The water systems of great cities are enormously expensive, as it is
usually necessary to build great conduits dozens and even as much as
one hundred and fifty miles long. The trouble with such cities is
that a very large population must be supplied with water from a very
limited area. The Roadtown with a population of about 1,000 to the mile
will be able to get its water supply from suitable sources all along
the way. The length of line to be supplied from one public station will
not be great, but the entire main may be opened so that one station can
relieve another in case of excessive use of water at any given point.
_Sewerage._
The sewage system of the Roadtown will, like the water system, be built
in comparatively small units, and will require none of the large and
expensive sewers seen in city systems. Wherever the Roadtown crosses a
natural valley in the land the sewage can be led off to a reasonable
distance from the house line in pipes and used in irrigating non-food
crops. The income to be derived from the use of this sewage for
fertilization and irrigation will be a considerable source of profit
and wholly without the expense attached to city sewage disposal works
because of distance from the land and the fact that the point of the
city sewer outlet is almost always below the level of land available
for such uses.
_Heating._
The Roadtown heating system will be of hot water circulated by pumps.
The heating plants will be located every two or three miles, which,
according to the engineers’ figures will be more economical than to
have them either at greater or less distance. The temperature will be
regulated to suit each and every tenant by the use of the thermostat
with a push button regulator in each room of every apartment. This
simple, but marvelously useful device, is now in general use in
thousands of first class hotels.
_Refrigeration._
The refrigerating system of Roadtown which will be required for food
and drinking water purposes could be turned into the radiators and a
circulation of cooled water or brine pumped through the houses. I do
not say that such house cooling will be established, for the Roadtown
house, through which the breeze will have a full sweep, and in which
the electrical fans will be plentiful, will have little need for a
system of house cooling, but if the people in hot countries wish it and
care to pay for it, eventually they can have it.
_Drinking Water._
The next utility for the Roadtown house will be that of pure, cool
distilled water for drinking purposes, cooled _only_ to a healthful
temperature. Because of the small expense for piping, this separation
of the system of drinking water from that used for bathing and for
spraying the lawn will mean that no method known to science for
purifying the former need be spared.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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