lion gallons of water a day, therefore, in 1922 the annual saving in operating cost alone was $19,145, making a clear saving to the department in operating expenses alone of $7,645 for that year. From this statement an idea may be obtained of what the cumulative saving has been since 1910.

In addition, had it not been for the reduction in water consumption secured through the introduction of meters, it would have been necessary in 1915 to secure additional sources of supply and to increase the pumping-stations at a cost of approximately $400,000. The necessity for this work was deferred until the present time, thereby saving the interest and sinking fund charges on $400,000, or about $24,000 a year for a period of six years, a total of $144,000, or $54,000 more than sufficient to pay for the installation of the meters. This estimate takes no account of the saving in the added operating expenses brought about by the addition of new sources of supply, machinery, etc.

It would be possible to multiply examples of the saving effected by the introduction of meters indefinitely, but no good purpose would be served. The technical press, proceedings of the technical societies and departmental reports are full of them, if one will only take the trouble to find them.

Effect of Metering on Public Health It may be well at this point to remark upon the effect of meters upon the public health by citing the case of East Orange. The death-rate in East Orange in 1910 with 10 per cent of services metered was 10.77 per 100 of population. The death-rate in 1921 with 100 per cent of services metered was 9.54 per 100. A study of the vital statistics of this town indicates that the introduction of meters had no effect whatever upon the death-rate. A study of the vital statistics of other cities where meters have been introduced will show the same result. In fact, despite the introduction of meters the total death-rate in all of the larger cities has been gradually decreasing.

If one, however, were to assume that the only reason for the installation of meters was the saving in capital outlay and operating expenses which would be effected thereby, he would commit a grievous error. As a practical matter, the conditions under which water-works in the United States

have been developed in the last thirty years have greatly changed, and the need of stopping waste for the purpose of conserving available sources of water-supply has become more important and is becoming more and more important each year.

In the past thirty years the population of our American cities has doubled. Concurrent with the enormous increase in urban population, a great increase in the density of population along the streams available for water-supply has also occurred. With this increase, large industries have developed and many streams which were formerly satisfactory for use as sources of supply in their natural state have become polluted with sewage from factory waste. This has made necessary the treatment and purification of water-supplies, which has added materially to their cost.

In addition, the great increase in population in American cities has made it necessary for cities to go farther and farther from the center of population to secure adequate supplies. This has also added greatly to the cost of water.

The economic burdens of water-supplies, therefore, have made it imperative to conserve waste in order to prevent an unbearable increase in the burdens of the taxpayer and the water-taker.

In almost every city a time comes when the new work required to supply the everincreasing waste of an unmetered system becomes so large, and the cost of building such new works becomes so great that the burden cannot be further borne and the meter system is adopted.

Meters Increase Efficiency of Water
Department

Another sound argument for the introduction of meters is that the only way in which a water department can be efficiently operated is by the introduction of meters. In no other way can the water unaccounted for and lost in the distributing system be accurately measured. The water-works manager operating a water-works system with master meters which register the amount of water delivered into the distribution system, but with no means of measuring the water actually consumed, is very seriously handicapped in determining and fixing upon the sources of waste, whereas, if all consumers are metered, he can sum

up the consumption as measured by the consumers' meters, compare the revenue-bearing water consumed with that pumped, and take steps to remedy the intermediate losses.

Equitable Rates

I have already touched upon the importance of establishing equitable rates so that all consumers pay in proportion to the service which they take, and the difficulty of establishing such rates with any other system of charges than the meter system. This problem of the equitable subdivision of the rates is a most important one. I will not attempt to go into the details of establishing a system of rates which will equitably distribute cost between different classes of consumers and between the taxpayer and the water consumer, but I should like to call attention to certain principles which seem to be agreed upon by courts, commissions and valuation engineers as to the methods which should be followed in the apportionment of the cost of water service. I do wish to emphasize that the existence of a mixed schedule for metered and unmetered water service, or a flat-rate system of charges, greatly complicates the problem of distributing the cost of water between consumers as well as between the consumer as such and the taxpayer.

