FILTRATION OF WATER IN ITS RELATION TO THE HEALTH AND PROSPERITY OF A MUNICIPALITY BY F. 8. LEOFOLB A short discussion in connection with reprint of a paper read at the 25th Annual Convention of the American Water Works Association at West Baden, Indiana, May, 1905. Entered according to act of Congress Dec., 1905, by the Pittsburgh Filter Manufacturing Co., in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. C/ ( FILTRATION OF WATER. In the introduction of this subject, a quotation from Ellice Hopkins is striking as being peculiarly strong: “If we desire a strong, active, healthy body, free from pain and disease; if we wish an active, vigorous brain that shall give us clean, wholesome, energetic thoughts to the end of life ; let us see to it that none but the purest and most suitable solid and liquid food is supplied to our digestive organs under proper conditions to keep the body and brain clean, strong and enduring. Pure water is the only liquid agent in existence that will do this. It is better to fence the precipice at the top ' than to wait with an ambulance at the bottom.*’ The last sentence embraces the meat of the whole proposi- tion. Water is the most necessary food in ^^xistence for all plant and animal life. The human body is about 6o per cent., - by weight, water. Take solid food from man and allow him water and life can be sustained for a wonderful period. We have had many instances of fasting for a period of thirty, and even sixty days. Reverse the conditions : give solid food but ■ eliminate water entirely and the best physicians state that ten to fifteen days would be the limit of endurance. Now, the relative importance of water to the human system is within knowledge of all. Learned in early school life, the v knowledge broadens as we grow older. Should we not have the strongest conviction on the dangers of impure water? Purity in everything else we use or consume is the first de- : mand. f" In the manufacture of iron, it is put through many operations to free it from impurities. Only in its nearly pure state does it have strength and stability, making it of value for its thousands of uses. In making concrete, only pure cement and clean sand and stone are used. If earth or clay be mixed with it the strength is lost and the work valueless. It is so in all classes of mechanical construction. Care is exercised to se- cure the best materials, that we may have strength, stability and lasting qualities. We are careful in the selection of food and pass laws to protect us in this ; practically all states maintain a corps of inspectors to examine and test articles of food, and we read of heavy fines assessed against manufacturers and dealers in food supplies even for the addition of practically harmless preserva- tives. Yet water of any character may be furnished to the people with impunity — with no safeguards, no requirements, no protection of any kind or character from contamination or impurities. We have seen water supplied to communities so full of decaying organic matter that it was as yellow as tea, with an overpowering odor each time a faucet was opened. We have seen it pumped from a stagnant creek, the surface covered with a heavy, green scum, alive with mosquitoes in various stages of development, so vile that cows would not stand in it, or so thick with mud that you could not see a lead pencil held in a glassful of it ; the number of bacteria con- tained in these waters in some cases being more than half a million per cubic centimetre. There are few river or surface supplies that do no contain 2,500 or more per cubic centimetre ; while all recognized authorities maintain that one or two hun- dred should be the limit allowed in a water destined for drink- ing purposes. Now, with all these conditions well known, and extraor- dinary efforts put forth for purity in materials entering into mechanical construction to insure strength and stability ; with laws to preserve food from impurities and a widespread knowledge of the importance of water and the part it plays in the constitution of the human body ; with a standard of purity which scientists have set as the lowest that should be permis- sible ; consumers are furnished water such as is described every day for years, with no effort to improve or better it. and the people submit to it, with a growl occasionally; to which no attention is paid for the most part. In fact, in many cases, the people object if an attempt is made to improve conditions. It is expensive to install and maintain a fire department to protect property. It is costly to equip and maintain a police depart- ment, but who would be bold enough to say we should dis- pense with them? Is life of less worth than property, that we value it lightly, or rather that we are skeptical of the dangers lurking in the innocent looking glass of water? There is no better insurance on life than a reduction in the number of dangers that threaten it, and we should study those 4 which come within our vision, that we may better understand how to avoid them. Here, it would seem, is presented a magnificent opportunity for the press of the country to become truly beneficent to the communities within their sphere of influence by presenting to their readers, weekly or daily, the results of research by recog- nized authorities, holding before them constantly the incon- testible evidence of the value of pure water as demonstrated by statistics of the death rates in those cities which have es- tablished purification works. These absolute, recorded results always in sight would make the high typhoid death rates of others be such a flaring danger signal that even the most care- less and indifiPerent consumer of water must in time awaken to a proper realization of the vast importance of this question to him, and the insignificance of the expense compared with the benefits accruing. There are, according to statistics, 500,000 cases of typhoid fever in the United States annually, with 50,000 deaths. The press only record them when an acute, local epidemic takes place. Authorities agree that three-fourths of this vast total is due to contaminated water, and, therefore, preventable. Gather one week’s roll into one day and confine it to one locality, the news of the holocaust would be spread to the ut- termost ends of the world and be held up as a lesson to profit by. Unfortunately, this has occurred with alarming frequency in the last few years and the lesson is being slowly learned. Let us hope that such frequent repetitions will not occur in the future. It must be admitted that the prosperity of a community de- pends upon the ability of its inhabitants to produce that which is