MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
105 
In the matter of ownership and control it will be observed that the 
great majority of the water-works are municipal and that only a few 
of the smaller towns are controlled by private companies, Ann Arbor 
being the largest city whose water-works are under private management. 
Many cities in which the water-works were constructed by private com¬ 
panies have, within the past ten years, purchased the plants and there 
is nearly unanimous expression of satisfaction with the result of the 
change to municipal ownership. Nearly all the State institutions are 
supplied by independent water-works systems, the important exceptions 
being the State University at Ann Arbor and the State Normal Colleges 
at Ypsilanti, Mt. Pleasant and Kalamazoo. 
There are a number of villages in which a partial distribution system 
has been installed for domestic use and others where it has been in¬ 
stalled solely for fire protection by private arrangement independent 
of municipal action, the persons benefited being either part owners 
of the supply and plant or purchasers at a stipulated rental. There 
are also a number of toAvns not included in the list which have provided 
cisterns and fire engines, hose, etc., as a means of fire protection, but 
have not built a distribution system. It was thought best to restrict 
the table of water-works to the towns in which a distribution system 
has been installed. 
From data presented in the Manual of American Water-works it ap¬ 
pears that about 100 Michigan cities and villages have made special 
provision for a fire pressure above the ordinary pressure of the water¬ 
works systems, and in several cases a special steam lire engine is held 
ready for use. The fire pressure in the various cities ranges from about 
seventy-five pounds to 160 pounds per square inch, while the ordinary 
pressure runs from about twenty pounds to seventy-five pounds. Ac¬ 
knowledgements are made to the Manual of American Water-works for 
a considerable number of data presented in the table below, but for a 
majority of the cities and villages the data have been obtained directly 
from officials or residents. 
14 
