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RESULTS OF WATER ANALYSES

Abbreviations used to describe odors of water:

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

PHYSICAL

CHEMICAL (PARTS PER MILLION)

BACTERIOLOGICAL

Color

Turbidity

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Nitrates

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PETERSBURG

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

I beg to submit the following report on the public water supply of the village of Petersburg, Rensselaer county. An investigation of this supply was made on April 12, 1917, by Mr. M. F. Sanborn, assistant engineer, who was assisted at the time of the inspection by Dr. S. P. Hull, health officer of the town of Petersburg, and Mr. A. S. Babcock and Mr. Welch, commissioners of the Petersburg water district.

Petersburg is an unincorporated village in the town of Petersburg in the east central part of Rensselaer county. It is about 18 miles east of Troy and is on the Little Hoosick river and the Rutland railroad. The population at the time of the inspection was estimated at about 250. There are no public sewers in the village, cesspools and privies being used for the disposal of excretal wastes.

The water supply is under the control of the Petersburg water district, and the waterworks were. designed by Mr. Earl Percy, civil engineer of Hoosick Falls, and were constructed by contract under the direction of Mr. Percy in 1909. The water supply is obtained from Fly creek and at times from a small tributary thereto, the intakes being about half a mile northwest of the village. An auxiliary supply is obtained from a dug well on the westerly bank of the Little Hoosick river in the northwestern part of the village. The water from the brooks flows by gravity to the village, while the water from the dug well is pumped at a nearby pumping station directly into the mains of the village. About 150 of the population, which corresponds to 60 per cent of the total population of the village, are served by this water supply, and the average daily consumption was estimated to be about 15,000 gallons. There are about 11⁄2 miles of water mains from 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Some 30 of the 50 houses of the village are served by this supply, and none of these services are metered. The average pressure in the village is about 100 pounds per square inch. Water hydrants are placed in the various parts of the village for fire protection, but the village has as yet no fire apparatus or fire hose to use in case of fire.

A dam having a concrete core wall has been constructed across Fly creek to form an opeň reservoir. From this reservoir the water flows directly to the village. A short distance below this reservoir an intake has been provided which receives water from the small or southerly branch of the creek. When water from this branch is used the main pipe leading to the reservoir has to be closed on account of the lower level of the reservoir intake. No storage is provided on the small branch and water from this source passes directly into the village mains.

The reservoir on the main branch is about 150 by 200 feet in plan, has an average depth of 6 feet and a capacity of approximately 1,300,000 gallons, which is equivalent to about three months' supply. The dam is constructed upon sand and gravel and considerable water leaks underneath the dam.

The well is located in sand and gravel about 12 feet from Little Hoosick river. The well was said to be about 42 feet square and about 9 feet deep, and covered with timber under about 2 feet of earth. The sides of the well are protected by timber. Due to the character of the soil and to the nearness of the well to the river considerable river water undoubtedly finds its way into the well when in use.

The pumping station is of timber and is about 8 by 16 feet in plan. The pumping apparatus consists of a 6 horse power Novo gasoline engine and a Deane single-action triplex plunger 4 by 4 inch pump. The intake pipe and pumping plant were dismantled at the time of the inspection.

The watershed of Fly creek above the reservoir is about 13 of a square mile, is quite hilly and receives pollution from pasture land only. ́ The southerly tributary has a watershed of about .07 of a square mile and a population of about 8. Part of this watershed is fairly level and considerable

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pollution may find its way from the pasture land and from a barn and barnyard through which a branch of the stream passes. The well is located in the lower southwest part of the village and undoubtedly the ground water tributary to it receives some pollution from the various houses and privies located on the land above the well. The Little Hoosick river above the well has a watershed of about 35 square miles, upon which the population is distributed in isolated farm houses and in small hamlets. The pollution received by the stream is consequently largely indirect, although sufficient to render it unsafe for domestic purposes without purification. Whether this river water would receive sufficient purification passing through the ground should it be drawn into the wells at times of heavy draft, is impossible to state with the present available data. There are about 5 houses, having a population of about 25 within 500 feet of the well and 12 houses having a population of about 50 within 1,000 feet of the well.

At the time of the inspection samples of the village water at the various sources were collected and the results of the analyses of these will be found in the appended table. The results of the analyses of the sample collected from a tap in the village show a water clear, free from color and quite soft. The figures for nitrogen in its various forms are comparatively low and the figure for chlorine is slightly above normal for this section of the country, due probably to contamination of animal origin. In the case of the samples collected from both the tap in the village and from the main brook the bacterial counts are moderate for a surface supply and no organisms of the B. coli group were found in the samples inoculated. The sample from the southerly branch, however, has a very high count of bacteria and organisms of the B. coli type were found in two of the 10 c.c. inoculations tested, showing considerable pollution apparently received from the barnyard and from the road alongside which the brook passes for a considerable distance. sample from the well near the river was taken from a private supply, and due to the small amount of water used it was undoubtedly upland water rather than river water. The results of the analyses of this sample show a moderate count of bacteria and no organisms of the B. coli type in the inoculation tested.

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As a result of this investigation and of the analyses the following conclusions may be drawn:

1. That Fly creek, the regular source from which the public water supply of Petersburg is derived, is reasonably satisfactory from a sanitary standpoint, although open at times to a small amount of contamination from pasture land.

2. That the southerly branch of Fly creek is unsatisfactory on account of the opportunities for pollution from a barnyard and from road drainage.

