WILLIAM SIEMENS, P.R.S, 



293 



previous to their application and the established value of the water 

 actually supplied according to the meters : 



It appears from this Table that the collective rates paid by 15 

 consumers amounted to G85, whereas according to the established 

 value of the water they ought to have paid 4170, or more than 

 six times the amount. These are no doubt exceptional cases, 

 which have come particularly under the notice of the manufac- 

 turers because the correctness of the meters was disputed by the 

 consumers ; but they show the utter impossibility of estimating the 

 quantity of water supplied by a given pipe without the application 

 of a meter. In several of the cases stated in the Table, the 

 consumers themselves applied for the meter, because they thought 

 the rate they paid was excessive. They calculated no doubt 

 correctly the water actually required for their manufacturing 

 operations, but did not take into account the lavish waste that is 

 continually going on by taps leaking or left open, by broken 

 pipes, and by inundating instead of washing floors and utensils, 

 &c. From all the information the writer has been able to collect, 

 he ventures to affirm that fully one half of all the water supplied 

 by the permanent supply system, which at present is made com- 

 pulsory by Act of Parliament, is absolutely wasted, without utility 

 either to the consumers or to the water companies. It cannot 



