APARTMENT HOUSE METERS AT SAN FRANCISCO.
San Francisco, Cal., too, has encountered the same "difficulty" experienced in New York in the matter of placing meters in apartment houses and flats. In both cases it was suggested that only a single meter be placed on the service supplying the building and that the landlord be responsible for the entire amount of water consumed. This plan was immediately attacked by the property owner on the ground that a tenant in such an apartrent house with a grudge against the landlord, by opening his washtub faucets, could run up a bill of over two thousand dollars a month, and it would be impossible to prove which tenant did the mischief, and, ordinarily, to collect any damages if the proof were shown. Under the flat rate plan, landlords have heretofore been accustomed to supply water free, for the exact amount is known and can be allowed for. A careful analysis of the case will convince even the skeptic that but one logical solution exists—meter each individual tap in the apartment or flat. Has any apartment house landlord ever assumed responsibility of paying for the gas or electric supply of his tenants?
San Francisco, Cal., too, has encountered the same "difficulty" experienced in New York in the matter of placing meters in apartment houses and flats. In both cases it was suggested that only a single meter be placed on the service supplying the building and that the landlord be responsible for the entire amount of water consumed. This plan was immediately attacked by the property owner on the ground that a tenant in such an apartrent house with a grudge against the landlord, by opening his washtub faucets, could run up a bill of over two thousand dollars a month, and it would be impossible to prove which tenant did the mischief, and, ordinarily, to collect any damages if the proof were shown. Under the flat rate plan, landlords have heretofore been accustomed to supply water free, for the exact amount is known and can be allowed for. A careful analysis of the case will convince even the skeptic that but one logical solution exists—meter each individual tap in the apartment or flat. Has any apartment house landlord ever assumed responsibility of paying for the gas or electric supply of his tenants?
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