consumed in the process of living and a surplus which may be disposed of in other marts for gain. This gain constitutes the wealth of a community. It is also an indisputable fact that in order to be able to pro- duce, man must be in good physical condition. All must pro- duce in order to be of individual value in adding to the wealth of a community. However, all men are not producers, re- gardless of physical condition ; that portion who are not are maintained by the labor of others and their maintenance must be included in the total of consumption of any community be- fore there could be a profit. It is also a fact that it is the active workers who are peculiarly susceptible to the typhoid germ. Therefore, with the spread of typhoid in a community, we see those who are the real producers of wealth prostrated so that they are not only unable to maintain themselves, but are placed in the position of requiring more than the healthy drones. With any large proportion of the active workers stricken, the community would soon become a public burden. hollowing this logic, it is evident that with an epidemic cov ering a period of but a few weeks, and afflicting from ten to twenty-five per cent, of the poulation, as in several instances given, that community must temporarily be deprived of its means of creating wealth. This difference in conditions con- stitutes loss in prosperity, a loss that can be figured with a reasonable degree of accuracy in dollars and cents. The value set upon a life by generally accepted precedents of the court in this country is $5,000.00 each ; and on this basis a judgment was several years ago rendered in favor of one Julia L. Green, a widow at Ashland, Wisconsin, against the Ashland Water Co., for the loss of her husband, who con- tracted typhoid fever and died as a result thereof ; the Court finding the Water Company negligent in supplying a water known to be contaminated to its consumers, of whom Green was one. (Reported in J. W. Hill’s “Public Water Supplies.”) The typhoid sufferers at other places have proposed to enter suit for damages, claiming a liability in furnishing a water which was responsible for the fever epidemic. Such a suit would be watched with the utmost interest by companies and municipalities furnishing water. The result, if successfully maintained, would be far-reaching, indeed; and while it would be a drastic treatment of the case, it would no doubt result in the fullest measure of protection to all communities and render remote the recurrence of such calamities. Mr. W. P. Mason, in his work — Water Su])])ly — figures the value of life at $2,000.00 in estimating the cost of typhoid an- nually to Albany, N. Y., previous to the installation of a filtra- tion plant, and at this low rate showed an annual tax of $200,- 000.00 on the people at Albany. The average value of life lost is here takeii at $3,000.00, and this is conservative when we consider that about 70 per cent, of typhoid victims are in, or just entering, the prime of life. Taking the cost of funerals at $30.00 each and doctor and nursing at $35.09 for each case ; the average duration of in- capacity, forty days; figuring loss of wages at $1.00 per day; on this basis is given a talilc of losses sustained by some of the r, cities by reason of typhoid epidemics. In the losses have been hi^nred death losses, cost of funerals, doctors’ bills and loss of wages, as about these there can be no controversy. As an in- direct loss there has been taken the average earning powr of the deaths at $300.00 per annum each. This would amount to an annual sum sufficient to pay 4 per cent, interest on a debt of $7,500.00 for each worker lost, or an amount in every case several times more than the cost of a filtration plant. If a community has a certain number of active workers and five or ten per cent, of them are swept away, it loses the earning power of tliat percentage of the total number, unless they can be replaced ; in consequence the quota is made good by im- porting from an outside community. In the fact that the ranks are filled with little waste of time, the claim may be made that there is only a temporary loss. This is weak logic, however. If we draw from some other community to replace our loss we simply rob it or transfer our loss to the shoulders of others. in addition to this, there is great but indefinite loss due to the stagnation and uncertainty in business during epidemics of any kind. This is treating the question altogether as a cold business proposition. When we take a glimpse of the sentimental side, what a picture presents itself ! Who will attempt to place a money value on the anxious hours and weeks spent by a fond mother or loving wife as she watches, patiently, hopefully, by the bedside of son or husband ; wearing out her own vitality in her unselfish devotion? Can dollars assuage this grief or measure the loss to the fond parents whose only joy may have been removed ? Does it not seem strange that one such lesson as that pre- sented at Grand Forks, where 25 per cent, of the total popula- tion were stricken, should not have sent forth such a volume of lamentation as to be heard in every corner of the world and rouse the most indifferent and mercenary soul to action ? Must it be repeated many times, with the sacrifice of thousands of lives, before the false financial theory at present in municipal vogue is finally acknowledged as not only criminal, but ex- travagant ? There is, in this connection, another phase of the matter. During an investigation on this subject, there were mailed some thirty or forty letters to Water Companies and cities who had adopted filter plants, requesting data as to the increase in revenue clue to the furnishing- of a better water to consumers. The average increase of those furnishing the data requested, for the first three years, was 67 per cent., or 22 1-3 per cent., per annum. Some of this, of course, may be accounted as due to natural growth, but the plants selected had all been operating for some years previous to filter installations and in the re- ports the credit was given, practically unanimously, to the filter plants and the better water, by such expressions as these: “We could not do business without it”; “We could only put out fires if we had no filter plant” ; “A filter plant is absolutely essential, and our experience has been that it is an exceptionally good investment” ; “We would not be without a filter under any circumstances” ; and many others of similar nature. Another peculiar feature is the fact that the ownership of filtration plants, as shown by the Mw/nVf/^a/ I'Tar of 1902 (page 13), published by the Engineering Nezvs, is 100 