RESULTS OF WATER ANALYSES

CHEMICAL (PARTS PER MILLION)

SCHUYLERVILLE

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 Schuylerville made by Mr. C. M. Baker, assistant engineer, on November 3, 1916.

Schuylerville is an incorporated village located in Saratoga county on the Hudson river, 30 or 35 miles north of Albany. It is on the Boston and Maine railroad and the Hudson Valley electric railroad. No sewer system is provided in the village, the houses being served by privies, cesspools, etc. The population of the village according to the 1915 census is 1,711.

The water supply is owned by the village and was first put into operation about 1904. It is derived from a small spring brook about one mile east of and on the opposite side of the river from the village. The brook intake diverts the water into a small reservoir near by from which it flows by gravity to a pumping station located in the village and also through the distribution system of the lower part of the village, the gravity pressure from the intake being sufficient for domestic purposes in this section. Water is pumped into a fire storage reservoir located on the hill just west of the village to supply the upper section and to furnish fire pressure. About 75 per cent of the population of the village is served with the water, also some outside consumers which makes the total population tributary to the water supply about 1,500 persons. There are in all 335 service taps nearly all of which are metered. The average water consumption is about 82,000 gallons daily and an equivalent of 55 gallons per capita served. The distribution system consists of about 6 miles of mains ranging in size from 6 to 12 inches in diameter. In the lower part of the village the gravity pressure from the intake is about 45 pounds while the fire pressure ranges from 85 to 100 pounds per square inch.

At the intake a concrete channel and diverting dam have been constructed in the bed of the brook which diverted the water through an iron grating, consisting of 4-inch bars spaced with openings of about 3/4 inch, into a circular concrete reservoir. This reservoir is 40 feet in diameter by 14 feet deep and has a capacity of 135,000 gallons. On top of the wall forming it is a 14-inch mesh wire fence. The pumping equipment is housed in a brick building and consists of one 25-horsepower gasoline engine which operated a Rumsey triplex double acting pump direct connected with the engine and having a capacity of 24,000 gallons per hour. The fire reservoir, which is located on the hill just west of the village, is constructed of concrete, is 60 feet in diameter by 14 feet deep and has a capacity of about 300,000 gallons. It is also protected by a wire fence similar to that of collecting reservoir.

The source of the stream from which the supply is derived consists of springs, which issue from the foot of the steep bank of a ravine above which is a comparatively level table land which extends to within about 1,000 feet of the intake. The watershed tributary to the supply is about 0.3 of a square mile in area. On it are located two houses and a population equivalent to about 33 persons per square mile. The soil is very sandy and the land is used almost exclusively for agricultural purposes most of it being under cultivation. The soil is at times heavily fertilized with manure from the nearby farms. It seems quite probable, therefore, that the supply at times receives pollution due to surface wash from this land. It is possible, however, that this could be obviated to a considerable extent if not entirely by the construction of suitable drainage ditches at the foot of the table land along the top of the steep slopes to divert the surface wash. The village has the right to use water but so far as could be learned by the engineer making the inspection its control of the watershed is limited. It was stated, however, that no cattle are pastured in the immediate vicinity of the brooks tributary to the supply.

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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 together with those of previous analyses are recorded in the appended table.

The results of these analyses show a water at times rather highly colored, and occasionally somewhat turbid. It is high in hardness. The figures for nitrogen in the form of free and albuminoid ammonia are at times rather high as are also the figures for nitrates and chlorine thus indicating that pollution 'finds its way into the supply. The bacterial counts are at times high and colon bacilli are prevalent in the 10 c.c. inoculations, frequently present in the 1 c.c. and occasionally in the 1/10 c.c. inoculations, thus indicating the presence of active and potentially dangerous contamination.

As a result of this investigation it may be concluded that the water supply of Schuylerville is derived from a source which is subject to considerable pollution from manure used as a fertilizer on agricultural land tributary to the supply.

