CHAPTER II.
RIVER POLLUTION.
This subject is possibly most interesting to Cincinnati, because of its direct application to our source. River water is next to the most suspicious of waters, and the character is the bone of contention among scientists. Just how far and how much sewage may be admitted, and what influences are exerted to destroy it, are interesting discussions, part of which we have quoted.
The Rivers Pollution Commission of Great Britain arrived at the conclusion “that there is no river in the United Kingdom long enough to effect the destruction of sewage by oxidation.” And a direct contradiction of the statement by the eminent physician, Dr. Letheby, medical officer to corporation of London, “that if sewage matter be mixed with twenty times its bulk of ordinary river water, and flow a dozen miles, there is not a particle of that sewage to be discovered by chemical means.”
The experiments of this commission show “that scarcely two-thirds of the sewage was destroyed in a flow of 168 miles, at the rate of one mile per hour, or after the lapse of a week.”
Investigations of the Rivers Pollution Commission on Sewage Pollution are as follows:
REDUCTION BY OXIDATION IN RUNNING WATER.
--------+--------------+-----------+--------------------------------- | | | PERCENTAGE OF REDUCTION OF NAME OF |LENGTH OF FLOW|TEMPERATURE| ORGANIC ELEMENT. RIVER. | IN MILES. |CENTIGRADE.+---------------+----------------- | | |IN ORG. CARBON.|IN ORG. NITROGEN. --------+--------------+-----------+---------------+----------------- Irwell | 11 | 6 to 8 | 4.5 | 0 “ | 11 |12 | 0 | 11.8 “ | 11 |17 | 29.6 | 0 Mersey | 13 | 4 to 4.8| 20.8 | 17.9 Darwin | 13 | 6.8 to 10 | 0 | 13.2. --------+--------------+-----------+---------------+-----------------
REDUCTION OF SEWAGE BY AERATION.
One volume of filtered London sewage mixed with nine volumes of water, the mixture contained .267 organic carbon and .081 organic nitrogen. After agitation and freely exposed to the air and light every day, and being syphoned, in a slender stream, from one vessel to another, the result, after 96 hours, was .250 organic carbon, and .058 organic nitrogen; and, after 196 hours’ test, was .2 organic carbon, and .054 organic nitrogen. Temperature, 20° centigrade.
The above results would correspond to a flow of 96 miles, at rate of one mile per hour, with a reduction in per cent of 6.4 organic carbon, and 28.4 organic nitrogen; or a flow of 192 miles, at rate of one mile per hour, with a reduction in per cent of 25.1 organic carbon, and 33.3 organic nitrogen.
Test of a mixture of fresh sewage with Thames water, and enclosed in stopped bottles, and opened to air at following intervals, with results opposite the respective periods:
PER CENT OF SEWAGE DESTROYED. 1. Period of 24 hours 6.8 2. Period of 24 hours 8.9 3. Period of 48 hours 14.3 4. Period of 24 hours 5.4 5. Period of 24 hours 5.8 6. Period of 24 hours 2.1 ---- Total 43.3
Dissolved oxygen contained in the enclosed water was determined by boiling off the dissolved gases.
REDUCTION OF URINE BY AERATION
Urine, in proportion of one gallon (imperial) to 3,077 gallons of water, exposed to the air and briskly agitated:
PARTS IN 100,000 PARTS. DATE. ORGANIC CARBON. ORGANIC NITROGEN.
Feb. 17, 1874, .282 .243 “ 18, “ .298 .251 “ 19, “ .244 .255 “ 24, “ .225 .253 “ 25, “ .214 .259 “ 28, “ .214 .276
Results show that fresh urine with a large volume of water is, under atmospheric influences, more permanent and indestructible than sewage.
The agents of destruction of sewage are:
Infusorial animals. Aquatic plants. Fish. Chemical Oxidation. Dilution. Deposition.
Sir Benjamin Brodie, in his evidence before a former River Pollution Commission, stated: “That it was simply impossible that the oxidizing power acting on sewage running in mixture with water over a distance of any length is sufficient to remove its noxious quality; that the oxygen in the water and on its surface does not exercise any rapidly oxidizing power on organic matter.” He believed “that an infinitesimally small quantity of decayed matter is able to produce an injurious effect upon health; that if a large proportion of organic matter were removed by oxidation, the quantity left might be sufficient to be injurious to health. To destroy organic matter the most powerful oxidizing agents are required. We must boil it with nitric acid and chloric acid and the most perfect chemical agents. To think to get rid of organic matter by exposure to the air for a short time is absurd.”