by pri- vate, to 40 by public, owners — a very good indication of the commercial value as an investment. And it must be remem- bered that a very large proportion, especially of the smaller plants, were installed for clarification purposes before the bac- terial theory was generally understood or demonstrated as an absolute, known element in the spread of disease. \W neglect and refusal to purify our water supplies, are we not losing sight, not only of all feeling or sentiment, of care for the health and lives of our fellow beings, but also allowing to pass unheeded splendid commercial opportunities? While it would seem that the art of water filtration as dem- onstrated by results is so near the state of perfection as to leave no argument open to skeptics, investigations now being conducted on a very careful and elaborate scale seem to give promise of even more jjhenomenal results that may be accom- plished in mechanical hit ration plants. The writer was fortunate in being rather intimately con- nected with the first practical investigation in these new lines and quotes briefly, from the report contained in LUilletin No. 76, page 44, issued April 3rd by the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, on these experiments, con- ducted by Karl F. Kellerman and C. Arthur Brown at Ander- son, Ind. : “The water supply at Anderson, Indiana, offered exceptional u)pportunities for demonstrating the efficiency of copper in re- 8 movino' intestinal bacteria. The water is drawn from Wdiite River, into which the City of Mnncie empties its entire sew- age, and durin^e;' the entire four weeks of the test conducted on the use of copper in connection with filtration, the river was ice-bound, making a closed conduit for the diluted sewage from Muncie and smaller towns further up the river. The water was very high in albuminoid and free ammonia and ex- ceptionally high in chloride, due to salt water from the gas wells above Muncie. The turbidity was low and the color slight. Fortunately for the thorough testing of the value of copper, the filter, owing to some structural defects, was unable to effect a high percentage of reduction of bacteria at this time. The number of bacteria in the river ranged from 13,000 to 155,000 per cubic centimetre at irregular intervals during the test, usually remaining above 50,000. The number of bacteria in the filtered water varied between 15,000 and 400 per cubic centimetre, usually remaining above 3,000. “For ten days, February 2-1 1, 1905, alum was used as a coagulant. Bacillus coli was always present in the river and usually in the filtered water. On February nth, iron sulphate containing i per cent, copper sulphate was introduced in quan- tities of 1^2 grains to the gallon of water (approximately I part copper to 4,000,000 parts water). Lime was added, 2 grains per gallon, the treatment continued four days, during this time only once was there any indication of the presence of Bacillus coli, and this cccurred immediately after a leak devel - oped in the air pipe of the wash system, allowing unfiltered water to pass into pipes. The following five days Bacillus coli developed but once and this was immediately following a re- appearance of the leak in the air pipe. “Iron sulphate containing one-half per cent, copper sulphate was now applied at the rate of 1.5 grains per gallon (approxi-- mately one part copper sulphate to 8,000,000 parts water). Bacillus coli was eliminated during the two days that this mix- ture was used, iron sulphate containing only one-fourth per cent, copper sulphate (one part to 15,000,000 parts water) was substituted one day. This amount was insufficient to eradicate completely the Bacillus coli and two of the filter samples con- tained this organism. “Pure iron sulphate was then used at the rate of 3 grains per gallon and Bacillus coli developed from samples of each filter. From the preceding experiments there seems to be no 9 doubt that the filtering of polluted water of this character through the layer of coagulum of iron and copper which forms on the filter bed brings the bacteria borne into the water into contact with the precipitatel copper for a sufficient length of time to destroy Bacillus coli and as Bacillus typhi is still more sensitive to the action of copper it must necessarily be removed from the filtered water.” A further investigation covering a period of several months and carried on with the most minute care and a thorough con- sideration of every point involved has since been concluded and a report will probably shortly be issued giving the results obtained at another point. lO Report from Proceedings American IV aienvorks Association , 1905. FILTRATION OF WATER IN ITS RELATION TO THE HEALTH AND PROSPERITY OE A MUNICI- PALITY. F. B. Leopold. 'The first notable epidemic of which T liave a record in this country was at Plymoiiin, Fa., in 1885 ; a village of 8,000 in- habitants, 1,100 of whom were stricken with typhoid, resulting in I [4 deaths. In 1895 Gi*and Forks, N. D., a village of about 6,000 population, had 1,500 to 2,000 cases (25 per cent, of her population) and about 200 deaths. I quote the following from a letter recently received from Dr. H. H. Healy, Secretary of the State Board of Flealth of North li)akota ; ‘‘Previous to the epidemic the city water supply was taken from the Red l.ake river, which is a small, unnavigable stream. Twenty-four miles above Grand Forks, by car line, Crookston was situated, with a population at that time of about three thousand. During the summer of 94 they had a good many cases of typhoid fever at Crookston. Their main sewer passed under one of the railroad embankments just before emptying into the Red Lake river. Some time during the summer the embankment crushed in the sewer, shutting it off. The sewage then came to the surface, and formed a small stagnant pond held back by the embankment. This remained, I think, for about two months, continually increasing in amount. Just about the time that ice formed on the Red Lake river this sewer under the track was opened up and the dammed back pond of sewage was allowed to flow out rapidly underneath the ice. This was, of course, the time of year when the water in the river would be quite low, so that there was little chance for proper dilution and aeration. As a result, some two or three weeks after this sewage was opened, the young people of Grand Forks took sick by the dozens, then by the hundreds. The degree of virulency seemed to be unusually severe. I am unable to state the total number of cases, but there must have been between fifteen hundred and two thousand cases during the next three months. The total population at that