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library '1 Water is necessary for the advancement of civili- zation as well as for the growth of cities. as civil- ization becomes more complex it demands a more liberal use of water on the part of each individual. as a citv grows it re- quires more water just as rapidly as ITS POPULATION AND INDUSTRIES INCREASE. THE PRINCIPLES WHICH GOVERN THE DE- TERMINATION OF HOW MUCH WATER A GIVEN SUPPLY WILL YIELD, OF HOW MUCH WATER IS REQUIRED BY A CITY AND WHERE MORE WA- TER IF NEEDED CAN BE OBTAIN ED, ARE ALL SUSCEPTIBLE OF BEING SIMPLY AND CLEARLY EXPRESSED. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PAMPHLET IS TO SO STATE THESE MATTERS THAT THE LAYMAN, WHO IS NOT FAMILIAR WITH 7>j ENGINEERING TERMS, QJ WILL HAVE NO TROUBLE IN READING IT AND WILL AT THE SAME TIME BE BROUGHT TO A BETTER UNDER STANDING OF THE SUBJECT ? 1 'What AVater Is Used For Water is used for drink washing and bathing. it is used for sprinkling our streets and lawns and ( for putting out fires, it is used in factories, ,.• I if % * — w * " ^**M£NS ..... - t ^£- v ^ *y INTO THE NEAREST STRE SOMEOF IT, WHICH SOAKS INTO THE ^^P^F^ GROUND, DOES FINALLY GET THERE AFTER REAP PEARING IN SPRINGS,BUT MORE OF IT IS USED UP BY THE GRASS AND THE TREES, AND MUCH OF IT SIMPLY DRIES UP OR EVAPO- RATES. ONLY ONE HALF of ALL THE RAIN THAT FALLS GETS INTO THE STREAMS AND CAN BE MADE USEFUL FOR THE PURPOSES OF MAN. How Much Rain Falls if all of the rain which falls should remain on the ground and not run into the streams, in an average year it would,ln the vicinity of new york, accumulate to a depth of 48 inches. In a verv dry year it would only be 37 inches deep while in a wet one 63 "inches would pile up. This variation is shown in the sketches on this page, now, sometimes two dry years come together; sometimes three, four or ^flve years may be consec- utively dry, and there ^?^^wj^-may occur as many as 18 - ~- years in succession during which the rainfall will be less than the average . so also there may occur as many as 18 consecutive years during which the rainfall will be GREATER THAN THE f~ \, AVERAGE. ^^^p|? Reservoirs are BUILT FOR THE PURPOSE ~^fp^ OF EQUALIZING THIS LACK OF UNIFORMITY BY STORING THE WATER OF WET TIMES TO HELP OUT DURING THOSE WHICH ARE DRY How Much ^ater Flows in a Stream The amount of water which flows in a stream depends on the rainfall. in wet years there is much . in drv years there is little. In summer when the temperature is high and when the trees and grass are growing vigorously, much less of the rainfall gets into the streams than in winter when it is cold and vegetation is not growing . taking the year as a whole one half of all the rainfall flows down a stream and the quantity which flows is dependent on the size of the area which the stream drains. a stream which drains one square mile of country may have a flow, during f r esh ets, as high as _ 45,000 gallons per min- ute; during dry times its flow may be as lit- tle as 30 gallons per minute, while its aver- age flow for an aver- age year will be 800 gallons per minute, I ; How "Water Can Be Gotten \\ Water for a municipal supply may be j i obtained by building a dam across a stream, j! so forming a reservoir and from this reser- j! voir then leading a pipe to the city or j! town. it may also be obtained by digging j! wells and pumping from them. this how~ ]! ever can only be done in sandy soil. \\ a reservoir is necessary for the pur- j ! pose of equalizing the flow of the stream j ! by storing the water which comes down j! during wet times to tide over those times \ \ which are dry. there are very few streams [ 1 large enough to at all times furnish as ]! much water as a city of the size of new york || needs each and every day of the year. a j! stream large enough for such service j! would be over 20 times as