Prof. Frankland, one of the Rivers Pollution Commission of 1874, says:
“That I should rely upon dilution quite as much and more than upon the destruction of injurious matter; that the flow of a river has a most natural influence in the removal of subsidence of a large proportion of the suspended impurities both organic and mineral, _especially if the flow be sluggish in places_.”
Prof. Brodie stated:
“There are causes operating, as we all know, to destroy the sewage which, to a certain extent, will effect that end; but the question, as I understand it, is, whether those causes are really adequate to destroy the sewage, not partially but absolutely and entirely, during a given course of the river? _I do not think, in the present state of our knowledge, to pronounce an absolute opinion upon that point._ But if you ask whether it is wise to drink water into which you have put sewage, knowing that you have no means of getting that sewage out of it, that is a question which any one can answer for himself, assuming always the injurious character of sewage.”
The fifth annual report of the Board of Health of Massachusetts (1875), contains the following, on the effects of oxidation, dilution, and deposition:
“_Oxidation._--Although it is not practical, in the case of a running stream like the Merrimack, to trace the progress of the destruction of the organic material by oxidation, yet there is no doubt that a certain amount is so destroyed. The presence of nitrogen in the form of nitrites and nitrates is mainly due to the oxidation of nitrogenous organic material. In the last report of the Board, the reasons are given which lead to the belief that the effects of oxidation have been overrated, although they are not, on the other hand, to be depreciated.
“_Deposition._--Much waste material, thrown into rivers, is made up wholly or in part of substances insoluble in water. A portion, and a very considerable portion, even in a running stream is deposited upon the bottom or stranded upon the banks. At the time of spring freshets much that during the summer may have been deposited at one part of the stream, in the bed or on the banks, is washed up again, and mingling with the earthy materials, held in suspension, is swept onward to the sea or enveloped in the earthy matter, especially if this be of a clayey nature, is deposited lower down the stream. These spring freshets are relied upon for cleansing banks used for infiltration.
“_Dilution._--By far the most important reason of the apparent disappearance of sewage and other waste material, is the fact that the amount of solid matter is so small compared with the volume of water into which it is thrown, that it is disseminated through the mass and thus lost to observation, and in many cases to chemical test.
“Analyses of water, below and above Lawrence and Lowell, showed no increase in chlorine. The substance can not escape from the water in gaseous form, nor does it deposit in insoluble combination, yet first inspection would lead to a conclusion that no real increase existed. The facts are that the reduction was due to dilution, and not to any destruction or decomposition. Much depends of course upon the size of the stream into which the refuse is thrown. Thus, while into the Merrimack at Lowell, even during the minimum summer flow of 2,100 cubic feet per second, it would be necessary to throw more than 100 tons of solid matter daily in order to increase the amount in the water by one grain to the gallon; another and smaller stream might be hopelessly fouled by a single factory.”
The effects of dilution are shown in the analysis of the Schuylkill River--there being less sewage at Fairmount Dam, the nearest to the outlet, than any point above. It is estimated that 300,000 inhabitants, exclusive of those in Philadelphia, live within the water-shed of this river, less than 150 miles above Philadelphia, the undiluted sewage from these persons amounting annually to 150,000 tons. In addition to this pollution 15,000,000 gallons daily flow from 115 establishments located on the banks, not considering the 57 collieries and 76 anthracite furnaces. Yet with all this contamination the water at Fairmount, chemically considered, is as pure as most sources. The chemists in their report say: “Having now shown that the Schuylkill water is about as good a water as we might wish to find for a large city in its mineral and organic content.
“Since the present water is good enough, we may keep it so, and even improve it by a system of sewage gradually extended up both sides of the river, especially the left bank, above the influence of Monayunk, and by procuring sufficient legislative power to control the escape of sewage or possibly injurious manufacturing residue. The long line of many miles would tend greatly to the purification of the water by aeration, deposition, or abstraction of possibly injurious substances from the water by the time it reached within using distance of the city.”
The increase of solid matter in the Schuylkill has been as follows:
1842, 4,421 grains in 1,000 gallons. 1854, 6,109 grains in 1,000 gallons. 1862, 7,040 grains in 1,000 gallons. 1875, 8,139 grains in 1,000 gallons.
The recent analysis by Prof. Stuntz of the Ohio River, also shows the effects of dilution. (The results express the number of pounds of sewage in one million gallons.)
GENERAL WORST GENERAL CONDITION CONDITION AVERAGE LBS. LBS. LBS.
At pumping works, 1.81 11.39 4.18 At mouth Eggleston Avenue sewer, 4.41 17.91 11.16 At Storrs and Lower River, 1.96 10.00 5.94
Although increased by the whole sewage of the city in addition to Licking River, Covington, and steamboat contamination, the proportion of sewage at Storrs in its worst condition is chemically shown to be little better than at the pumping works.
