Results are expressed in parts per million. 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. DOVER PLAINS LINSLY R. WILLIAMS, M.D., Acting State Commissioner of Health: I beg to submit the following report on an investigation of the public water supply of Dover Plains made by Mr. C. M. Baker, assistant engineer, on January 18, 1917. Dover Plains is an unincorporated village of about 600 inhabitants locatedin the town of Dover, Dutchess county, on the Harlem division of the New York Central railroad, about 76 miles south of Albany. It is on the Ten Mile river, a tributary to the Housatonic river in Connecticut. The water supply is controlled by the Dover Plains Water Company and was first put into operation in 1900. The supply is derived from a small brook, about 1 mile southwest of the village, which is tributary to Ten Mile river. Eighty to 85 per cent of the population is served with the water, there being in all 66 service taps, none of which are metered. Since no meters or other method of measuring the water is provided no definite information could be obtained regarding the consumption, but based on a per capita rate of 100 gallons daily_the total consumption would be approximately 50,000 gallons per day. There are in all about 6,000 feet of mains ranging in size from 4 to 10 inches in diameter except for one or two short lines of 1-inch pipe which supply only 2 or 3 houses. The water is conducted by gravity from impounding reservoirs on the brook to the village, the pressure in the village being approximately 88 pounds per square inch. There are two reservoirs, the larger and upper one having a capacity roughly estimated at 525,000 gallons. The lower or intake reservoir has a capacity of about 27,000 gallons. These reservoirs are said to be cleaned every spring and fall. The watershed is approximately 2.16 square miles in area and has a total population of 10 persons or about 5 per square mile. The upper part of this area is gently sloping land but the lower portion is precipitous. Fifteen or 20 per cent of the area is wooded, the remainder being used principally for pasture and meadow land. The water company owns about 40 acres in the immediate vicinity of the reservoirs, and the superintendent of the company owns some 60 acres along the stream. The soil consists principally of rock and clay. There are three houses on the watershed, one of which, however, is unoccupied. One of the cccupied houses is located well back from the stream, the other, however, is near the north fork of the creek. At this latter place the buildings are close to the stream. A tenement-house is only about 30 feet distant while the privy serving it, which is not provided with a vault, is only 35 feet distant. The barn is close to the stream and the barnyard extends to it. There was a large pile of manure in the barnyard at the time of the inspection although the inspector was informed that the cattle which had been maintained on the farm during the summer had been sold and that only a horse and cow were kept in the barn at the time of the inspection. The privy mentioned above could be moved about 75 feet east to a point where the drainage would be away from the stream proper. The present insanitary conditions on this farm constitute a serious menace to the sanitary quality of the supply. Samples of the water were collected at the time of the inspection and sent to the Division of Laboratories and Research for analyses, the result of which together with those of previous analyses are recorded in the appended table. The results of these analyses show a water usually satisfactory with respect to color and turbidity, also a water that is moderate in hardness. The figures for nitrogen in its various forms are low but those for chlorine appear to be above normal. The bacterial counts are at times high and colon bacilli are found present in nearly all of the 10 c.c. inoculations, frequently in the 1. c.c. and in one instance in a 1/10 c.c. inoculation, thus indicating the presence of considerable active and potentially dangerous contamination. As a result of this investigation it may be concluded: 1. That the water supply of Dover Plains is derived from a source which is subject to pollution from one farm located very close to the stream and also to accidental, incidental and wilful pollution by trespassers upon the watershed. In view of the above, I beg to offer the following recommendations to be acted upon by the water company: 1. That the privy on the farm mentioned in the body of the report be moved to a greater distance from the stream, that the barnyard be rearranged so that it does not extend to the stream, and that sanitary conditions be maintained at all times on these premises. 2. That consideration be given to the providing of adequate purification for the supply either in the form of filtration or sterilization with liquid chlorine or possibly a combination of both. 3. That every endeavor be made to maintain satisfactory sanitary conditions at all times upon the watershed and that should any difficulty be experienced in this connection the water company make application to this Department for the enactment of rules and regulations protecting the sanitary quality of the supply. In conclusion I would recommend that copies of this report be sent to the local officials and to the sanitary supervisor of the district. Respectfully submitted, ALBANY, N. Y., March 8, 1917 THEODORE HORTON, RESULTS OF WATER ANALYSES 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 EAST WORCESTER HERMANN M. BIGGS, M.D., State Commissioner of Health: I beg to submit the following report on a re-inspection of the public water supply of the village of East Worcester, this investigation being