time was about six thousand. There were probably about two hundred deaths. The above statements are not accurate, but will give you an idea as nearly as I can of the epidemic. I may state that the following year Grand Forks established a filtration system after plan of the Lawrence filter in Massa- chusetts, which has given splendid satisfaction. Typhoid fever, originating in town, is almost nnknoiviiT In 1903 the whole country was shocked by the records of Ithaca, N. Y., and Butler, Pa., which have made the names of these two obscure towns familiar throughout the world. Ith- aca, N. Y., with a population of 13,000, had 1,350 cases of fever and 78 deaths ; resulting in Cornell University being de- serted for a time, the importation of doctors and nurses to take care of the sick and dying, a pall of uncertainty and stagnation covering the whole city for months, and a cost in money incal- culable. The epidemic was caused, as the investigation demon- strated, by a contaminated water suppl3% through drainage which was washed into the stream supplying water to the city. The Ithaca epidemic covered the period between January nth and April 15th, 1903, and was distributed pretty well over the whole city. Mr. Geo. A. Soper, C. E., made a thorough in- vestigation of every i)hase of the situation, for the New York State Department of Health, covering the water supply for the city and Cornell University While no cases were traced directly to the latter supply, it was shown to be in constant danger of contamination from vaults. The supply furnished the city, however, is taken from vSix Mile creek, and on this creek, but a short distance from the intake, within the city limits, were found 17 vaults overhanging or close to and draining directly into it.. Several cases of typhoid occurring in the few months previous to the epidemic were also located within the drainage area of this stream, and the heavy rains occurring a couple of weeks before and washing all the accu- mulated filth into the creek were undoubtedlv responsible for the havoc of the next three months. In this connection attention is called to one incident of this epidemic. In the course of the investigation a number of wells were examined and many con- demned. At one point a local outbreak of some 70 cases oc- curred, with four or five deaths. This was traced directly to the use of water from one of the wells not examined. An in- vestigation showed that the sewer drain from a house con- taining a typhoid patient passed near this well, discharging partly into the ground through a defective joint and cou- 12 laminating' the well ; thus illustrating the danger of wells in a populous district. Both the Water Co. of Ithaca and the University began the construction of filtration works immediately, and completed them as rapidly as possible, but the damage had already been done and the city was waiting to count the cost. We will see later what this amounts to. The next notable epidemic was that occurring at Butler, Pa., a city of 18,000 population, in which 1,348 persons were stricken within the short period of ninety days and t t t deaths occurred, as given in the report of the State Board of Health. The conditions here were somewhat different from those at Ithaca, inasmuch as precautions were already being taken to secure the fullest protection to the water supply, and the town was caught practically in the situation of a man putting a new roof on his domicile Avhen an unexpected rainstorm comes. Butler had a splendid waterworks near completion. One of the storage dams had been washed away and a new one was being built. It had completed a filter plant and was putting in new pumping machinery. The destruction of the dam necessi- tated the use ot a water known to be more or less polluted. Nevertheless, as long as the filter ])lant was operating there was no sign of danger. During October, however, on account of the changes in the pumping static n, the filter was shut off at intervals to allow work to proceed on these changes ; and im- mediately there appeared the epidemic. Within ten days after the polluted water began to be pumped direct the physicians were overwhelmed with calls. By No- vember 29th the disease was so widespread and serious that a public mass meeting was called and a relief committee organ- ized. In order to meet the expense of the committee $25,000 was voluntarily subscribed and it was estimated that $75,000 would be needed. Nurses and physicians were procured from Pittsburg, Philadelphia and other places. The work at the station was rushed to completion at the earliest possible mo- ment, but to December 17, 1903, there was a total of 1,270 cases reported, with 56 deaths. In this case the infection was traced to the drainage from a miner’s cabin in which there was typhoid fever. The drainage from this cabin was directly into a small branch, the flow from which entered into the stream from which the supply was taken, and at a ])oint a few yards above the intake to station. 13 The value of the filter plant is so strongly emphasized her^- that I quote the conclusions of the State Board of Health (pages 47 and 48 of report issued by them on the ‘‘Butler Epi- demic”) : “The conclusions to be drawn from a review of the facts as they have been found to exist are that, following the destruc- tion of the Roydstown dam on August 28, water for distribu- tion to the people of Butler was taken from the Connoquenes- sing creek through an emergency intake at the pumping sta- tion ; an examination of the waters of this creek showed that it maintains a fairly constant evidence of pollution, and that at various periods the operation of the filter plant designed to remove such pollution was partially or entirely suspended, and that as a result of this polluted water being used for domestic purposes, 1,348 persons who so used it were stricken with typhoid fever between October i, 1903, and January 29, 1904, with III fatalities. “In comparison with other epidemics of typhoid fever which have occurred at different periods, Butler presents in point of numbers one of the greatest epidemics in proportion to the population in the history of the world ; the records in com- parison with certain other epidemics being as follows : Location. Date. Population. Cases. Deaths Lausen, Switzerland . . . . . . . 