294 THE SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF 



even be said that the water thus wasted is useful in a sanitary 

 point of view, by cleansing the sewers, because the deposit con- 

 tained in the sewers can be removed only by flushing them from 

 time to time. 



The value of the water that is so wasted may be estimated from 

 the fact that one water company alone, the East London, sells at 

 present nearly 800 millions of gallons a year by meter, which at 

 the price of Qd. per 1,000 amounts to a rental of 20,000 per 

 annum. They employ for this purpose only about 200 meters, 

 which are however of more than the average dimensions. 



In order to detect and prevent all waste of water, it would be 

 necessary to apply a meter not only to the branch pipe of every 

 irregular consumer, but also to every branch main supplying a 

 district or a street. The legitimate consumption of each district 

 or street would then be soon ascertained, and if in any one week 

 it exceeded that amount, the meter would at once draw attention 

 to the fact, the cause of which would frequently be found to be a 

 leakage from the branch main underground into the sewers, which 

 it is at present impossible to detect. 



In order to render the system of supply by meter perfect, it 

 should be extended also to private houses. Objection has been 

 raised against this proposition, on the ground that the poorer 

 housekeepers would economize water with detriment to their own 

 sanitary condition, and also that the cost of the meter is too high 

 in proportion to the amount of rent they pay. These objections 

 are applicable however only to the case of labourers' cottages, 

 which indeed might be supplied without restriction, or might be 

 charged a fixed rate till their consumption exceeded a certain 

 maximum. It should, however, be borne in mind that the 

 principal value of meters to water companies consists in the 

 prevention of waste ; and it is a question open for discussion, 

 whether the waste going on in houses on the permanent supply 

 system does not far exceed the cost of maintenance and investment 

 of a meter, which indeed would not be more than the cost of the 

 present cistern and ball taps. 



A system of supply by meters would relieve the officers of the 

 water companies from much watchful care and unpleasant dis- 

 cussion with the customers about the quantity of water they 

 consume. The advantages derived by consumers from being 



