AMOUNT OF SEWAGE PER CAPITA 119 



in Boston it was found that between i and 4 A.M., when little 

 water should be used, there was still a consumption at the rate 

 of from 30 to 35 gallons per capita. In Brookline, where the 

 taps are nearly all metered, from June to December, 1891, the 

 consumption from midnight to 4 A.M. was 44 per cent of the 

 total consumption, or at the rate of 25.8 gallons per capita, 

 and a careful inspection of every fixture only reduced this to 

 17.7 gallons. Other methods of comparison between the night 

 flow and that used properly for domestic and city purposes 

 led Mr. Brackett to sum up the question of waste as follows: 



" That there exists a waste of from 40 to 50 per cent of 

 the total consumption in most cities and towns where meters 

 are not generally used is a fact accepted by those who have 

 studied the question, but it is, I think, the popular idea that 

 this enormous waste can be, and is, almost entirely prevented 

 by the use of water-meters on the services. But the results 

 obtained in the cities and towns where the largest number of 

 meters are in use show that while the consumption per capita 

 is smaller than in unmetered places of the same general 

 character, still a very large proportion of the water supplied 

 by the reservoirs or pumps does not pass through the service- 

 meter." 



His conclusion for Boston was that it is not possible even 

 with the use of meters to reduce the waste below 15 gallons 

 per capita; and that if some efficient system of waste-prevention 

 is not adopted, the amount wasted will become, as it is now 

 in some of our large cities, from 30 to 60 gallons per inhabitant. 



As the result of this painstaking work, Mr. Brackett con- 

 cluded that the future water-supply of Boston would need to 

 provide 100 gallons per capita per day for the daily con- 

 sumption, made up as already indicated: 35 gallons for domestic 

 use, 35 gallons for trade and manufacturing, 5 gallons for 

 public purposes, and 25 gallons for waste, the last amount 

 being taken in view of the uncertainty of securing strict pre- 

 vention of waste. 



A common method of estimating the constant leakage and 