1872 780 144 Caterham, England . . . , 1879 5,800 352 21 Plymouth, Pa i88s 8,000 1,104 114 Ithaca, N. Y ^903 13,000 1,300 78 Butler, Pa 1903 and 1904 18,000 1,348 III “It will be noticed from these statistics that Pennsylvania, within the last score of years, has contributed two of the most serious epidemics of a preventable disease which have occurred in recent years. “This epidemic illustrates the serious burden of responsi- bility which rests upon both municipal and private corporations engaged in suptilying water for domestic uses, and at the same time demonstrates that the streams of our State even in com- paratively remote sections are cajiable of receiving such serious contamination that they should become the objects of the most careful supervision on the part of local and State authorities. “That such a distressing calamity could occur in a commu- nity which prided itself on the safeguards of storage and filtra- tion which they had provided, naturally excites the greatest anxiety concerning^ those very numerous communities which have no such protection. ‘‘The efforts which have been made to secure a pure water supply for Butler have been of a far more energetic character than the very great majority of our municipalities have made. “While ample storage has been provided for raw water and competent filters have been installed, the Butler system yet lacks the storage facilities for filtered water which would safe- guard the town in event of enforced suspension of filtration for a period greater than twenty-four hours. “The cificiency of filtratioji as a means of purifying water has been well illustrated in this instance, for although the pol- luted water of the Connoquenessing creek was used from August 28 to November 15, typhoid fever did not occur until the operation of the filter plant was interrupted in October. No object lesson to be learned from the epidemic can be com- pared, however, with the necessity which has been shown to exist for the compulsory registration by physicians of contag- ious and infectious diseases occurring in rural districts.” While it is notable that the years 1903 and 1904 have been unusually prolific in the production of typhoid fever, it is also notable that the sources of the origin of local epidemics have been more carefully traced and definitely located in the con- tamination of the water supplies. Columbus, the capital city of Ohio, during the first four months of 1904 suffered very severely. During January, Feb- ruary, March and April there were reported, according to Mr. of typhoid, with 166 deaths. A very full report was made by E. A. Moriarty, Secretary of the Board of Health, 1,640 cases Prof. Eno, of the Ohio State University, in the “Engineering News” of February ii, 1904, from which extracts are taken: “Columbus secures water from Scioto river and partially from wells. From the river the water is supposed to be drawn from a system of galleries located in the river and consisting of about 12,850 feet or over two miles of 42-inch C. I. and brick conduit. The wells consist of 32 driven and one large open well 25 feet in diameter. The efforts in this direction, how- ever, have proven the absolute inadequacy of such supply — the necessity of using the wajer direct from the river remaining as strong as ever. “The reports and examinations of this water for the last five years by the State Board of Health have shown a badly pol- 15 luted water. The examination of 515 samples, ’89 to ’03, shows an average number of bacteria of 2,228 and a range of from 160 to 20,000 per C. C. Only 7 per cent, of these samples fall below 300 per C. C. and, as Mr. Horton says, indicate “how undesirable and unsafe’ the supply is. “The average number of typhoid cases for the last five years has been about 480 per annum, with about 10 per cent, fatali- ties. With these constant warnings and continuous, unneces- sary loss of life, it required the sweeping epidemic of January and February of this year to awaken Columbus to a realization of its responsibilities. During January there were reported 724 cases, and to February 7th, 319 cases of fever; a total of 1,083 cases, with a total, to that date, of 57 deaths.” As soon as the rapid increase in cases indicated unusual pol- lution of the water supply, a systematic search was made for the trouble. Samples were taken at various points along the river and on January 14th sewage was discovered emptying into “Dry Run,” which flows into the Scioto river, discharging from a 20-inch sewer connected to the State Hospital for In- sane. Samples were taken from this run and from the river above and below the mouth of it. That from above showed considerable pollution. The Dry Run sample was nearly as bad as the average Columbus sewage. The sample taken below, while it did not show as much pollution as it should, consider- ing the discharge of Dry Run, Mr. E. V. Horton, State Bacteri- ologist, states this was undoubtedly due to the fact that the place from which it was taken was partially shielded from this discharge ; and while he does not in his report lay all the blame on the sewage of the hospital for the pollution found in the river, he states that now that further discharges from that in- stitution are stopped, he hopes to see a notable decrease in the pidemic after the period of incubation of the disease effected by pollution has passed. In this expressed prediction he was ])roven correct by after results. In the “Engineering News” of February 25th, 1904, is a communication from Mr. Allen Hazen stating that the condi- tions found on this investigation are identical with those found by him and reported in March, 1895, in which report atten- tion was called to hospital sewer and to the fact that the Scioto river was unfit for use as a public supply without purification. Still, with this warning ten years ago, it required the actual fulfillment of it in a serious epidemic before the i)eople were 16 aroused to the point of action. Colnnibns will install a filtra- tion plant within the next fevv^ months. prevailing the same conditions. The authorities conducted an investigation under the auspices of one of the recognized water I now have in mind another municipality in which there are supply experts some thirteen years ago. The findings of this report were that the supply was unfit for use without purifica- tion. How much greater the necessity then after thirteen years, with the increased population and greater number of sources of pollution ! The doctors of this community are a unit in voicing the need for better water. Still, when the mat- ter was taken up by the authorities a year ago the press and the people made such an outcry over the proposed expense that it was dropped, and probably will be until the community is visited by some such scourge as Columbus experienced ; the cost of which will several times exceed the cost of a filtration plant, and leave a heritage of grief and death that will not be effaced for generations. Among the lesser outbreaks of typhoid which