In view of the above, I beg to offer the following recommendation to be acted upon by the village authorities:

That steps be taken immediately to protect the sanitary quality of the supply by:

(a) The construction of suitable drainage ditches to prevent surface wash from fertilized fields reaching the supply directly, or

(b) The purification of the supply by sterilization with liquid chlorine or by adequate filtration.

Regarding the sterilization of the supply with liquid chlorine it should be pointed out that this will not improve its physical qualities but will only render it satisfactory from a sanitary standpoint. If it is desired to improve the physical qualities of the water as well as the sanitary, filtration should be provided.

Respectfully submitted,

THEODORE HORTON,
Chief Engineer

ALBANY, N. Y., January 25, 1917

RESULTS OF WATER ANALYSES

SCOTIA

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 Scotia made by Mr. C. M. Baker, assistant engineer, on May 18, 1917. Scotia is an incorporated village of 3,790 inhabitants located on the north side of the Mohawk river nearly opposite the city of Schenectady. It is on the New York Central and Hudson River R. R. and may also be reached by trolley from Schenectady. The village is equipped with a municipal sewer system, the effluent from which at present discharges into the Mohawk river without purification. Revised plans for sewage disposal works, however, have recently been submitted to and approved by this Department and the works are required to be constructed by October 1 of the present year.

The public water supply is derived from wells located about two miles northwest of the village and is owned and operated by the village. The system was designed by Prof. O. H. Landreth, consulting engineer, and was installed and put into operation in 1905. Since the original installation extensions have been made to the mains, more complete equipment for the pumping station has been provided and at the time of the inspection a residence was being constructed near the pumping station for the engineer.

All of the village and some 200 to 250 persons outside are served with the water, the total population served by the supply being estimated at the time of the inspection to be about 4,200. The total consumption ranges from 200,000 to about 233,000 gallons daily which corresponds to per capita rates of 48 to 55 gallons per day. There are in all some 131⁄2 miles of mains ranging from 4 to 12 inches in diameter. Two 12-inch force mains are provided from the pumping station to the distribution system. In all there are 902 service taps, 12 or 14 of which, however, are in use only a part of the year. All services are metered. The pressure in the village ranges from 65 to 75 pounds per square inch.

From the wells the water is pumped through the distribution system into a tank located on a tower in the western part of the village. The wells, 7 in number, are 4 inches in diameter and range from 40 to 60 feet deep. The strata through which they are drilled consist of gravel with an occasional intermittent stratum of clay. The wells are placed in a line and are spaced about 30 feet apart. A short tunnel leads from each of the wells toward the pumping station into another tunnel running at right angles to those from the wells, in which is located the suction lines from the pumps, the pipes from the wells thus being connected through this tunnel to the suction lines. The wells are 20 or 25 feet from the pumping station. There appears to be no opportunity for surface wash to find its way directly into the wells. A study of the topography in the vicinity indicates that the principal source of water tributary to the wells is seepage from a small brook that rises in the Glenville hills about 4 miles north. The brook flows in a southerly direction until nearly opposite the wells where it swings to the east its course being diverted by a ridge on the edge of which the wells are located. The minimum distance between the stream and the wells is 600 or 700 feet.

The pumping station is located in a brick building and is equipped with two Worthington centrifugal pumps each with a capacity of 35.000 gallons per hour. Power is furnished by two 50-horsepower General Electric motors. The pumps are located in a concrete pit about 15 feet below the elevation of the floor of the pumping station. Storage is provided by the elevated steel tank, the bottom being about 120 feet above the ground. The capacity of this tank is approximately 100,000 gallons. The pumps are operated during the day for a sufficient length of time to maintain a proper supply of water in the storage tank, the average run during each day being about 4 hours. The reservoir was cleaned about a year ago after a period of about 10 years without cleaning and very little sediment was found. During the summer the dead ends of the mains are flushed once or twice weekly.

There were no apparent sources of pollution in the vicinity of the well at the time of the inspection. In connection with the construction of the new