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. RENSSELAER COUNTY TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITAL (Plans for water supply and sewage disposal, see sec. la, p. 132.) RENSSELAERVILLE HERMANN M. BIGGS, M.D., State Commissioner of Health: I beg to submit the following report of an investigation of the public water supply of Rensselaerville made by Mr. C. M. Baker, assistant engineer, on October 15, 1917. Rensselaerville is an unincorporated village of 150 or 200 inhabitants located in the southwestern part of Albany county in the town of Rensselaerville. It is about 25 miles southwest of Albany and 15 miles southwest of Voorheesville on the West Shore Railroad, the nearest railroad station. Ten-Mile creek, a tributary to Catskill creek, flows through the village. The water supply is owned and controlled by the Rensselaerville Water Company, of which Mr. C. L. Andrus of Stamford, N. Y., is president and Mr. B. F. Bell of Rensselaerville, superintendent. The water is obtained from the outlet of Myosotis lake at a point just below the lake. From the intake the water flows through a crude gravel filter, thence through a charcoal filter into a distributing reservoir, from which it flows by gravity to the village. The supply was first put into operation in 1897 or 1898, since when the only improvements have consisted of repairs and extensions to the distribution system. About 50 per cent of the population is served with the water, there being in all 35 or 40 service taps, none of which are metered. There is about I mile of water mains which range in size from 3 to 6 inches in diameter. The pressure in the village is 80 to 85 pounds per square inch. The intake consists of a wooden intake basin protected by a screen and located near the creek. From this intake basin the water flows to a small roughing filter which consists of a gravel bed underlaid by collecting tile, the collecting tile discharging into a receiving basin. From this receiving basin the water flows by gravity to a charcoal filter and the distributing reservoir located about 4 mile below the intake. The watershed tributary to Myosotis lake is about 7 square miles in area and has a total population of about 100 persons or 21 per square mile. The area of the lake itself is about 1/10 square mile. The watershed is hilly and a large portion is wooded. While a complete inspection was not made of the watershed, it is apparent from the topographic map and from inquiries made at the time of the inspection that the houses are located well back from the stream. An inspection was made, however, in the vicinity of the lake. About the lake there are 6 or 7 summer cottages which are located from 50 to 100 feet from the water's edge. These cottages are provided with privies with earth vaults only, which are located 100 to 150 feet from the edge of the water. Campers also frequent the shores of the lake during the summer season. It is apparent from the above that the lake is subject to considerable pollution during the summer season but that there is much less danger of pollution during the winter months. 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 these analyses show a water slightly colored but clear at the time of the inspection. The figures for nitrogen in its various forms are moderate. The bacterial count was moderate for a surface supply but colon bacilli were found present in all 3 of the 10 c.c. inoculations, thus indicating the presence of a certain amount of active contamination. As the result of this investigation it may be concluded that the public water supply of Rensselaerville is obtained from a source which is subject to considerable pollution during the summer months but which is comparatively free from pollution during the winter season. In view of the above, I beg to offer the following recommendations to be acted upon by the water company: 1. That apparatus be provided and that the supply be sterilized with liquid chlorine during the months when the lake and its shores are used for pleasure purposes and that this treatment be continued for some time after the summer season in order to prevent residual contamination finding its way into the supply, or 2. That a new supply be developed from another source free from pollution. Finally, I would recommend that copies of this report be sent to the water company, to the local health officer and to the sanitary supervisor of the district. Absent. + Present. 