occurred dur- ing 1903 and 1904, in an epidemic form, though not of such severity as those before mentioned, may be given Leadville, Colo., with a population of 15,000, where in about thirty days there were reported 500 cases and 23 deaths (Report of C. E. Cooper, M. D., Secretary Colorado State Board of Health). Watertown, N. Y., with a population of 25,000, during Janu- ary and February of 1904 had 582 cases of fever and 49 deaths (Report of City Clerk, Dec. 24, 1904). An investigation and report made by Prof. O. H. Landreth developed the usual findings — contaminated supply. A filtra- tion plant has since been installed. Ht. Savage, \drginia, a small mountain village of about 2,000 inhabitants, according to press reports, had 125 cases of fever in a period of about thirty days, with several deaths. An investigation of the water supply, which was obtained from mountain springs, supposedly pure, developed the fact that there was pollution due to sewage drainage from a house in the vicinity. Minneapolis, Minnesota (“Eng. News,” Mar-ch 3, 1904, F. H Bass, C. E.) : “In this city the normal typhoid rate had been for some time from 25 to 30 cases reported monthly, but in January, 1904, it suddenly jumped to 192 cases reported. An investigation demonstrated that the district mostly affected ir- was supplied from station No. 2, and, further, that while the total number of bacteria in the water at the time of the exam- ination was not high, 85 per cent, of them were Coli communis.” Minneapolis draws its supply from three stations; Nos. i and 2 being in the heart of the city and No. 3 about three miles above. (Engineering News, Feb. 11, 1904, Kept. Mr. (ico. Howers, C. E.) Lowell, Mass., secures its water supply from wells ; the mains are connected to the private supply of the Merrimac Cotton Mills, pumping river water and controlled by check valves. July 1 8, 1903, a large fire in the mills caused flow of city water to their system. After the fire one of the valves did not work prop- erly, allowing mill river water to enter city supply. In a few days cholera morbus appeared in epidemic form, followed later by ty- phoid fever. The trouble with the valve was soon located, how- ever, and all connections cut off ; but during the next sixty days there occurred i68 cases of typhoid fever and 9 deaths. During the same period in 1902 there were 15 cases with 6 fatalities; 1901, 13 cases, with one death.; thus illustrating what great harm can be done by a very small amount of contamination. (Engineering News, Feb. 11, 1904, Ke])t. Mr. F. E. Field.) Kittanning, Pa., number of cases from 1898 to 1903: 1898, 45; 1899, 20; 1900, 76; 1901, 47; 1902, 52; 1903, 131. In December, 1903, 73 cases ; January, 1904, 19. "Population about 5,000. At present the water supply is from Allegheny river. During the investigation both the State Board of Health and the City collected samples, in all cases indicating contamination ; all but two samples positive in colon bacillus. Wicksboro (a village with population of less than 1,000), Pa., located on the same river and deriving its supply from it. During the two months of December, 1903, and January, 1904, it had 28 cases of fever and two deaths. hMrd City, Pa. Population, 3,000. On same river, four miles below Kittanning. Plad 17 cases of fever during the same two months. During the same period that section of Pittsburg supplied with water from the Allegheny river reported a total of 866 cases. Here we can follow the river of death from point to point and calmly view the work of destruction as it ])rocceds : (Engineering News, March 24, 1904, Kept. Mr. C. A. Frown.) Lorain, Ohio. At this point we have a lesson somewhat an- i8 alog'ous to rUitler — in a milder form, however. In 1892 Lorain, a village of about 3,000, first established sewerage ; and about the same time typhoid made its serious appearance. The death rate jumped from 43.5 per 100,000 (the average of the four previous years) to 183.3 1893, 48.8 in 1894, 131.6 in 1895, 83.3 in 1896. In 1897 ^ filter plant was established, and the average for the next six years was reduced to 18.8 ; in 1901 as low as 5.5. For the first seven months of 1903 it was o. In July, 1903, however, the filtration plant was found to be in serious need of repairs that necessitated a stoppage of the plant. It was, therefore, shut down July i6th, and remained so until September nth; and from that date to November ist was in- termittently out of use. The public was warned to boil drink- ing water in the meantime ; but, in spite of this, typhoid ap- peared within three weeks, and the death rate rose from nothing LORAIN, OHIO » » ESTABLISHED FEB. 1897 YOUNGSTOWN , O. •• NOW BEING CONSTRUCTED — LAWRENCE:. MASS. -• " ESTABLISHED SEPT. 1893 ALBANY, NY. " '• " AUG. 1699 to i8o per 100,000, where it remained for the next four months, or until December ist, by which time pure water was again supplied, and December showed a reduction to 60. The actual number of cases for each month of 1903 was as follows: January, 3 ; February, 4 ; March, i : April, o ; May, o ; June, 2 : July, 3; August, 30; September, 67; October, 49; November, 5 ; and December, 2 ; August, September and October showing the effect of putting filters out of service. January and Febru- ary of 1904 went back to zero. In this connection is given a chart, prepared by Mr. Brown, showing the relative typhoid 19 rates in five cities, three supplied with filter plants and two without. Note the steady increase in typhoid with city’s growth in those cities without plants and the uniform decrease of rates of those supplied with filters. Lawrence and Albany have the slow sand and Lorain the mechanical system. It may be noted that the other two cities are now engaged in the con- struction of plants. As a further demonstration of the efifect of water on the health of a community, the following from the report of Dr. A. R.- Reynolds, Commissioner of Health of Chicago, showing the deaths and death rates for the four years before and four years after the opening of the drainage canal, is interesting: 4 Years 4 Years Deaths from 1896 to 1899 1900 to 1903 Acute Intestinal Diseases . . . 8,1 19 8,878 ■ Rate per 1,000 population. . . . 16.41 12.44 Tvphoid fever 2,266 2,235 Rate per 1,000 population. . . . . . 