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Mr. Knickerbocker: #2 June 24, 1936. ?use of water measuring d evices, whieh read s: " I t sh a ll be unlawful fo r any public u t i l i t y , for any purpose whatever, in any c i t y or town containing more than 4 ,5 0 0 in h a b ita n ts, to i n s t a l l , operate or use w ithin such c it y or town, any mechanical water meter or sim ila r mechanical device to measure quantity of water delivered to water u se rs. (H.C.1.6112 - 1 9 3 1 .)” we are p rohibited from using any water measuring device for any purpose, and water u sers, on account of having a fre e hand, are co n tin u ally abusing the p riv ile g e and paying no a tte n tio n to the waste of w ater. For example, the Sewell Grocery, from actu al measurement by th e ir cooling machine mechanic and our cheeking, are using in the operation of th e ir cooling p la n t, 216,000 gallons per day, or about s ix and one-h a lf m illio n gallons per month; a t the fra n ch ise ra te we are allowed to charge them one-tenth of one cent per thousand g allo n s for th is w ater. $his is only one instance of p o ssib ly a dozen. In d iscu ssing th is m atter and the present law with Mr. M ueller, we are very anxious th a t a t the coming session of the le g is la tu r e a determined e f f o r t be made, through our le g a l Department, to e ith e r rep eal t h is law or amend i t . I f rep eal is im possible, I am of the opinion th at i t could be amended to permit us to p lace meters on commercial and indus­t r i a l p ro p e rtie s, ineluding h o te ls and others using excessive