Intergovernmental responsibilities for water supply and sewage disposal in metropolitan areas. Page: 14
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During the 19th century, most urban areas had a similar
pattern of development with respect to the provision of water.
Most always, the growing cities found the surface and ground
water supplies within their boundaries inadequate in quantity
or quality. Where possible they reached out to the hinterland
to meet their mounting water needs. These cities, among them
New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle, found that water
quality could be best insured through acquisition of a virgin
water supply. Cities less fortunately located or less farsighted
had to make-do with used water of poorer quality and less certain
quantity. However, whether a city was staking out new sources
or treating used water, underestimating future consumption in
planning water supply facilities was a general pattern. Almost
inevitably, by the time one project was completed, rising water
use necessitated the development of new sources or the expansion
of treatment facilities.
For the better part of a century, municipal efforts focused
almost entirely on water supply to the exclusion of disposal
problems. Without the guarantee of an adequate supply, the development
of a city could be impaired fatally. From the first
efforts in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, the cities
demonstrated a willingness to make major investments to secure
water for present and future needs. Used water was another story.
Throughout the 19th century sewage and other wastes were borne
untreated downstream or out to sea. For the cities, it was "out
of sight, out of mind." Polluted waters might affect downstream
interests adversely, particularly if they lacked an adequate ground
or virgin surface supply, but few cities accepted any responsibility
for their wastes. Not until well after the Civil War did increased
urban and industrial development and public health considerations
force, and technological advances facilitate, the development of
municipal sewage treatment works. Sewage treatment, except for those
constructed by industry, has from the outset been accepted as a
public, governmental activity.
American cities however never recovered from their late
start in treating wastes. Although water quality has become the
more important aspect of the water problem in most of the nation's
urban areas, cities have not met their sewage treatment requirements
anywhere near as adequately as those for water supply and
distribution. Unless induced or compelled to do otherwise, most
cities still tend to invest in waste disposal facilities only after
insuring their water supply for the foreseeable future.
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United States. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Intergovernmental responsibilities for water supply and sewage disposal in metropolitan areas., book, October 1962; Washington, D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1424/m1/26/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.