CAUTION IN MAKING COMPARISONS 25 



too high or too low because it is above or below the general 

 average, or above or below rates in some other system selected 

 for comparison. This temptation must be resisted. A fair 

 judgment of water rates cannot be reached in this way. With 

 some other commodity such a comparison might be made. The 

 water resources of the country are very great, but they are also 

 most varied. It costs far more to collect, treat, pump, carry, 

 .store and distribute water in some cases than in others. A 

 two to one ratio in actual water costs when compared on the same 

 basis is not uncommon betv T en neighboring systems, and in 

 extreme cases much wider ratios are found. In discussing 

 what water rates are fair, every tub must stand on its own bot- 

 tom. But the methods of distribution of the total charge that 

 is otherwise found to be fair among the different classes cf takers 

 may well be standardized. 