THAMES RIVER.
Although the water of the Thames has been submitted to analyses by different chemists, on many hundred occasions, no constituent which could be pronounced noxious, has been detected; but the history of the water traced in the inorganic constituents above referred to, always reveals that which is, indeed, well known to be the fact--its previous contamination with sewage or animal matters--(Rivers Pollution Commission, 1874.)
The area of water-shed drainage of the Thames above pumping station is 3,675 square miles, the minimum summer flow of 350 millions of gallons daily. There are one million persons above the intakes of pumping works. The whole river and its principal tributaries are under strictest sanitary regulation, which the government is able to enforce, notwithstanding a great mass of sewage is poured into the stream.
The Rivers Pollution Commission, of 1874, sum up their investigation of the Thames and Lea Rivers as follows:
“1st. That the river receives the sewage from a large number of towns and other inhabited places, the washings of a large cultivated land, and the filthy discharge from many industrial processes and manufactures.
“2d. That the water is used for bathing, washing of sheep and cattle, and dirty linen and putrid carcasses of animals float upon its surface.
“3d. That it is the common water way for a large amount of dangerous polluting matter, etc.
“4th. That in time of flood a large proportion, both of the suspended and dissolved filth, is conveyed down to the intakes, and in ordinary weather considerable portion of soluble organic matter makes its way to the pumping works, and is still present in the water distributed _to the consumers_.
“5th. That the water is, nevertheless, when efficiently filtered, free from any offensive taste or odor.
“6th. That, notwithstanding the application of partial remedies, for sewage pollution, at Banbury, Eton, and Windsor, and the great care exercised by most of the companies in the storage and filtration of the water, the organic pollution contained in the Thames water delivered in London, though subject to fluctuations from the greater or less prevalence of floods, does not diminish. The proportion of organic impurity present in Thames water, as delivered in London, was:
“In 1868, 1,000 In 1869, 1,016 In 1870, 795 In 1871, 928 In 1872, 1,243 In 1873, 917
“7th. That there is no hope of this disgusting state of the river being so far remedied as to preclude the presence of animal and other offensive matters, even in the filtered Thames water as delivered in the metropolis.
“8th. That the Thames should, therefore, as early as possible, be abandoned as a source of water for domestic use.
“9th. That the temperature of the water drawn from the company’s mains is liable to excessive fluctuations, being near the freezing point in winter and so warm in summer as to be vapid and unpalatable.”
The Lea River is also condemned as a source of water supply.
Prof. Chandler, of New York, quotes the authority of eminent scientists, who say the Thames, a short distance above London, is wholesome, palatable, and agreeable, and safe for domestic use, notwithstanding the large amount of sewage (the number of grains per gallon being three times that of the Schuylkill), although controlled by strict governmental laws.
QUALITY OF POLLUTION.
Scientists tell us that it is not so much the quantity as the quality of the sewage:
“It is true a large amount of refuse material is of such character as to be, except in excessive quantities, of no appreciable influence on the human system; the addition of the inorganic compounds of lime, soda, potash, etc., would have no deleterious effect; in fact, although the lime compounds increase the hardness of water, and make it less desirable for washing, the presence of a moderate amount of mineral substance makes the water more palatable and very probably more wholesome.
“Then, in case of many waste liquors, which appear to be very offensive, the matter which really could be regarded as injurious is comparatively small in amount. If we consider the character of the substances discharged by different manufacturing establishments, we shall find them very different. Some of them are such as to be universally regarded as unfit to admit to any stream; those, for instance, containing lead, arsenic, etc.; others, such as salts of iron, are scarcely regarded as injurious; thus, the discharge of sulphate of iron (copperas) into a stream already polluted with sewage matter, might, within certain limits, be of positive advantage. Again, in the case of some of the vegetable dye-stuffs, the weak-spent dye liquors, although they communicate a very foul appearance to the water for some distance, yet contain a comparatively small amount of solid matter, and, if discharged into a stream of considerable size, as soon as disseminated through it, are diluted to a very great extent.
“Different in character, however, from much of the refuse of manufacturing establishments is the sewage coming from dwellings, or the sewage (in its more restricted sense of excremental matter from animal sources) which comes from our manufactories. In fact, this foul material, coming from establishments employing a large number of operators, is likely, in many cases, to have a more injurious effect upon the stream into which it is thrown than refuse from the manufacturing operations. There are, however, some branches of industry which discharge refuse material offensive and dangerous to health. Such material is discharged from tanneries, wool-pulling and hide-dressing establishments, slaughter-houses and rendering-houses. ‘Too much stress can not be laid upon the importance of preventing the discharge of such refuse.’”--(Prof. Nichols, in Fifth Annual Report of Massachusetts State Board of Health.)