There is no basis for establishing a rational system of flat charges. Such a scale of rates is at best a makeshift, and one man's guess is as good as another's. A system of flat rates must necessarily be based upon estimates. Such estimates are formulated on widely different plans, such as the number of fixtures or rooms or persons in the house, the floor space, or the height of the house, the number of feet front which it occupies, or the purpose for which water is used. Such schedules are of necessity incorrect and work unevenly, requiring consumers under certain conditions to pay but little, and under other conditions to pay exorbitantly for the water they use. The water-works system that attempts to work on a flat-rate schedule cannot possibly do even approximate justice. between its consumers.

The general principle for a proper rate structure for a water-works system may be outlined as follows:

1. The cost of service should be equalized between the water-taker and the tax

2.

the

In the same manner the water consumer has frequently been assessed less than his just share of the cost of water in case of municipallyowned plants, because too large a proportion of the total revenues required from the plant has been raised from taxation, and too small a proportion has been recovered from the water rates. Public fire protection service is a property benefit, and the cost of this service should be assessed upon the property owner or taxpayer and not upon the water-taker.

3. It is generally conceded that the revenue to be derived from domestic, commercial, manufacturing and public consumption of water for other than fire protection purposes should be subdivided between fixed service charges and proportional service charges.

4. There should be no free water, not even for municipal or public purposes.

The principles which apply to establishing fair rates may be stated as follows:

I.

2.

Fair and equitable rates must cover all
operations of the water utility.
The division of the rates among the
consumers must be such as to give
no undue preference to one class of
consumer over another.

3. In determining how the rates should be divided, the cost of the service required for each class of consumer must be determined, and the entire cost, SO far as possible, divided among the different consumers who take different classes of service. Bearing these facts in mind, the problem of fair rates may be broadly stated as follows: Every water-works plant, municipal or private, has a certain sum of money invested upon which it must pay interest or dividends, or both. In addition, it must set

aside an annual reserve for depreciation, or pay annually into a sinking fund an amount sufficient to retire all outstanding bonds at maturity. It must pay operating expenses and taxes. If the property is exempt from taxes, they need not be included in the gross revenue required, but the principle is the same. If the plant is self-sustaining, these expenses must be paid from the revenue of the water-works, whether municipal or private.

The problem of devising a schedule of rates which distributes the cost equitably among all classes of consumers therefore involves two main operations:

A. Determining the gross revenue required to provide interest or dividends, or both, plus a proper allowance for operating expenses, taxes, and a reasonable annual reserve for depreciation or sinking fund charges, as the case may be.

B. Establishing the incidence of the rates by: 1. A fair separation of the area served by the water purveyor into districts if, under the conditions of service existing in the plant, certain consumers possess the advantage of location, whereby the cost of delivering water to some is less than the cost of delivering water to others. Such a separation of area is not neces

3. Subdividing the revenue derived
from the sale of water be-
tween proportional service
costs and fixed service costs.
4. Subdividing proportional service
charges for water supplied be-
tween the classes of consumers
as a means of establishing a
sliding scale of rates, if de-
sired, which varies with the
cost of supplying water in dif-
ferent quantities.

If a fair rate structure requires that a portion of the charges should be derived from the volumetric measurement of the water consumed, it is obvious that the only way in which this can be done is by the meter system and, therefore, without meters no rational system of rates can be established which will work uniformly for all classes of consumers.

Second-hand automobile dealers Milk

Bond ordinance and forms

The model ordinances are based on a careful study of existing ordinances in the cities of New York State and in the hundred largest cities throughout the United States, and on suggestions secured from experts in the various subjects. Modifications to meet local conditions will often be desirable, of course, as it

is obviously impossible to draft a simple ordinance which will meet the needs of all cities regardless of size, character of inhabitants and charter limitations. The Bureau of Municipal Information endeavors, however, to make available comprehensive model ordinances embodying the best regulations found in existing ordinances, consolidating these regulations in such form that any city may adopt all or any part thereof according to its local requirements and limitations.