3.68 3.10 If the rate of the years 1896-1899, before the opening of tne canal, had obtained during the last four years. there would have been 11,724 deaths from acute intestinal diseases and 2,629 from typhoid, or a total of 3,220 more than actually did occur. The money value of these lives, $16,100,000, is only one item to be placed to the credit of the drainage canal. From the stand- point of public health the drainage canal is the best investment Chicago ever made.” Yet this canal cost over $30,000,000. Also the following from the report of Dr. A. C. Abbott in Engineering News, February nth, 1904, relative to the prev- alence of typhoid fever in districts of Philadelphia supplied with filtered water and unfiltered water Taking Roxborough district as one. Queen Lane district is 1.70 or, in other words, has 70 per cent, more typhoid; Belmont district is 2.15, or 115 per cent. more. The relative difference is striking in view of the short time during which Roxborough has been supplied zvith filtered zvater. Philadelphia is spending $17,000,000 on the construction of filtration works, and this vast amount has been practically lost in the last two years by reason of the lack of them. In the face of this showing who can say it is not a profitable investment? Typhoid has also been unusually severe in Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh ; although Pitts- burgh has been rather notorious for years as a hotbed for 20 typhoid infection. In fact, the death rate in the latter city is something appalling. The Engineering News of February 25, 1904, in commenting on the Pittsburgh situation, says : “A stronger indictment for neglect of the health and very life of its citizens could not be framed against any city than that fur- nished by the records of typhoid fever at Pittsburgh and Alle- gheny, Pennsylvania. * * It is time for the press of the whole country to unite in a protest against the typhoid situa- tion in these two cities. Self-destruction, bad as it is, might be overlooked, but wholesale murder must be put down. * * * For the last fourteen years there have been some 30,000 cases of fever reported and over 4,200 deaths.” The average death rate (as given in report published in the Engineering News) for five years, from 1893 to 1898, was 66.2 per 100,000; from 1898 to 1903 it was 128.6 per 100,000, a rate nearly double. It is not the writer’s intention to attempt to do more than call attention to some of the more prominent instances of the effect of contaminated water supply on typhoid rates. In the foregoing were also given several very striking instances of the value of filtration works. I now give a summary of the degree of purification accomplished in a number of filtration plants established in other municipalities, which is worthy of the most careful study. (Nrr /’ugc 22.) For comparative study I give here a copy of the degree of purification demanded by Mr. D. W. Mead in his specifications, which is practically identical with that demanded by all sanitary engineers. “The purification obtained shall be such that in no case shall the average number of bacteria in the filtrate exceed one hun- dred per cubic centimeter, except where the number of bac- teria in the applied water shall exceed 3,300 per cubic centi- meter, in which event the average reduction of bacteria in the filtrate shall be at least ninety-seven per cent*. “N^ot more than five per cent, of the individual samples of the filtrate shall show more than 1 50 bacteria per c. c. ; not more than five per cent, of the sample of the filtrate shall show an efficiency as low as 90 per cent. No trace of undecomposed coagulant shall be left in the filtrate, nor shall the filtrate show any increase in iron or alumina, or an alkalinity greater than in the unfiltered water. The filtrate shall show no acid reaction. The filtered water shall be clear, bright and practically free from color, turbidity or matter in suspension.” 21 Raw Filtered Water Water Average Average No. No. Per Bacteria Bacteria cent. Per Cu. Per Cu. Re- Observer. Month. Year. C.C. C.C. moved. Elmira, N. V. Tune, luly, Aug. 1898 2237 76 96.6 Reported by Mar., Oct., Nov. 1899 6767 98 98.54 1. M. Caird, Aug., Sept. 1900 547 17 96.9 Bacteriologist, May, Aug., Sept. 1901 1394 17 98.78 Oct. 22, 1904. May, Dec. 1902 10600 342 96.78 Tune, Sept., Dec. 1903 4491 53 98.82 June, Aug. 1904 647 8 98.77 Average seven years 97.88 East Jersey Water 1 2 months 1903 3233 61 98.12 Co., Little Falls, 8 months 1904 1800 50 97.23 N. J. Reported by 1'. W. Green, Supt. Average two years 97.68 Ithaca, N. V. 3 months 1903 5173 27 99.48 E. M. Chamot, 9 months 1904 8332 74 99.11 Chemist in Charge. Average two years 99.29 East Providence, 6 months 1899 596 7 98.83 R. I. Reported by t) months 1900 97.08 Dr. G. T. Swarts, 9 months 1901 98.40 State Board of 9 months 1902 98.10 Health. 6 months 1903 98.93 Average for five years 98.26 Lorain, Ohio. 6 months 1897 98.00 Dr. S. S. Cox, 1 montii 1897 97.24 Health Officer. January 1904 99.13 Allen Hazen, .March 1904 52292 182 99.65 C. A. Brown. Louisiana, Mo. September 1899 9621 47 98.50 Prof. Amand Ravold, City Bacteriologist of St. Louis, Mo. Norristown, Pa. iMarch 1900 98.72 Dr. M. P. Ravenal. Rensselaer, N. Y. April 1901 99.50 J. M. Caird. Vicksburg, Miss., July 1903 98.74 Prof. R. W. Jones. Elyria, Ohio, I'ebruary 1904 98.25 C. A. Brown. Oregon City, Oregon. 1904 98.00 Sunbury, I*a., I'cbrnary 1907) 2100 47 97.7 Freeland Howe. Binghamton, N. Y. !) months 1903 8157 45 99.47 12 months 1904 7232 31 99.57 Danville, 111., August 1904 98.19 C. A. Brown. Moline, 111., April 26 to June 3 1904 27100 542 98.00 Prof. E. G. Smith, C. A. B>rown. September 1904 99.64 Norfolk, Va., Per Oct. to Nov. 1899 356 12 96.00 I. J. McCormick, Prof. J. M. Caird. 1900 99.51 ^Lawrence, Mass., Oct., Nov. and Dec . 1902 11200 316 97.18 'I'ransactions .\m. So. C. E., Jan. to July 1903 8280 178 97.85 190:1, Page 469. *Albany, N. Y., Sept, to Dec. 1902 21125 193 99.1 Transactions Am. So. C. E., Jan. to July 1903 43613 159 98.95 1908, Page 469. *The plants at Lawrence and Albany, above cited, are of tlie Englisli or slow sand type, d'he balance are of the nieclianical ly|)e. Note tlie nninber of bac- teria remaining in filtered water, in connection witli percentage of removal; also how safely within the margin of re(|uirements accepted l)y Sanitarians. 