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was owned by the water company. In 1913 the supply was purchased by the village and is now controlled and operated under the direction of the board of trustees. In 1914 an inspection of the supply was made following the request from the board of trustees for the enactment by this Department of rules and regulations. A draft of such rules and regulations was prepared and transmitted to the local authorities, but owing to their failure to request the enactment of the rules and regulations the matter has been held in abeyance.

The impounding reservoir is 2 or 3 acres in area and is probably rather shallow. The village owns possibly 10 acres of land in the immediate vicinity of this reservoir. At the northwest corner of the reservoir is a house located about 75 feet distant from the water's edge, but the barns and other outbuildings are located on land sloping away from the reservoir and the drainage from the vicinity of the house is diverted to a point below the reservoir. The land around the reservoir is used to a certain extent for cultivation and animals and poultry are allowed to graze in its immediate vicinity. It is therefore evident that a certain amount of pollution of animal origin may reach the reservoir from this farm. The farm is owned by the village and is occupied by the reservoir keeper.

The watershed area above the reservoir has a total area of about 6 square miles, of which about 80 per cent is cleared land used for farming and grazing. The total population is approximately 200, or 33 per square mile. The soil is sand and gravel over shale and slate. The western half of the area nearest the reservoir is fairly level and the eastern half is rather hilly. Several highways traverse this area and there are approximately 40 houses upon the watershed, which, however, in nearly all cases are located well back from the stream and its tributaries.

About 1 mile above the reservoir is located a farm on which conditions are decidedly unsatisfactory. This farm is known as the Shufelt place and is occupied by a tenant. At this plant a pig house is located 15 feet from the water's edge of the branch of the stream and the hog yard extends across the stream, allowing every opportunity for the hogs to wallow in the stream. There are also two barns at this place comparatively close to the stream. At one of these barns a manure pile is located about 30 feet from the edge of the stream. With this exception there seems to be no other serious condition upon the watershed, although as this is a farming region there must be considerable wash from the farm lands and indirect animal pollution at times of rainfall. At a farm near the eastern boundary of the watershed there is a privy near a tributary stream. The barn at this farm is also so located that drainage from the manure pile reaches the stream.

In 1915, at the time the preliminary draft of the proposed rules and regulations was transmitted to the local authorities, it was recommended that, in view of the frequent high and objectionable turbidity of the supply and the always present opportunity for accidental or wilful contamination, it would be advisable for the village authorities to consider the installation of some form of water purification and that before such steps were taken the services of a competent engineer should be retained to advise more fully in the matter.

In general, the recommendations made in 1912 have been carried out. although the village has failed to request the enactment of the rules and regulations and no steps have been taken to install a purification plant.

At the time of the recent inspection samples of water were collected from the supply and the results of the analyses of these samples, together with others made in the past by the Division of Laboratories and Research, may be found in the appended table.

The results of these analyses show a water with moderate color and turbidity and one comparatively hard. Figures for nitrogen in its various forms are also moderate and at times rather high, indicating the presence of considerable decomposing and decomposable organic matter. The total bacterial counts are usually high and the presence of organisms of the B. coli type in inoculations as small as 1 c.c. indicate the presence of active and potentially dangerous contamination.

In view of the above facts, the following conclusions may be drawn:

1. That in part the recommendations of this Department have been carried out with respect to the sanitary protection of the water supply of Castleton.

2. That the supply is still open to accidental, incidental or wilful contamination by permanent residents upon the watershed and transient visitors thereto.

3. That the supply is at times somewhat objectionable from an esthetic standpoint, due to the occurrence of considerable turbidity.

I would therefore recommend:

1. That the village authorities take such steps as may be found necessary to place the watershed in as satisfactory sanitary condition as possible.

2. That the village take action to install a modern filtration plant supplemented by liquid chlorine sterilization.

3. That, pending the installation of a filter plant, liquid chlorine apparatus be installed and properly operated as a temporary safeguard for the sanitary quality of the supply.

4. That the services of a competent engineer he retained to advise definitely as to the most satisfactory type of filter plant to be installed and to prepare plans for such an installation when authorized.

I further recommend that copies of this report be sent to the local authorities and to the sanitary supervisor of the district.

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Results are expressed in parts per million. + Present.

