The comparative annual water-rent charges for a large house, in different cities, are as follows: Columbus, Ohio, $23.50; Lawrence, Mass., $20; Providence, R. I., $31; Brooklyn, $29.25; Buffalo, $43.50; Detroit, $23.25; Cincinnati, $28.73; Cleveland, $21.50; Chicago, $34; Philadelphia, $27.75; Pittsburgh, $71.50; Milwaukee, $34.50; Louisville, $51.50.
The meter rate charges, per 1,000 gallons, are 10 to 40 cents at Boston; 10 cents at Chicago; 10.2 at Cincinnati; 7 to 20 at Columbus, Ohio; 15 cents at Brooklyn; 13½ at Baltimore; 6 to 12 at Cleveland; 20 to 30 at Buffalo; 15 cents at Philadelphia; 7½ cents at New York; and 30 cents at Providence, Rhode Island.
The meter rates, per 1,000 U. S. gallons, at Stuttgart, Germany, are 11 cents for filtered river water, 5½ cents for lake water, and 15 cents for spring water. The rates, at Frankfort-on-the-Main, are 3.7 to 5 cents; at Hamburg, Germany, 8½ cents; at Leipsic, 7½ to 9¼ cents; at Berlin, Germany, 6½ to 25½ cents; at Dublin, Ireland, 6½ to 11 cents; and at Glasgow, Scotland, 15 cents per 1,000 U. S. gallons.
The average dividend paid by the water companies of Great Britain, in 1870, was 7 per cent.
WATER PIPES.
The different kinds of water pipes in use are made of wood, cast-iron, wrought-iron, and glass. For adapting wrought pipe to practical use, various methods have been resorted to, that of coating with asphaltum, enameling, galvanizing, and lining inside and covering outside with cement. The latter method has been adopted by a number of water-works; but the liability to corrosion, from imperfect work and material, has caused its abandonment in a number of places. The Spring Valley Water Company, of San Francisco, have in use a number of wrought-iron riveted pipes, coated with asphaltum, of 20 to 42 inches in diameter. They are made of No. 12 to 14 iron (Birmingham wire gauge), and have a hydrostatic pressure upon them of from 200 to 400 feet. Virginia City (Nevada) water-works laid two lines of wrought-iron pipe across the Washoe Valley, 7½ miles wide—one of 12-inch riveted pipe, and the other of 10-inch enameled, lap-welded tubes. The pressure on the pipe at the bottom of the valley is 750 pounds. The enormous pressure has caused a number of rivets to give out. On the test for the respective capacities, the 10-inch pipe delivered 2½ millions per day, against two millions for the 12-inch pipe.
Hard water has but little effect on cast-iron pipe, due to the carbonates; but soft water attacks it so vigorously, that it not only gives a turbid appearance to the water, but seriously weakens the pipe by corrosion, and the consequent formation of concretions that reduce the capacity of the pipe. Hard water also causes the formation of lime deposits, that offer great impediments to the flow of water. These obstructions are now removed by boring tools forced through the pipe by the hydrostatic pressure. The Superintendent of the Halifax (N. S.) Water-Works records the cleansing of a 12-inch main, 32,000 feet long, in three-fourths of an hour. The preservation of cast-iron pipes, and the prevention of these concretions, are now accomplished by carefully dipping the pipe, previously heated to a temperature of 300 degrees, in a bath of distilled coal tar, mixed, to a proper consistency, with linseed oil, or an oil of the tar.
The Rivers Pollution Commission condemned the common practice of using hemp in pipe joints, because it affords a nidus for the breeding, development, and decay of animalculæ. Turned joints were recommended.
The results of the observations of this commission prove conclusively than the commonly received opinion, that soft water necessarily acts upon lead pipes, is erroneous. The Loch Katrine water, which is notorious for dissolving lead in water exposed to the open air, yet no symptoms of lead poisoning have been discovered since its introduction, eighteen years ago. The water will act upon the lead at first, but will ultimately coat the inside of the pipe with a vegetable deposit that prevents further deterioration.