large as the j! Croton River . j! When water is pumped from wells, |! THE SANDY BODY OF EARTH WHICH HOLDS THE j! WATER ACTS AS THE EQUALIZER OR RESER- j| VOIR, BUT NO MORE WATER CAN BE OBTAINED |! FROM WELLS THAN FROM A STREAM WHICH j> HAS BEEN DAMMED. THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE J ! IF THE AREAS OF COUNTRY DRAINED BY THE |! STREAM AND THE WELLS ARE THE SAME,THEN ji THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF RAIN FALLING IS THE \\ SAME,AND, SINCE ALL FRESH WATER COMES \\ FROM THE CLOUDS IN THE FORM OF RAIN , THE |! STREAM AND THE WELLS WILL YIELD ALIKE. / 6 ; : How 'Water Is Measured Water can be measured by yji CATCHING IT IN A PAIL OR A BOX. AffiK^ IT CAN BE MEASURED IN A RES- M ERVOIR WHEN THE SIZE OF THE^X| jt reservoir is known or 3y ^ ' ~ allowing it to flow over a dam and measuring its depth on that dam. The unit of measurement is the gallon, two pints make one quart, four quarts MAKE ONE GALLON . In WATER SUPPLY ENGI- neering the unit is one million of gallons. Rainfall is measured by catching it in a vessel and measuring its depth in that vessel. When the area of country which drains into a stream is known and the rainfall on it has been measured, the whole quan- tity of water which fell in the form of rain becomes known. Measurements of the water which flows in astream,when compared with the quantity of water which falls as rain, prove that only one half of all the rain which falls finds its way into the streams .the other half goes to supply the needs of vegeta- tion and is carried off into the atmos- phere by evaporation. I How Rapidly NewYork Grows Since 1900 the greater city has been growing at the rate of 125,000 persons per year. in other words this rate of increase in population means that each decade sees an increase of 1,250,000. Should this rate be maintained the pop- ulation OF the city for the next 20 YEARS, stated by five year periods.will BE AS follows:- 1910 .4,625,000 1915. 5,250,000 1920 5,875,000 1925. 6,500,000 1930. 7,125,000 The present population of Jersey City, with which all New Yorkers are more or less familiar, is about 250,000 .At New York's present rate of growth therefore, each two years sees it as much larger as all of Jersey City is today. How long this rate of increase will.or can BE MAINTAINED NO ONE KNOWS. ALL OF THE LAR~ ger American cities are rapidly increasing in size and at approximately the same rate. as long as there is an incentive for growth, and sufficient room in which that growth can occur, a city must continue TO INCREASE . Of ROOM NEW YORK HAS A PLEN- \\ TY, WHILE OF INCENTIVE, IT IS DIFFICULT TO j! CONCEIVE THAT THE FUTURE WILL HOLD LESS jl OF IT THAN HAS THE PAST. jj How Much Wat er Newark: Uses ^^^^^ The entire consumption of water in the greater city was, in 1898, 368 millions of gallons each day and in 1905 it had reached i A TOTAL OF 480 MILLIONS OF GALLONS DAILY. j[ The use of water during 1908 will be X DIVIDED AMONG THE VARIOUS BOROUGHS AP- ]| PROXIMATELY AS FOLLOWS; ji MANHATTAN) OCQ j! BRONX ]358 millions of gallons daily J, BROOKLYN 145 j! QUEENS. 30 " « - ]! R1CHMQNQ.. „.„,I0 \\ Total 543 millions of gallons daily 5 The per capita use of water for the \ greater city in 1898 was 115 gallons per i day and in 1905 each person used 120 gal t lons each dav. In arriving at these figures for the per capita consumption, no account is taken either of the transient popula- < tion or of the large number of commu- j| ters who each day come into the city from \ Connecticut, from New Jersey and from j[ New York outside the city limits. The to- jj TAL CONSUMPTION FOR THE CITY THEREFORE \ HAS BEEN INCREASING AT THE RATE OF A~ BOUT 18 MILLIONS OF GALLONS DAILY EACH YEAR AND IT IS SEEN ALSO THAT THIS RATE 1 HAS BEEN STEADILY MAINTAINED FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS. How Much^Vater Other Cities