Absent.

Abbreviations used to describe odors of water; 0, none; 1, very faint; 2, faint; 3, distinct; 4, decided; 5, strong; 6, very strong; a, aromatic; d, disagreeable; e, earthy; f, fishy; g, grassy; m, musty; v, vegetable.

CASTLETON (Lathrop Memorial)

HERMANN M. BIGGS, M.D., State Commissioner of Health:

I beg to submit the following report on an investigation of an epidemic of dysentery among the children and attendants of the Lathrop Memorial, a branch of the Albany Orphan Asylum, located at Castleton.

A report was received at the Department on Saturday, August 25, that there were a number of cases of dysentery among the children and attendants at this institution. Mr. Baker, assistant engineer, was detailed to accompany Dr. Godfrey to Castleton on the afternoon of the same date, to make an investigation. Dr. Tracy, health officer at Castleton, accompanied Mr. Baker and Dr. Godfrey on their inspection.

About two weeks prior to the time of the inspection such a disagreeable taste and odor developed in the village water supply at the institution that this supply was abandoned and water was obtained from a spring located on the institution grounds just below the main building. On Tuesday, August 21, the first case of dysentery developed and since that time there have been several other cases, there being in all some 12 cases among adults. This information very strongly pointed to a contamination of the spring supply Upon further investigation it developed that several families located below the institution also obtained water from this spring. An investigation by Dr. Godfrey showed that 7 out of 11 persons in these families, who had used the water, had been affected with the dysentery. Inquiry by the local health officer from other physicians in the village indicated that there has been no other disturbance throughout the village.

The spring mentioned above consists of a barrel sunk into the ground near a small brook at a considerably lower elevation than the building of the institution. This barrel is apparently supplied with water by a pipe entering it near the bottom. The water rises to an elevation of about 1 foot above the surface of the ground where it overflows into a second barrel. About 150 feet above the barrel and on the same side of the hill which slopes toward the brook, is located a masonry well or spring. A caretaker at the institution stated that the pipe supplying the barrel was connected with this well or spring. About 10 feet from this spring is a brick cesspool. Inquiry at the institution as to the method of sewage disposal indicated, however, that no sewage was discharging into this cesspool; it being stated that the sewage from the main building discharged without purification, into a swamp adjacent to the river, that sewage from a cottage located nearby discharged into another cesspool about 200 feet above and that the sewage from toilets in the barn discharged into an open drain or brook at a point about 250 feet above the spring. Upon opening the old cesspool, however, it was found that water was entering it through a 5-inch sewer pipe. The flow soon ceased. This led to a further investigation and by placing blueing in the toilets at the barn and flushing them the fact was soon established that the sewage from these toilets discharged directly into this cesspool. The water or sewage disappeared from the cesspool almost immediately, seeping into the sandy bottom on the side of the cesspool nearest the spring. The majority of the sewage, however, broke out of the ground into an open drain just below the cesspool which flows into the brook near which the spring is located. It seems very apparent from the above, therefore, that the spring had become contaminated from the nearby cesspool.

Blueing was later placed in the spring with the assumption that it would appear in the barrel from which the water was obtained. No color, however, can be traced in this water within an hour after the blueing had been applied to the spring and that no color appeared later is indicated by inquiry made of the institutional authorities. It is probable, however, that the pipe leading from the spring to the barrel from which the water was obtained, had become partly filled. or that the bottom part of the spring is filled with sand, so that the pipe is located below the sand and that the water reaches the barrel by filtration through this sand. It is possible that the water is also collected

into the barrel from other sources and that the strength of the blueing was not sufficient to be noticed in the water. In any event, the insanitary conditions in the vicinity would indicate the contamination of the spring supply, and as pointed out above the epidemiological results point strongly to this water as the source of infection.

Water is also at times obtained from a well located in the barn-yard. This water, however, had not been used until two or three days prior to the time of the inspection. The soil pipe from the plumbing fixtures in the barn enters the ground about 10 or 12 feet from the well. The well is provided with only a wooden cover which is not water-tight and is not adequately protected from surface wash.

Samples of water were collected from the spring and the well at the barn at the time of the inspection and sent to the Division of Laboratories and Research for analysis, the results of which together with those samples of the village supply collected on August 16 are recorded in the appended table.