3. That the auxiliary well supply is rather unsatisfactorily located in the lower part of the village, although without a more extended series of analyses, it is impossible to state definitely the effect nearby sources of pollution may have upon its sanitary quality. From the inspection, however, it would appear that this well, under heavy draft, would receive unfiltered water from the river without adequate purification.

In view of the above conclusions I would make the following recommendations:

1. That no cattle be permitted to pasture within 50 feet of the reservoir on Fly creek.

2. That the south branch of Fly creek be abandoned as a source of water supply unless suitable and adequate methods be provided for its purification.

3. That on account of the rather unsatisfactory location of the auxiliary well in the lower part of the village near several sources of possible pollution and also on account of the close proximity of the river, that this well be abandoned, and in case additional water is required it should

be obtained from a new source free from pollution or from a well or wells at least 50 feet from the river and remote from other potential sources of pollution.

I would finally recommend that copies of this report be transmitted to the commissioners of the Petersburg waterworks district, to the health officer of the town of Petersburg and to the sanitary supervisor of the district. Respectfully submitted, THEODORE HORTON,

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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.

PLEASANTVILLE

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 Pleasantville, made by Mr. C. M. Baker, assistant engineer, on January 19, 1917.

Pleasantville is an incorporated village with 2,464 inhabitants, located in Westchester county, on the Harlem division of the N. Y. C. & H. R. R., about 26 miles north of New York city. No sewerage system is provided in the village, the houses being served by privies, cesspools, etc.

The water supply system was first installed in 1901 or 1902, the water being secured from an impounding reservoir on a small brook about 1 mile southeast of the village. From this reservoir the water flowed by gravity to a pumping station which pumped the supply through pressure filters into the distribution system. The watershed is protected by rules and regulations enacted by this Department in 1902. Due to the difficulty and expense of maintaining proper sanitary conditions on this watershed and purifying the supply, also to the fact that part of the watershed had been taken over by the city of New York in connection with the development of its water supply, a new supply has been developed from a well located near the old reservoir, although the old supply is still connected with the system so that it can be used in case of necessity.

VOL. II-16

The water supply is owned by the municipality and the present system was first put into operation July 15, 1916. From the well the water is conducted by a siphon to suction wells located near the pumping station, from which the water is pumped directly into the distribution system, the excess over consumption going to a concrete storage reservoir located on a nearby hill. The distribution system consists of about 8 miles of mains ranging from 4 to 16 inches in diameter except for a few lines of 2-inch pipe, supplying 2 or 3 houses. There are in all 576 services, only 4 or 5 of which are metered. The water pressure ranges from 50 to 125 pounds per square inch, it being necessary in some parts of the village to regulate the pressure by pressure-reducing valves.

The pumping station is located about 1 mile east of the railroad station and is equipped with one 50 horse power motor, direct connected to a Rumsey pump having a capacity of 312 gallons per minute, also a 30 horse power motor, direct connected to a Gould triplex pump having a capacity of 300 gallons per minute. The reservoir is constructed of concrete and is uncovered, but is protected by woven wire fence constructed around it, 3 feet from the edge of the reservoir. The capacity of the reservoir is about onehalf million gallons. The suction wells, 2 in number, are located just above the pumping station. The upper one is 21 by 90 feet in plan by 7 feet and has a capacity of 99,000 gallons. The lower one is 30 feet in diameter by 11 feet deep, having a capacity of 58,000 gallons, thus providing for a total storage of 157,000 gallons. With the yield from the well, which is estimated at a maximum of about 288,000 gallons per day, this storage will supply the pumps for about 9 hours during which time approximately 300,000 gallons or three times the normal daily consumption may be pumped. The storage reservoir consists of only one compartment so that in case of cleaning it would be necessary to cut the whole reservoir out of service. While the yield from the well together with the water stored in the suction wells would furnish sufficient water for the normal consumption while cleaning the reservoir, it is possible that in case of a large fire the storage would be inadequate, thus making it necessary to draw upon the auxiliary supply. Furthermore the present pumping equipment can deliver only 612 gallons per minute, which would be inadequate for a large fire.

The well from which the supply is derived is located about 100 feet from the stream on a low area just southeast of the impounding reservoir used in connection with the old supply. The well is 9 feet in diameter by 24 feet deep. It is curbed with a concrete wall and covered, the curb extending about 2 feet above the surface of the ground. The strata through which the well passes consist of sand and clay. It is said that there is no danger of flooding the area about the well at time of high water. The engineer in charge of the pumping station stated that the yield of the well had been estimated at 337,000 gallons per day, although the siphon leading from it to the suction wells will deliver only about 288,000 gallons daily. There are no houses in the vicinity of the well and no insanitary conditions were observed at the time of the inspection. It seems therefore that this well should furnish a satisfactory supply of water provided it is at all times properly protected from pollution. The yield of the well at present appears to be sufficient for the needs of the village and should additional water be required it could doubtless be provided by the construction of additional wells. Samples of the water were collected at the time of the inspection and sent to the Division of Laboratories and Research for analyses, the results of which are recorded in the appended table.

The results of the analyses show a water satisfactory in physical qualities with respect to color and turbidity and a water that is very hard. The figures for nitrogen as free and albuminoid ammonia appear to be somewhat high as are also those for nitrates and chlorine, thus indicating that pollution finds its way into the ground water tributary to the supply. The low bacterial count and absence of colon bacilli, however, indicate that this pollution has been rendered inactive by the natural processes of purification and that the supply was in a satisfactory condition at the time of the inspection.

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