Volume 1

Report on water supply and sewerage.

  • Massachusetts. State Board of Health.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on water supply and sewerage. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/894
    their past or present pollution by sewage, or freedom from such pollution. The actual condition of the drainage area of a source, and the excess of chlorine in the source beyond the normal chlorine of the waters of that region, are taken to indicate the degree of past pollution by sewage ; w'hile the present condition of the w^ater is determined by the changes that have taken place, as shown by the present form in wdiich nitrosfen is found in the water. The characteristics of the unpolluted waters of each group are determined, and with these are compared the forms of nitrogen of. the several sources which have been polluted ; and the changes that have taken place under the existing circumstances are traced, as completely as practicable, from the entrance of pollution to the conditions existing in the supply. By this study, it is found that nearly one-half of all the water supplies of the State have not been polluted by sewage ; that a large part of the remainder have been so purified by filtration through the ground, or by the appropria- tion of the impurities by organic growth, that they cannot be regarded as deleterious to health. A small number remain whose condition is doubtful or dano^erous, and these demand further ^ * investio^ation. The discussion of “Special Topics relating to the Quality of Water Supplies ” contains much information which has a practical bearing upon the selection of sources of public water supply, and the methods of storage both of ground and of surface waters. Several supplies have been selected and made the subject of careful and continuous examination, both chemical and biological, and the results are grouped together and tabulated in this section of the lepott. Special prominence is given to the effect of storage upon the color, taste and odor of water, as well as the chemical compo- sition. A portion of this section of the report is devoted to the investi- gation of the character of the water in deep ponds, at different depths and at different seasons of the year. The variations in the nitrogen compounds at different depths and at different sjeasons of the year in Jamaica Pond are presented in a series of tables and 1 • diagrams. Several surface waters which have caused serious annoyance, from the periodiciil development of aquatic organisms, have been made