22 The accompanying plate, reproduced from photos of culture plates, taken during test of a plant at Oregon City, Oregon, gives a visual illustration of what a 98 per cent, bacterial re- duction means. (See page 24.) That results as given are secured by filtration works (and these tables are taken from reports of those in actual charge oi operations and entirely disinterested as to results) certainl}' establish the most intimate relations between filtration and the health of a community. That typhoid and kindred diseases are distributed through the medium of the water supply of a com- munity, all authorities agree ; and the heretofore described epidemics, with their investigations, absolutely demonstrate. If then we can eliminate 98 out of each 100 germs carried by the water, we reduce the chances of inoculation to 2 per cent, of what they would be in using the raw water. In other words, in one case we have 100 chances of being stricken ; in the other, two chances. Should not this relative condition appeal to the senses of any intelligent community? Note the reduction at Ithaca — 99.29 per cent., or less than one chance in one hundred. San you think for a moment that had this filter plant been in operation at the time the pollution occurred, that Ithaca would have suffered that great catastrophe? The Lorain results during, before and after the repair of plant ; and the Butler results during operation on polluted water and after cutting out for changes, fully bear this out. The chart showing the reduction in typhoid rates in several cities after the installation of filter plants furnishes further evidence. I have heard arguments by physicians even against the in- stallation of filter plants on the ground that it was impossible to get a guaranty of an absolutely pure water. Is this not the height of folly? Were these same doctors to be told that it would be useless to employ them unless they could guarantee an absolute cure, what would their answer be? Believing that a sound relation between filtration of water and the health of a community has been shown, I will now proceed to the balance of the proposition, the relationship to its prosperity. I submit the table as I have figured them on several of tlie epidemics. (See page 25.) It is interesting to note that all of these cities except Ply- mouth, Pa., and Leadville, Colo., either have now or are build- ing filtration plants as a result of their typhoid epidemics ; also 23 Culture Plates (Petri dishes) Showing Bacterial Growth from Three Samples of Same Water Supply Tlie above plates were photographed during test at (Oregon City, Ore., and convey an excellent idea of the value of mechanical Filtration, CO?!T OF TYPHOID EPIDEMICS. •sjBaX X4JU1; ui p[noA\‘ sso’[ [BnuuH qoiijM ^nssi puoq J3d f lunoiuy o o o o o o o w •lunuuB aad 008 !l! § § Sl{JB 3 p a 3 MOd 3 UI N -UJB 3 III SSO[ [BnUUY' o o o c o 00 <0 CO 00^ CO oT oa CO •X^lD 04 ssoj 409Jfp o o 00 o o tr o 25 the sums for which bonds might have been issued and re^ deemed in thirty years by the yearly loss represented in the loss of earning capacity of the deaths — in most cities several times the amount necessary to build filtration works of the most elab- orate character. Following out this line of investigation, let me call your attention to a table of statistics of typhoid for the years 1902 and T903 at Idiiladelphia and Pittsburgh. {See page 27.) On a basis of actual dead loss, this figures the enormous sum of $5,709,375, or $2,854,688 per annum, as a tribute to polluted water in Philadelphia. If we take again the amount of 4 per cent, bonds that might be issued annually and retired in thirty years by the annual loss in earning capacity of those slaught- ered by this public indifference, we could provide an annual bond issue of $3,830,000, or in five years, the time required to complete the filtration works now building, the sum of $19,- 1 50,000, or more than enough to pay for them. But this showing, bad as it is, is completely overshadowed by Pittsburgh. Here the death harvest for two years is equal to $3,283,585, or $1,641,790 per annum, with a population one- fourth as great. On the basis -of 4 per cent, bonds issued, and death earnings, it is equivalent to $2,342,500 yearly. Five years ago Pittsburgh issued several million dollars in bonds for the purpose of providing pure water ; while public officials have been wrangling as to how it should be spent a total loss equivalent to $11,712,000 has accumulated. Five years more must elapse before a plant can be com- pleted. At the same rate this is equivalent to $23,425,000, suf- ficient to build four or five plants of the most expensive kind. Still the people sit idly by .and see their money and lives frit- tered away by the petty bickering of officials. Is it any wonder that the able editor of the Engineering News cries “wholesale murder” and calls on the daily press of the whole country to unite in a camjiaign against such a condition of affairs ? Is it not a great wonder that the daily press, usually so keen to ad- vocate matters beneficial to mankind, fails to see the great opportunity here presented, and is only at intervals aroused from lethargy by such occasional massacres as Ithaca. lUitler and others ? Now in conclusion I desire to add but a few more words. According to a report printed in Fire and Water Engineering, E'eb. IT, 1904, there were reported in the United States 500,000 26 S'lA'nSTICS Ol' 'lA' I’ll oil) AT I’l 1 1 LA 1 )EI .I’H I A AND I’mSI! L R( 1 1 , •S.IBjA X).Ul|} lU 34113a pinOAV SSOl 111 ’b 3P [BUUUB IJOllJM 3nssi piioq ‘lusD 43d t JO lunouiv' ■lUlUlllE 43J 00i;$ Sl[lB3p JO 43MOd 3UI -U4E3 III SSO[ [BnUll\’ •Xip OJ SSOI lD34ip IBIOJL IB q3B3 sXBp 0^ 33B43AB ‘S33BA\ jo SSOI IS 03 •S3SB3 JO 43qiunu 3IoqA\ sXbp ot -43AB '‘OIS ‘Suisauu ‘Sipq ,S40130p jo JS 03 o ri o O' •OSi IB SIB43Unj JO IS 03 •qOB3 ooo‘s‘$ SSOI •S3SB3 JO 43qtun^ sqiBsp JO aoqmn^ •uoiiBpidoj •3DBIJ 27 Philadelphia, Pa., 1902 p.lnO.OOO 588 -5, 000 $1,764,000 $17,640 $175,210 $200,240 $2,157,090 $176,400 $2,960,000 190:l 957 8,701 2,871,000 28,710 ;104,5.35 348,040 3,552,285 287,100 4,700,000 cases of typhoid in 1903, with 50,000 deaths. Figuring the loss on the same basis as used in the previous tables, we have an annual tax of $186,500,000, or more than the cost of maintain- ing the army and navy combined ; twenty-five per cent, more than the pension roll ; an amount sufficient to build filter plants, at an average cost of $20,000 per million gallons capacity (which is liberal), capable of filtering 9,325,000,000 gallons of water daily, or 125 gallons per day for 74,500,000 people. 28 PARTIAL LIST OF MUNICIPAL FILTRATION PLANTS INSTALLED BY THE PITTSBURGH FILTER MANUFACTURING GO. Gallons. Columbia, Pa 2,000,000 Sharon, Pa 2,000,000 Washington, Pa 4,000,000 Waynesburg, Pa 1,000,000 Sunbury, Pa 4,000,000 New Brighton, Pa 3,000,000 Harrisburg, Pa 12,000,000 Monessen, Pa 2,000,000 Conneaut, Ohio 500,000 Upper Sandusky, Ohio 500,000 Oberlin, Ohio 300,000 Vermillion, Ohio 300,000 Sidney, N. Y 300,000 Trenton, Mo 500,000 Elberton, Ga 500,000 Greenville, N. C 300,000 Morgantown, W. V^a 1,000,000 Gloucester, N. J 2,000,000 Danville, Va 2,000,000 Louisburg, N. C 300,000 Lorain, Ohio *. 6,000,000 Dundas, Ont 300,000 Iselin, Pa 100,000 Wilmington, N. C 2,000,000 29 : ;fi . V ■/.<. ; / .,r •-- 1 •. A. ^:'.'=L - ■'■ ; ■i" - ' ■i ■"> ■■ ' ;■ -: iy ' ■ ■•\'> A