EDITORIAL NOTE.-In reply to an inquiry from THE AMERICAN CITY as to the availability of these orai. nances for cities outside of New York State. the New York State Bureau of Municipal Information (25 Washington Avenue, Albany, N. Y.), writes:

we

"It will be impossible for us to furnish copies of these ordinances to all who desire them, as they are prepared especially for the cities of New York State. However, whenever receive requests from city officials in the United States who desire to use these ordinances for their own city, we endeavor to serve them with copies. For institutions and libraries which simply desire these ordinances to be filed for reference purposes, we cannot supply copies. So. in any notice regarding these ordinances you might state that they are not available for general and wide distribution."

Rules for Laying Out Grades of Streets

NOTE: The following rules shall apply to all conditions encountered in the laying out of streets that come within the jurisdiction of the City Planning Commission, except where topographical conditions greatly interfere with the carrying out of these rules; in such cases the City Planning Commission may modify any of the rules. The rule for laying out curb radii at street intersections and angles, as adopted by the Commission, shall be adhered to.

DEFINITIONS

A street shall mean a highway, road, avenue, boulevard, lane or alley embracing roadway, sidewalk, and parking spaces.

The building line shall be considered as the line limiting the width of the public street and not the house line in a case where there is a reserve line.

Grade shall mean the fall and rise in a street measured longitudinally.

Slope shall mean the fall or rise in a sidewalk or roadway measured transversely.

RULES

RULE I-All grades shall be determined from the intersection of building lines or their tangents.

RULE 2-All grades and slopes shall be designated in decimal parts of a foot fall per foot of length. Where an arrow is used to indicate the direction of the grade, it shall always point down grade.

RULE 3-The minimum grade along the length of a street shall be .0075, and the minimum grade of curbs at and adjacent to intersections and angles shall be .005. The maximum grade on streets likely to become main arteries of travel shall be .06, and on streets of less importance shall be .08.

RULE 4-In order to reduce grades, the grade of streets shall be established so that depressions will be filled in, and summits cut down, to a reasonable extent; as may be determined by the City Planning Commission.

RULE 5-Wherever a slope is necessary or desirable from one side of a street to the opposite side, it shall not be less than .005, nor more than .012, figured between building lines.

C.P.-R3

RULE 6 The slopes of sidewalks measured at right angles to building lines shall be uniformly .03, except within the limits of the curved portions of the sidewalk, where, when necessary, the grades may be increased to a maximum of .055 and reduced to a minimum of .005. The normal slope of .03 shall be reached again, where possible, within the limits of the curved portions of the sidewalk, and where not possible it shall be met at a distance of not less than one nor more than two times the width of the street by means of a break in the curb line. The slopes of sidewalks will also be warped slightly at certain vertical curves.

RULE 7-Where a break of grade is made along the building and curb line on one side of a street, a corresponding break shall be made on the opposite side of such building and curb line, unless its omission will conform to all other pertinent rules.

RULE & Where the proper drainage, around angular building line intersections by means of permissible grade variations of sidewalks, cannot be secured, the building line intersections shall be sufficiently rounded.

RULE 9 Breaks in grades shall be placed at points of curve, points of tangent or centers of curves at building lines, wherever necessary, to keep the building line grade (along the arc of its curve) and the curb line grade (along the arc of its curve) within the maximum and minimum allowable grades.

RULE 10-Vertical curves shall be put in at breaks in grades at curbs when the difference between the intersecting grades is over .03.

Said curves shall have 2 feet tangents and shall have elevations at intersections midway between the intersection elevation and a mean between the elevations of the points of curves and tangents.

Rules Governing Restrictions in Layouts of Residential Districts

RULE IA-No building shall be erected on any part of a property within five feet of the property line, except in case of semi-detached houses, but no building or part thereof shall be erected on any part of the property shown on the plan nearer than ten feet to any other building.

RULE 2A-No building or part thereof shall be erected on any property beyond the reserve lines shown on the plan.

Rules Governing the Preparation and Submission of Plans of Building Lots for Approval

RULE IB-Streets and alleys shall have widths of roadway and sidewalks clearly marked.

RULE 2B-Street names shall not conflict with the names of any streets now laid out within the jurisdiction of the Commission.

RULE 3B-All block distances and all lot dimensions shall be clearly marked.

RULE 4B-All angles of streets and lots and all radii as well as tangent distances of curves shall be indicated.

RULE 5B-Corner stones at least 4 inches

C.P-RI

RULE