made by Mr. E. S. Chase, assistant engineer, in this Department, on July 3, 1917. The water supply of this village is derived from Oak creek, the intake being located about one mile north of the center of the village. The supply is subjected to treatment by filtration through a pressure mechanical filter. Previous inspections of this supply were made in 1910 and 1915, and the report upon the inspection of 1915 will be found on page 370, Vol. 2, of the 36th Annual Report of this Department. The waterworks system in general remains practically the same as described in detail in this earlier report. Complaint has been made this summer by residents of the village with respect to the occurrence of fishy tastes in the water. It appears that the dam at one of the storage reservoirs located near the head waters of Oak creek, went out during a heavy rainfall a few weeks prior to the inspection. This failure of the dam brought about flood conditions in the stream tributary to the supply and rendered the water delivered to the village very turbid. Dead fish were noticed along the banks of the stream after the flood waters had receded and it was to these fish that the fishy taste and odors were attributed. It appears possible, however, that this taste was due to algae growths in the reservoir being carried down stream with the flood and through the filter into the supply. In connection with the operation of the filter it should be noted that there was no alum on hand in the filter house at the time of the inspection although it was stated by the superintendent that an order for alum had been placed. Furthermore, the superintendent could not state the date upon which the alum pot had been filled with alum nor as to how much alum was used. The health officer stated that upon such times as he had visited the filter he had never found any reserve supply of alum on hand. It is evident, therefore, that even though alum may be used its application is extremely unreliable with the result that the filter acts mainly as a strainer for removing the grosser particles of turbidity. At the time of the inspection in 1915, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. That the East Worcester Water Company has taken steps to carry out the recommendations of this Department in regard to improving conditions upon the watershed. 2. That this filtration plant is apparently capable of producing a satisfactory quality of effluent provided the sanitary quality of the raw water is protected as far as possible by the elimination of direct sources of pollution on the watershed. 3. That the present uncertain and unsatisfactory method of applying alum tends to preclude the accomplishment by the filter of as high a degree of purification as circumstances demand. 4. That the conditions on the watershed tributary to this supply are such as to bring about a certain amount of contamination of the supply from surface wash at times of rainfall, from pastures, manured land, barn-yards, and in some cases from privies. In addition there is the ever present possibility of contamination of an accidental, incidental or wilful nature which exists upon all well populated watersheds. As a result of these conclusions the following recommendations were made: 1. That the East Worcester Water Company have frequent and regular inspections made of the watershed in order to detect and remove any sources of permanent contamination which may exist, and in case of difficulty apply to this Department for the enactment of rules and regulations for the sanitary protection of the water supply. 2. That the water company apply alum to the raw water more constantly and in greater quantities in order that efficient coagulation may be produced for the proper operation of the filter. 3. That the water company install some method of measuring the rate of filtration of the filter in order to determine the necessary amount of alum to be added, or else provide for daily tests of alkalinity and turbidity to serve as guides in the operation of the filter. On this recent investigation it appears that the water company has carried out none of the recommendations of this Department. Furthermore, the superintendent stated that he had not himself been informed by the company as to the nature of these recommendations. Subsequent to the time of inspection samples of raw and treated water were collected by the health officer, Dr. Nichols, and the result of the analyses of these samples may be found in the appended table. The results of these analyses show the presence of active contamination in both raw and filtered water, as evidenced by the occurrence of organisms of the B. coli type in 1 c.c. inoculations. Furthermore, these results indicate that the purification process was bringing about no improvement at the time of the collection of these samples. In view of the above facts the following conclusions may be drawn: 1. That the East Worcester Water Co. has failed to carry out any of the recommendations of the report of 1915. 2. That the need for these recommendations still exists. I would recommend, therefore, that the water company give their immediate attention to the previous recommendations of this Department as given in detail in the body of this report and take steps to carry them out at the earliest possible moment. I further recommend that copies of this report be transmitted to the East Worcester Water Company, the local health officer and to the sanitary supervisor of the district. Results are expressed in parts per million. + Present. 10 c.c. 1 c.c. 1/10 c.c. c.c. Absent. Great Bear Filtered water 8/3/17 8/3/17 2 v. 15 2 v. 1 v. 1 v. 2 Tr. .008 .006 .140 .096 Tr. Tr. 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. |