CHAPTER XIX 



THE WATER PROBLEM OF A LARGE CITY 



193. It is by no means unusual for the residents of a large 

 city or town to receive through the newspapers a notification 

 that the city water supply is running low and that economy 

 should be exercised in its use. The problem of supplying a 

 large city with an abundance of pure water is among the 

 most difficult tasks which city officials have to perform, and is 

 one little understood and appreciated by the average citizen. 



Intense interest in personal and domestic affairs is natural, 

 but every citizen, rich or poor, should have an interest in 

 civic affairs as well, and there is no better or more important 

 place to begin than with the water supply. One of the 

 most stirring questions in New York to-day has to do with 

 the construction of huge aqueducts designed to convey to the 

 residents of the city, water from the distant Catskill Mountains. 

 The growth of the population has been so phenomenally rapid 

 that the combined output of all available near-by sources does 

 not suffice to meet the increasing consumption. 



Where does your city obtain its water ? Does it bring it to 

 its reservoirs in the most economic way possible, and is there 

 any legitimate excuse for the scarcity of water which many 

 communities face in dry seasons ? 



194. Two Possibilities. Sometimes a city is fortunate 

 enough to be situated near hills and mountains through which 

 streams flow, and in that case the water problem is simple. 

 In such a case all that is necessary is to run pipes, usually 

 underground, from the elevated lakes or streams to the in- 



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