Use The use of water in an American city must be judged by american standards. In the following diagram are shown graphically the amounts of water used per capita in the nine largest cities of the United States. BUFFALO 1906 PHILADELPHIA 1906 CHICAGO 1906 CINCINNATI 1906 BOSTON 1906 CLEVELAND 06 NEW YORK '05 o CO CM BALTIMORC'06 ST. LOUISA o 100 200 300 350 GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY It is seen thereforejhat in its use of water, New York is not extravagant, but on the contrary, that it is one of the most economical among those cities bv WHICH IT CAN MOST FAIRLY BE JUDGED. These figures cover all water delivered TO THE VARIOUS CITIES, AND INCLUDE THERE- FORE THAT USED FOR EVERY PURPOSE AS WELL AS THAT WHICH IS LOST FROM LEAKY PIPES, THAT WHICH IS STOLEN AND THAT WHICH IS WAST- ED,WHETHER WILFULLY OR THROUGH IGNORANCE. How Much Water Is Wasted Water waste is of two kinds,that which is preventable and that which will occur un- DER THE BEST OF CONDITIONS AND MANAGEMENT. Preventable waste includes wilful waste such as that due to "letting the water run v whet hereto keep the pipes from freezing" OR IN ORDER"TO GET A COOL DRINK*! It INCLUDES ALSO EXCESSIVE LEAKAGE WHICH COULD READILY BE PRE- VENTED IN AQUEDUCTS, IN STREET MAINS AND IN PLUMBING EVERY- WHERE. Waste which cannot easily be prevented includes necessary waste which results from the use of water for sanitary purposes,and also that due to the thousand and one small leaks in aqueducts, mains and plumbing which cannot be discovered and repaired by any possible means . If meters were put on every pipe in the CITY IT IS IMPROBABLE THAT THE SAVING EFFECTED COULD EXCEED 15% OF THE PRESENT CONSUMPTION. Universal metering,even if it were pos- sible.could not make more water available. IT COULD ONLY MAKE THE PRESENT SUPPLIES LAST LONGER, AND FINALLY MORE WATER WOULD BE NECESSARY JUST THE SAME Capacity of Present Croton System Croton water was used by Manhattan and the Bronx during 1907 at the rate of 324 millions of gallons daily. the consumption of this water is increasing at the rate of 15 millions of gallons daily each year . therefore, in 1911 the average daily use of this water will be 384 millions of gallons daily. the capacity of the present aqueducts from the Croton valley, taken both to- gether , IS 380 MILLIONS OF GALLONS DAILY, the safe yield of the croton as it will be when the Croton Falls reservoir is com- pleted IS 336 MILLIONS OF GALLONS DAILY. It appears,therefore,that the pres- ent USE OF WATER FROM THIS SOURCE IS PRACTICALLY UP TO THE LIMIT OF ITS CAPA- > CITY AND THAT WITHIN FOUR YEARS, IF NO t DRY TIME INTERVENES, AND NO MATTER HOW j[ WET THE SEASONS MAY THEN BE, THAT THE AQUEDUCTS WILL BE TAXED TO THEIR UT- most in order to supply the demand. When this condition arises the time will have come when the use of water must $ be curtailed by denying it to the people $ who will need it and, needing f demand it. { This time is but four years hence and unless Providence sends.during the in- tervening YEARS, A PLENTY OF RAIN^T WILL BE IN OUR MIDST EVEN SOONER. ' t \ More Water from the Croton River? i i! Each of these small squares repre- sents ONE -NINTH OF ALL THE WATER WHICH FLOWS IN THE CROTON RlVER.THESE NINE SQUARES THERE FOR EjREPRESENT, IN THE ONE LARGE SQUARE ALL OF THE WATER WHICH CAN POSSIBLY BE GOTTEN FROM THAT RIVER .THE RECORDS OF THE PAST 40 YEARS SHOW CONCLUSIVELY THAT THERE IS NO MORE than this . the eight shaded squares represent that portion of all the water which new York can take from the Croton River through its present pipes when the reser- voirs now under construction are completed, f TO GET THIS EIGHT-NINTHS OF ALL THE WA- TER the Croton can furnish has cost a CAPITAL EXPENDITURE OF $87,400,000. 