The Influence of Zoning on the Design of Public Utilities: A Symposium: Zoning and Water Supply

Zoning in relation to water supply is not new, and water supply engineers are familiar with the idea. Growing cities in hilly country early found it necessary to divide their distribution systems into low and high-service districts, and successive building developments occupied the areas adequately served with water. In these cases the water supply exerted considerable influence in restricting periodical growth within certain limits of elevation. The shores of many rivers, due to the need of large quantities of water for manufacturing purposes and the development of available water powers, became factory zones in the infancy of cities. In fact, the location of many cities was primarily due to an adequate water supply for industrial purposes. The height, bulk, and inflammable nature of buildings determine the water facilities for adequate fire protection and where these have been regulated by building codes, fire protection zones exist, in which different water pressures, capacities of mains, and types and spacing of hydrants are provided. Since the general acceptance of the germ theory of disease there has existed also an exercise of the police power over the use of private property lying within the watershed areas of public • water supplies to prevent their pollution, which established zones of sanitation.