SANITARY BASIS 75 



water that would be legitimately used by an ordinary family. It was impor- 

 tant for sanitary reasons that no person should be restricted in the liberal 

 use of water, and therefore a minimum rate was fixed so that no temptation 

 should exist to lessen the real use of water, but only to prevent waste. 

 The minimum charge of $10 per year was therefore fixed for all who 

 took measured water. That this was a fair estimate was proved by experi- 

 ence. Fifteen years after the delivery of water began (in Providence) 

 about one-half of all the families supplied by meter were paying the mini- 

 mum rate, which entitled them to 91.32 gallons of water per family per day, 

 or, upon the basis of five persons per family, to 18.26 gallons per capita. 

 It was noticed for many years that a large portion of the families supplied 

 by meter did not draw more than about $5 worth per year. It is to be 

 remembered that the poorer people are excluded from this list. They were 

 generally supplied by one faucet at $6 per year. It was only those who 

 were supplied with extra fixtures for their convenience who had an object 

 in paying for and maintaining a meter, and they could have no selfish 

 incentive to save the water within the value of $10 per year. They used 

 all they wanted, but they did not waste the water. 



Amount of Water Furnished for the Minimum. Running 

 rapidly through 66 meter rates now before me, selected without 

 reference to this consideration, it is found that the average 

 amount allowed daily under the minimum rate is 120 gallons 

 per day; the median is 105; 80 per cent of the results come 

 between 55 and 170 gallons per day. The extremes are 40 and 

 300 gallons per day. 



As to the Sanitary Conditions. The minimum rate as usually 

 carried out is a clumsy and inefficient means of securing an ample 

 supply for everyone. If every family of five lived in its own little 

 house and had its own meter, the arrangement would not be so 

 bad. But people who live in one family houses are not the ones 

 who most need looking after. Sanitary conditions are more 

 likely to be defective in tenement houses, and the minimum as 

 ordinarily applied does not mean very much as applied to them. 

 To extend the sanitary principle of the minimum to them in an 

 adequate way, it would be necessary to make a minimum for 

 every house, making it large enough in each case to cover the 

 bill at the rates that are fixed for a supply of 20 gallons or some 

 other quantity for every man, woman and child living in it. 

 In some cases this has been attempted in a rough way. 



