THE RELATION OF WATER SUPPLY TO DISEASE
In discussing the relation of water supplies to disease, I shall confine my remarks to domestic supplies, as the importance of the proper selection and treatment of public supplies is no longer questioned, and their control and inspection is regulated by law. The necessity for protection is recognized, and prejudice and ignorance regarding source and methods of purification have greatly diminished, though there is yet a latent impression, in the minds of many, that the reagents employed in purification are objectionable and injurious to health. I shall not recite a long list of statistics showing the change in the typhoid death rate in cities following the introduction of filter plants, and purification of sources of supply. These facts are too well established to admit of discussion, and too well known to be of interest. The necessity for the purification of water supplies has been recognized from time immemorial. The purity of our food and drinking waters are our best and cheapest life insurance policies, the premium is small, and they yield accumulating dividends in wealth, health and happiness.
Domestic Supplies.
Regarding domestic supplies, little thought is exercised in their selection and location, and there is still the greatest ignorance among the people as to the affect of impurities, and the causes and sources of contamination. Practically every section has its well famed for its health giving properties, and heralded by the oldest inhabitants as valuable for its minerals or sulphur odor, when experience has shown, that in many cases the very qualities that they brag of come from some nearby privy, cow lot or cesspool, and that they arc in reality drinking their own sewage in a diluted form. These erroneous impressions doubtless have their origin in the safety that is supplied in rural and sparsely settled districts by the small amount of sewage.
Sources of Contamination.
The purity of springs and shallow wells depends upon their source of supply, nature of soil and location. If the supply is subterranean or deep-seated, and has percolated through uniformly fine sandy soils, there is little chance of contamination in sparsely settled districts; but if the source is superficial, and the soil is coarse-grained or rocky, there is little filtration efficiency, and sewage finds its way readily into it. The location of a spring at the foot of an inhabited hill under the latter circumstances is dangerous. The residences and out buildings should be differently located, or suitable means for the disposal of sewage employed. Wells, other than very deep wells, differ little from springs except in depth and location, and are subject to the same sources of contamination, though lacking the safety sometimes provided by a continuous flow. Contrary to the general opinion, a depth of a few feet does not protect them; nor do even several hundred feet preclude impurities under certain conditions of soil and geological formation. By long usage and over-loading the soil may become saturated with sewage, the natural efficiency of filtration diminished, and thus constitute an actual or potential source of danger. Sewage may find its way into a well through cracks and crevices in the soil, or the strata be of such a character as to form a natural water way from outbuildings to the well. Inadequate protection from surface washings, and the use of ropes and buckets for withdrawing water from the well are a common source of contamination, and one to which little attention is given, even in wells which are otherwise expensively constructed. Surface waters are subject to more or less constant or periodic contamination. They are the natural sewers of the land, and are a dangerous source of supply unless properly filtered. The infection may be carried for great distances, and after subsidence and attenuation may be washed again into the stream by freshets and become virile. Rain waters, except in isolated districts and collected intelligently in cisterns above ground, are a dangerous source of supply. They are subject to periodic contamination from birds on sheds and in gutters, and. from the dust of outbuildings and streets. When cisterns are constructed below ground or partially below ground, the danger is evidently increased; particularly as these receptacles are regarded differently from smaller containers for the storage of water, and little attention is given to the cleansing or care of them. Once constructed, they are supposed to last for generations without even a casual inspection.
Remedies.
We may now ask what are the remedies, and how to safeguard the supplies. The problem is simple, though the solution and necessity for enforcement may be difficult to impress, and slow of accomplishment. There is, perhaps, no subject regarding which the average citizen is more touchy, and less inclined to be concerned about, or more ignorant and prejudiced. Each householder takes a blind satisfaction and pride in the superiority or supposed excellence of his supply, regardless of its nature, source, or the conditions surrounding it. The education of the larger communities with respect to public supplies, and the necessity for proper selection of site and source, and adequate provision for the protection of water sheds and care of the water, leads us to hope that in time we may convince the householder and smaller communities of the equal importance of intelligent care and protection of domestic supplies. Like the proverbial chain, which is no stranger than its weakest link, a water supply of a community is no better than its worst supply. Whatever precautions are taken by our city or community supplies, they will not prevent water-borne diseases so long as individuals are careless and ignorant as to local ones. It is the private or so-called domestic supplies that usually account for contamination of milk, and many of the epidemics in cities. Therefore, it is the duty of our water works superintendents, and those of us who are familiar with the causes of contamination and the methods of prevention, to educate our citizens and the people in the outlying districts. They should be advised as to the necessity of carefully examining the conditions surrounding their supplies, and the soils and strata in which they are located. To make intelligent choice of sites for outbuildings and methods of disposal of sewage; to carefully protect springs and wells from surface contamination by suitable curbings and cement coverings; and to abandon the use of rope or chain and bucket, and to substitute a pump. An open well is a constant source of danger, and a poorly sealed well no less a source of danger. In addition to surface washings, the trackings from attendants from stables and outbuildings are washed into the well by each rain. The “Old Oaken Bucket,” that dirty old bucket, is as full of contamination as it is of tradition and romance. It is handled by all, frequently used as a drinking vessel for man and beast, sometimes as a wash basin, and carries back into the well the contamination it receives. Like the “little drops of water” and the “little grains of sand.” it adds the infinitessimals of pollution which make the contamination of the well. It is surprising in this day of enlightenment, when the cost of a pipe and a pump is but a few dollars, that we find so many intelligent people clinging to an old bucket, or two buckets and a chain, which everyone is permitted to handle and wash their hands upon while drawing water. The use of domestic filters should be discouraged. Unless intelligently looked after and cleansed each day, they become breeders of bacteria, and add more than they remove. Disinfection by reagents, except by experts and persons thoroughly familiar with the causes of contamination is a dangerous practice, and gives a false feeling of security. The effects are usually temporary, and the original causes of contamination sooner or later reinfect the supply. It has been many times, and wisely said, that the civilization of a country may be estimated in terms of the number of cases of preventable diseases. This is no longer a speculation, and the cost of good health in a community can be estimated in dollars and cents. The cleansing of Havana and the inhabitation of the Isthmus of Panama, illustrate well the fact that preventable diseases need no longer exist.
