CLOSER METHODS OF INSPECTION 137 



obtained as well as some idea of how that minimum is distrib- 

 uted among the different parts of it. 



Mr. Dexter Brackett * was a pioneer in investigations of 

 this kind. He used the English device called the Deacon meter. 

 This was used on parts of the distribution system which were 

 shut off by closing gates until the whole district was supplied 

 through one pipe on which the Deacon meter was placed. 



The writer has found that a rough preliminary idea but 

 often of value could be obtained by tests on the whole of a 

 small system in the early morning hours with the aid of a Ven- 

 turi meter provided with a good manometer, or even in some 

 cases by counting the revolutions of a pump, while the gates on 

 different parts of the system were being operated. 



More recently the pitometer f has come into general use 

 for waste detection. The pitometer serves as a very delicate 

 water meter. It can be conveniently attached to a water pipe 

 by tapping and without cutting the pipe or interrupting the flow 

 of water. 



All these methods serve to locate these stretches of pipe 

 between gates in which there are relatively large leaks. For a 

 closer and more detailed examination of the pipe system better 

 results can be obtained by shutting off all the gates on the 

 pipe in one block and supplying that block through a hose reach- 

 ing between two hydrants, one attached to the pipe that is shut 

 off and one attached to the pipe outside. On this line of hose a 

 meter is placed. Small disc meters have sometimes been used 

 for this service. Small Venturi meters with manometers } 

 give immediate indications without waiting for the time to elapse 

 necessary for a record to be made by a disc meter. The use of 

 standard orifices in place of the Venturi meters would simplify 

 the apparatus and a series of such orifices with graded diameters 

 in interchangeable discs could be arranged to accommodate any 

 variation in flow that might be found. 



In experimenting in this way it must be borne in mind that 



* Trans. Am. Soc. C.E., Vol. XXXIV, p. 185, 1895. 

 t Edward S. Cole, Proc. Am. W.W. Assn., p. 136, 1907. 

 jEng. News, Vol. LXXV, p. 1160, 1916. 



