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.

WEST WINFIELD

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 West Winfield, made by Mr. C. M. Baker, assistant engineer, on April 10, 1917.

West Winfield is an incorporated village of 788 inhabitants, located 18 miles south of Utica, in the extreme southwestern corner of Herkimer county, on the Unadilla river and the Richfield Springs branch of the D., L. & W. railroad. A drainage system is provided in the village for carrying off surface wash, which also receives wash water from sinks, etc., although it is claimed that no toilets are connected with this system. Excretal wastes are disposed of by means of privies and cesspools.

The water system was originally installed and put in operation some 35 or 40 years ago. It was originally owned by a private concern and derived from springs. Later a group of wells were added and finally the well from which the present supply is derived was developed. In 1915 the supply was taken over by the municipality. The water is now obtained from a well located in the northeastern part of the village, whence it is pumped through the distribution system into a storage reservoir. Seventy-five or 80 per cent of the population is served with the water, there being in all 170 service taps, only 3 or 4 of which are metered. The distribution system consists of approximately 4 miles of mains ranging in size from 4 to 10 inches in diameter. From the pump records the consumption averages about 72,000 gallons daily, an equivalent of 118 gallons per capita. During the winter the consumption is greater than in the summer. The pressure in the village averages from 80 to 95 pounds per square inch.

The pumping equipment consists of 2 Gould pumps, each with a capacity of 100 gallons per minute, one being operated by a 15 horsepower oil engine and the other by a 50 horsepower gasoline engine. The reservoir, which is uncovered, is 20 feet deep by 50 feet in diameter and has a capacity of approximately 118,000 gallons.

The Hiteman Leather Company obtains an auxiliary fire supply from the Unadilla river and their system is connected with the village distribution system, thus making it possible to pump from the river into the village

mains. No check valve is provided in the system of the leather company to prevent water from their pump entering the village system at any time when the pump is in operation. Gate valves are provided, however, which are said to be kept closed at times when the company's pump is in operation. The well from which the village supply is derived is 6 inches in diameter by 30 feet deep. The strata through which it is drilled consist of 6 or 7 feet of gravel, 10 or 12 feet of clay hardpan, the remainder being through a water-bearing gravel stratum, which is the source of the supply. This well is located on the bank of North Winfield creek at the foot of a steep slope. It is close to the water's edge and at the time of the inspection the water of the creek was only 1 or 12 feet below the level of the floor of the pumping station, which is located directly over the well. It is probable that the area about the pumping station, and possibly the floor of the plant itself, are inundated at times of high water. North Winfield creek drains several square miles of farm land and is subject to considerable pollution from numerous houses on the watershed. A privy at the pumping station is located about 130 feet from the well. On the hill above the well within a radius of 500 feet are about 5 houses and beyond this distance and within 1,000 feet there are probably 7 houses.

The results of analyses of samples of water collected prior and subsequent to the inspection 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 one that is very hard. The figures for nitrogen in the form of free and albuminoid ammonia and nitrites are low, those for nitrates and chlorine, however, are somewhat high, thus indicating that pollution finds its way into the ground water tributary to the supply. The bacterial counts are high for a ground water although colon bacilli were not found present in the inoculations tested.

As a result of this investigation it may be concluded:

1. That the public water supply of West Winfield is derived from a well which may be subject to pollution by the infiltration of creek water at times of flooding of the adjacent area.

2. That the supply may at times be locally contaminated by polluted water pumped into the system from the fire supply of the Hiteman Leather Company.

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

1. That the area in the vicinity of the well be filled in with clean material and properly protected by suitable dikes in order to prevent flooding of this area at times of high water.

2. That the connection between the village supply and the fire supply of the Hiteman Leather Company be removed as soon as practical.

Finally, I would recommend that copies of this report be sent to the local health officer, to the sanitary supervisor of the district and to the board of water commissioners of West Winfield.

Respectfully submitted,

ALBANY, N. Y., June 8, 1917

THEODORE HORTON,

Chief Engineer

Absent.

Results are expressed in parts per million. + Present. 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, vegetabel.

WHITEHALL

LINSLY R. WILLIAMS, M.D., Acting State Commissioner of Health:

I beg to submit the following report upon an inspection of the operation of the chlorination plant for sterilization of the public water supply of Whitehall, made by Mr. E. S. Chase, assistant engineer, on December 19, 1916.

Previous investigations have been made of this supply at various times in the past, reference to which will be found in a report made early in 1916. Recently a letter was received from Dr. John S. Guinan, health officer, stating that analyses of the village supply made by the laboratory department of the Borden Milk Company indicated the presence of contamination and accordingly the local milk station had abandoned the public supply. The recent inspection was accordingly made to determine the conditions of operation of the sterilization plant.

The engineer made his visit unannounced and collected samples from a tap in the village before the pumping station was visited. When the station was visited the chlorine apparatus was found to be in operation and applying chlorine at the rate of 3.4 pounds per day. The amount of chlorine being applied may, therefore, be estimated at approximately .62 parts per million. Later in the day the rate of chlorine application was noted to be somewhat less.

The application of chlorine is checked by daily weighings of the chlorine cylinder by the water-works engineer and by weekly weighings made by the superintendent of the water works.

The following table gives the records for this year, as obtained from Miss Rice, village clerk:

Analyses are made frequently by Mr. G. E. Wilcomb, sanitary engineer, the results of which will be found in the following table. At those times, when the analyses indicated incomplete sterilization, Mr. Wilcomb advised increases in the amount of chlorine applied.

TABLE 2

RESULTS OF ANALYSES MADE BY G. E. WILCOMB IN 1916 TREATED WATER, WHITEHALL

At the time of the recent inspection samples were collected and the results of the analyses of these samples made by the Division of Laboratories and Research will be found in the appended table. These results show satisfactory sterilization at the time of the inspection.

During the past year some 20 analyses of the treated water have been made by Mr. Wilcomb and indications of B. coli in 10 c.c. have been shown in 30 per cent of these samples and in 1 c.c. inoculations in 15 per cent of the samples. Since the installation of the plant 14 analyses of the treated water have been made by this Department, and of these B. coli have been found present in 14 per cent of the 10 c.c. inoculations and in 7 per cent of the 1 c.c. inoculations.

It is evident from these results that at times incomplete sterilization has been obtained, due either to application of insufficient quantities of chlorine or to intermittent operation of the sterilization plant.

As a result of this and past investigations it may be concluded:

1. That the raw water supply of Whitehall derived from the Mettawee river is seriously polluted and at times infected by intermittent and direct discharge of sewage from hamlets and villages located above the intake.

2. That the installation of the sterilization plant has offered a very valuable safeguard to the sanitary quality of the supply although, due to the somewhat variable quality of the raw water and its extremely turbid conditions at times, it is evident that the fullest safeguard can be obtained only by the installation of a complete and modern filtration plant with the chlorination continued as a supplementary method of treatment.

3. That the operation of the chlorination plant, from available records, seems to have been carried out with a fair degree of carefulness, although at times there have been interruptions in the operation due to the appaVOL. II-19