The chemical results of the analyses of the sample collected from the spring show high figures for nitrates and chlorine, thus indicating that pollution finds its way into the supply, while the bacterial results show high counts with colon bacilli present in all dilutions, thus indicating gross contamination of an active and potentially dangerous character. The bacterial counts of the sample collected from the well also show high bacterial counts with colon bacilli present in all dilutions. Results of analyses of the village supply show figures for nitrates and chlorine somewhat above normal. The bacterial counts are rather high and colon bacilli were present in all of the 10 c.c. inoculations of each of the samples collected, in two of the three 1 c.c. inoculations of the sample from the reservoir and in one of each of the 1 c.c., and 1/10 c.c. inoculations of the sample collected from a tap, thus indicating also the presence of some active contamination in the village supply. It should be pointed out, however, that the public water supply of the village is obtained from a surface stream, and that the high bacterial count and presence of colon bacilli are not nearly so significant as in the case of the ground water supply. As a result of this investigation it may be concluded:

1. That, although the public water supply of the village of Castleton is not above suspicion, it is evident from the epidemiological record, from the insanitary conditions surrounding the spring and also from the analytical results, that the spring at the institution was the source of infection causing the epidemic.

2. That the well supply at the institution is also contaminated.

3. That the methods of sewage disposal at the institution are unsatisfactory and constitute a menace to the health of the inhabitants.

In view of the above I beg to offer the following recommendations to be acted upon by the institutional authorities.

1. That the spring and well be abandoned and that they be closed so that water for potable purposes cannot be obtained from them.

2. That if the village does not improve their present supply the institutional authorities take steps to develop a supply of their own from a source free from contamination.

3. That the services of a competent sanitary engineer be employed to study the sewerage conditions at the institution and advise the institutional authorities as to a proper and adequate method of sewage disposal. Finally, I would recommend that copies of this report be transmitted to the sanitary supervisor of the district, the local health officer, the superintendent of the Albany Orphan Asylum and to the matron of Lathrop Memorial. Respectfully submitted,

THEODORE HORTON,
Chief Engineer

ALBANY, N. Y., August 31, 1917

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Results are expressed in parts per million.

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Abbreviations used to describe odors of water; 0, none; 1, very faint; 2, faint; 3, distinct; 4 decided; 5, strong; 6, very strong; a, aromatic; d, disagreeable; e, earthy; f, fishy; g, grassy; m, musty; v, vegetable.

CENTRAL BRIDGE

HERMANN M. BIGGS, M. D., State Commissioner of Health:

I beg to submit the following report on an investigation of the public water supply of the village of Central Bridge, Schoharie county. An investigation of this supply was made on November 21, 1916, by Mr. M. F. Sanborn, assistant engineer, who was assisted at the time of the inspection by W. D. Becker, treasurer of the water company, and Dr. O. A. Snyder,

health officer.

Central Bridge is an unincorporated village in the town of Schoharie and is in the northern part of Schoharie county, about 30 miles west of Albany. It is on the D. & H. railroad and Cobleskill creek, a tributary to Schoharie creek. The population at the time of the inspection was estimated at about 400.

There are no public or private sewers in the village. Excretal and other wastes are taken care of in cesspools, septic tanks and privies.

The water supply is owned by the Central Bridge Water Company of which Mr. W. B. Collyer is president and Mr. J. W. Wessell is superintendent. The waterworks were designed by Mr. F. Roundy, civil engineer of Oneonta, and were constructed by day labor under his direction about 1896. The water supply is obtained from a small brook tributary to Cobleskill creek, the intake being about 2 miles west of the village. The water is collected in a reservoir formed by the construction of a small dam across the brook and conveyed through a pipe line to another reservoir about one-half mile nearer the village, constructed by a small amount of excavations and fill making a small dam around the lower side of the reservoir. From the lower reservoir the water flows by gravity through the pipe line to the village. There are about 3 miles of water mains varying from 4 to 6 inches in diameter. A reducer on the main line reduces the pressure to about 90 pounds per square inch. There are 11 hydrants placed in various parts of the village for fire protection. There are about 100 houses in the village of which 52 are connected to the water supply. About 200 of the inhabitants

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