LITIGATION

A decision will soon be made in the case of the borough of Conshohocken and other municipalities against the Springfield Consolidated Water Company of Pennsylvania. The complainants allege unjust and unreasonable rates, and the case, after seven years in litigation, has come up for adjudication in a hearing before the public service commission. The water company wants a higher valuation than that made by the commission’s engineer of its property, so that an 8 per cent, profit may be realized from the rates to be fixed. The company supplies a considerable section of suburban Philadelphia, and the case will establish precedents in a number of other water cases.

The Schuylkill Haven borough has won a favorable decision in its case against the Schuylkill Haven Gas and Water Company. The borough sought to secure from the company an increased supply of water, and the decision of the superior court directs the defendant company to comply with the orders of the public service commission issued in May, 1915, which were, in part, these: To secure an additional supply of water; to keep open the valve installed for the purpose of reducing the pressure; to extend the 8-inch supply main from corner Main and Dock streets to Fairmount; to install self-recording pressure gauges and to prevent the water dam from pollution.