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. ROCHESTER & LAKE ONTARIO WATER CO. HERMANN M. BIGGS, M.D., State Commissioner of Health: I beg to report that in response to requests from several health officers of municipalities supplied by the Rochester and Lake Ontario Water Company who had been disturbed by a notice circulated in the public press by the health officer of the city of Rochester to the effect that the water supplied by this company was unsafe for drinking purposes and advising that it be boiled, a reinvestigation of this supply was made by our assistant engineer, Mr. E. S. Chase, on September 13, 1917, a previous investigation having been made in 1915, a report of which will be found published in full in the 1915 Report of the Department, Volume II, beginning with page 576. During the present investigation the plant was fully inspected and laboratory analyses made of the water from the various points of intake in the lake to the final effluent as delivered to the consumer. Four samples of water taken by Mr. Chase from different points of this supply on September 13, together with one taken by the health officer at East Rochester on August 16 and one taken by the health officer of the town of Pittsford on September 11, showed the absence of B. coli. These results taken in connection with the improved condition of the raw water and improvements in installation and operation of the plant indicate that the water supply furnished by the company on those dates was of good sanitary quality and safe for drinking purposes. Without venturing a definite opinion as to the cause of the discrepancy between our several findings and those upon which the health officer of Rochester based his conclusions, it may be suggested as a cause therefor that whereas the bacteriological analysis made by the State Department of Health laboratory was conclusive as to the character of organisms present, the bacteriological evidence of the character of organisms said to have been found by the bacteriologist of the department of health at Rochester was only presumptive. Very truly yours, M. NICOLL, JR., Deputy Commissioner of Health ALBANY, N. Y., September 24, 1917 SCHENECTADY HERMANN M. BIGGS, M.D., State Commissioner of Health: I beg to submit the following report upon an investigation of the public water supply of the city of Schenectady made by Mr. C. M. Baker, assistant engineer, on May 17, 1917. Schenectady is a city with an estimated population of about 90,000 located on the Mohawk river and the New York Central and West Shore Railroads about 17 miles northwest of Albany. There are many manufacturing concerns in the city, the largest of which are the General Electric Company and the American Locomotive Company. Sewerage is provided by means of a municipal sewer which collects the sewage and discharges into a purification plant, the effluent from which discharges into the Mohawk river. The first public water supply was constructed in Schenectady about 1835 by a private concern. The water was then collected from springs and distributed through hollow logs to the consumers. This system, however, apparently became inadequate, and later, in 1866, the Schenectady Water Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $80,000. This company constructed a water system which was put into active service in 1872. The water for this supply was pumped from an infiltration gallery 6 feet wide by 114 feet long located near the Mohawk river and was distributed by the Holly system. In 1885 the city purchased the plant of the Schenectady Water Company and soon after constructed intakes into the Mohawk river, from which the main source of supply was derived without purification. Due to the increasing contamination of the river, however, by the discharge of sewage from cities located above Schenectady, the search for a new supply was soon begun. In 1895, after a careful study of local conditions, the city constructed a large dug well near the River road about 11⁄2 miles west of the city. This well furnished a satisfactory and abundant supply of water for some time. Two additional wells have since been constructed near the original one, however, and these with the original well constitute the present source of supply. This new supply was first put in operation in 1897. The water was then pumped by means of a Deane duplex vertical triple expansion steam pump having a capacity of 6,000,000 gallons per day through the distribution system into a 1,000,000-gallon elevated tank. With the rapid growth of the city, however, particularly on the higher elevation, it soon became necessary to install new pumps and to increase the pressure in the distribution system in order to supply these outlying districts. New turbine centrifugal motor-driven pumps were therefore installed in 1903 and 1904 and these supplied the city with water from the original well. An additional water tower of 2,000,000 gallons capacity was also erected and the 2 new wells were constructed. The present water supply of Schenectady is therefore derived from dug wells located about 3.9 miles west of the city near the Mohawk river. From these wells the water is pumped through the distribution system into storage tanks, although the new storage reservoir was nearly completed at the time of the inspection and additional pumps were being installed. A number of people outside of the city are being supplied with the water, so that it is estimated that about 97,000 persons are now supplied with water from the city distribution system. There are in all 14,794 service taps, only about 7.2 per cent of which are metered. For the year of 1916 the average monthly consumption was 339,433,750 gallons, the weekly average 78,330,865, and the daily consumption 11,359,465. The average daily per capita rate during this period was 114.9 gallons. There are in all about 117 miles of mains, ranging from 4 inches to 36 inches in diameter. The