13 1 More \VkrER from the Crotw River? The one square which is unshaded rep- resents THE WATER WHICH NOW GOES TO WASTE OVER THE CROTON DAM . To MAKE THIS WATER AVAILABLE FOR THE USE OF THE CITY WOULD REQUIRE A FURTHER CAPITAL EXPENDI- TURE of $ 145,000,000 . iT SEEMS CURIOUS THAT TO GET THIS SEEM- INGLY SMALL QUANTITY OF WATER SHOULD NE- CESSITATE SUCH A LARGE EXPENDITURE ,BUT WHEN IT IS REMEMBERED THAT THE RECORDS SHOW THAT FOR 18 CONSECUTIVE YEARS THE FLOW OF THE RIVER MAY BE FAR BELOW THE AVERAGE, IT IS EASILY SEEN THAT TO TIDE OVER SUCH A DRY PERIOD WOULD REQUIRE ENORMOUS RESERVOIRS. SUCH RESERVOIRS ARE EXPENSIVE IN A POPULOUS COUNTRY WHERE LAND VALUES ARE HIGH. 14 i Other Possible Sources of Supply \ 1 . The Esopus, Schoharie, Rondout and Catskill Creeks in the Catskill Moun- tains WHERE 500 MILLION GALLONS DAILV can be obtained at a cost of * 161,000,000 . 2 . The Housatonic, Delaware and Susque- hanna Rivers are physically possible as sources of supply but they are interstate waters and th erefore cannot be utilized. 3. The Croton River by legislative en- actment CANNOT BE FURTHER DEVELOPED, AND FOR THIS SAME REASON THE OTHER STREAMS OF WESTCHESTER CoUNTY,AS WELL AS ALL THOSE OF DUTCHESS COUNTY, STAND i UNAVAILABLE .THE SAME OBJECTION TOO,NOW $ PREVENTS GOING FOR WATER TO THE SANDS t of Suffolk County on Long Island. i 4. The Great Lakes, the Hudson River and the Adirondack region offer avail: able supplies. but the great distance to the adirondacks renders the cost of getting it excessive. Water from the Hudson River would have to be pumped and so its cost would be greater than that of a supply flowing naturally to the city, even if it were necessary to go 200 miles in order to obtain it. t 5. Aside from a few small streams west of the Hudson which are hardly worth developing asa perm an ent supply, there are no others. WW 15 Does New York Need More 'Water? : ^^^^ The consumption of water in the great- er CITY DURING 1905 WAS 480 MILLIONS OF GAL lons each day. the city is growing at the yearly rate of 125,000. the use of water has been keeping pace with this increase at the rate of 18 million gallons daily. The safe yield of all the present sources of supply is not in excess of 500 million gallons daily. brooklyn has al- ready been in an unpleasant situation a number of times in years not extremely dry. in 1912 the demand for croton water will exceed the capacity of the present aqueducts, and in the event of a dry period before then, the borough of manhattan will surely experience a water famine. Richmond has practically exhausted her resources and has failed in her efforts to obtain relief from new jersey. Queens is largely dependent on pri- vate WATER COMPANIES; HER DEMAND IS IN- CREASING RAPIDLY AND THE SUPPLY IS NOT OVERABUNDANT. THE NEEDS OF THE FUTURE MUST BE PROVIDED FOR IN THE PRESENT SINCE OTHER- WISE GROWTH MUST CEASE . EVERY FACT, FIGURE AND ARGUMENT WHICH CAN BE AD- VANCED SHOWS THAT NEW YORK DOES NEED MORE WATER AND THAT SHE NEEDS IT BADLY. ll 1 1 if*- A Plaint Question THECROTON RIVER WHEN DEVELOPED AS NOW CONTEM- PLATED WILL YIELD FOR THE USE OF THE CITY 336 MILLIONS OF GALLONS DAILY. THIS CAN BE REPRESENTED BY SEVEN BAR- RELS WHICH COST $87,400,000. TO TAKE EVERY DROP OF WATER FROM THE CROTON WILL YIELD ONLY 4-6 MILLIONS OF GALLONS MORE EACH DAY. THIS CAN BE REPRESENTED BY ONE BARREL COSTING # 145,000,000. FROM THE CATSKILLS 250 MILLIONS OF GALLONS DAILY CAN BE BROUGHT TO THE CITY LIMITS AT A COST OF * 102,000,000. THIS CAN BE SHOWN BY FIVE BARRELS. THIS 250 MILLIONS OF GALLONS DAILY AND 250 MILLIONS MORE, CAN EACH DAY BE FILTERED AND DELIVERED INTO THE BOROUGHS OF THE GREATER CITY FOR AN ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURE OF ft 59,000,000. THIS CAN ALSO BE REPRESENTED BY FIVE BARRELS. - : THE QUESTION - Which do YOU think is the cheaper, 10 BARRELS OF WATER COSTING ft 161,000,000 OR I BARREL COSTING ft 145,000,000 ? LITmO. BY CMAS HART 3£ VESE f ST N K 16 ]aV3r7J