mains from the pumping plant to the city consist of one 24-inch cast iron main, installed in 1895, one 36-inch riveted steel main, installed in 1903 and 1904, and one 36-inch lock bar steel main installed in 1914, but not yet put into operation. The average pressure in the city at the present time is about 95 pounds per square inch. The pumps are located in a brick building and consist of three induction motor-driven centrifugal pumps, two turbine and one volute with a combined capacity of about 31,500,000 gallons daily. Pumps No. 1 and 2 are Worthington centrifugal pumps, one with a capacity of 9,500,000 gallons and the other 13,500,000 gallons daily. They are driven by General Electric motors. The third pump is an I. P. Morris, 8,500,000 gallons centrifugal pump, also driven by a General Electric motor. Electric power is obtained from the General Electric Company at a rate of $6.50 per million gallons of water pumped. Power is transmitted to the pumping plant by means of four separate transmission lines. In connection with the new developments, one new I. P. Morris 7,500,000 gallon two stage vertical volute centrifugal pump and two Alberger two stage vertical turbine pumps, each having a capacity of 12,000,000 gallons daily, are to be installed. The new reservoir, located on Bevis Hill, is constructed of concrete in excavation and embankment and is covered with a roof. This reservoir is 520 feet by 260 feet in plan, and 22 feet deep, is divided into two compartments and has a total capacity of 21,123,000 gallons. Although the reservoir is completed the main from the pumping station to it is not yet ready for service, due to repairs necessary to eliminate numerous leaks which occurred when this main was first put into service. In connection with the new development the city will be supplied with water by a two level system. One of the new pumps will pump water continuously into the lower level, while another will pump into the upper level, the excess over consumption in this portion discharging into the storage reservoir. The upper and lower levels are connected by means of nine pressure reducing valves. The original well of the present system, constructed in 1895, is 8 feet wide by 60 feet long and about 43 feet deep. The two additional wells constructed in 1903 are located near the old well and are each 47 feet in diameter by 40 and 44 feet deep respectively. The strata through which the wells are dug consist of 25 or 30 feet of clay, two layers of a cemented conglomerate, each of which is about 2 feet thick, and a coarse water bearing gravel, from which the supply is obtained. The water in the wells rises and falls with the elevation of the river, but this disturbance apparently does not affect the quality of the water. The wells are walled up with masonry and covered with masonry arches, located below the surface, the remaining excavation being filled in to conform to the general level of the ground. Although it is impossible to determine with any degree of accuracy the collecting area tributary to these wells, the water probably comes from the hills located southwest of the plant. The only houses in the vicinity of the wells consist of the pumping plant and the house of the engineer in charge of the pumping equipment. A cast iron sewer from the plant and house, however, passes directly over the arch of well No. 1. Since samples of water had been collected and analyzed by the Division of Laboratories and Research, just prior to the time of the investigation, samples were not again collected. The results of past analyses covering the years of 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1917 are recorded in the appended table. The results of these analyses show a water satisfactory in physical qualities with respect to color and turbidity, but a water that is high in hardness. The figures for nitrogen in its various forms are low, although the figures for chlorine are somewhat high. Due to the low nitrates, however, the high chlorine content is probably of mineral rather than animal origin. The bacterial counts are in all cases low and colon bacilli were present in only one 10 c.c. inoculation of the 15 samples tested. As a result of this investigation it may be concluded: 1. That the water supply of the city of Schenectady as indicated by the present investigation and by past analyses appears to be of a satisfactory physical and sanitary quality. 2. That should leaks develop in the sewer that passes directly over well No. 1, contamination of the supply would probably result therefrom. In view of the above, I beg to recommend: 1. That the city officials continue their careful supervision of the supply in order to maintain it in a proper sanitary condition. 2. That in order to minimize the danger of pollution of the supply in case leaks should occur in the sewer from the pumping plant, this sewer be relocated as far from the wells as possible. In conclusion, I would recommend that copies of this report be transmitted to the health officer of the city of Schenectady, the superintendent of public works, and to the sanitary supervisor of the district. Respectfully submitted. ALBANY, N. Y., June 11, 1917 THEODORE HORTON, |