“The discharge of gas works is known to kill fish and destroy lower forms of animal life, which are important agents in preserving the purity of fresh water.
“One would not assert that the drainage of a single house would contaminate the water of a large river like the Merrimack so as to make it unfit for domestic use, yet we must beware how we depreciate the effect of sewage matter, even in a large stream.”--(Prof. Nichols, in Fifth Annual Report of Massachusetts State Board of Health, 1875.)
“With small amount of sewage the chances are favorable for the action of atmospheric influences, and particles of undecomposed material-propagating disease are rendered proportionally small, owing to the great dilution.
“A minute quantity may do much harm, because it is now generally believed, that it may hold the specific thing that propagates specific diseases.
“Rice water evacuations, of a cholera patient, however much diluted, still remains in liquid, although chemical test fails to detect it.
“The carcass of a dead animal, thrown into a river or pond, and confined there, so as not to be borne off bodily, gradually wastes away, and, in a longer or shorter time, the main part of the carcass has disappeared. What has become of it? A part has been converted into gaseous products of decomposition, as the offensive odors observed during the decay will testify; but another portion has been carried off by the stream as soluble nitrogenous organic matter. This nitrogenous matter would be detected a short distance away, with greater or less ease, according to the volume of water present; but in a stream of large size, or in a lake at no very great distance from the source of contamination, it would be impossible to discover any offensive matter. There is a limit to the delicacy of our tests: there is a point beyond which, at the present, we are not able to go. At the present time, a chemical analysis alone is not sufficient to determine the desirability of a given water-supply.”--(Rivers Pollution Commission, 1874.)
“The action of a float, upon or near the surface of the water, is no indication of the movement, back and forth, of the sewage in suspension. Portions of fresh sewage, it is true, will float, but after maceration the sewage has a specific gravity of about 1.325, and will sink, in still water, or very slow currents, at the rate of one foot per minute; but in a current of 170 feet a minute, it will not sink, but remain in suspension.”--(J. W. Adams, C. E., Water Supply Commission of Philadelphia, 1874.)
“This evidence, taken in connection with our own investigations, appear to us, conclusively, to prove:
“1st. That there is, at certain times, in human excreta, some material capable of producing disease, of a very fatal character, in human subjects.
“2d. That this morbific matter can be detected only by its specific action upon human subject, and can not be distinguished, either by chemical or microscopical analysis, even in the concentrated excreta, much less in water mixed with the excreta.
“3d. That, inasmuch as the organic matters of sewage are oxidized and destroyed with extreme slowness in running water, there is great probability that morbific matter will escape destruction and be conveyed to great distances in rivers and streams.”--(Rivers Pollution Commission, 1874.)
“Carbonates of calcium and lime produce temporary hardness; while sulphate of lime and calcium and salts of magnesium produce permanent hardness.
“Temporary hardness is objectionable for culinary and manufacturing purposes, and excessive hardness is productive of disease known as gravel. Magnesium salts are especially objectionable, because they cause diarrhœa and dyspepsia. Goitre, or swelling of the glands and cretinism, a kind of insanity, are charged to this impurity.
“Frequently, the water happens to be a little off color, especially after a heavy storm, and the consumers get an idea that the water is poisoned, and no amount of re-assuring will prove the reverse. Such cases occurred in New York City, once or twice, during the late war with the South. A little investigation will show the absurdity of such a thing.
“One-sixteenth of a grain of strychnine is necessary to poison a person. It would, therefore, require three and one-half tons of strychnine to have poisoned the Croton water effectually--a quantity not to be had in the world, and to procure it would take about three years.
“If arsenic was desirable, two grains for each person would be required, or 114 tons for the whole population of the city at that time. Living animals, when seen under the microscope, are very formidable in appearance and frightful in motion, yet they are not objectionable. They only inhabit very pure water. It sometimes happens, owing, perhaps, to some peculiarity of the season, that these little animals multiply to such an extent as to produce serious annoyance.
“It is stated that one-sixth of the deaths in Iceland are caused by little animals being taken into the system. Young leeches, contained in drinking water, sometimes fix themselves on the pharynx. In Algiers, 400 French soldiers were sick at one time from this cause.”--(From Prof. Foote’s lecture.)
CONTAMINATION OF WATER SUPPLY.
Boston water has become quite offensive from vegetable fermentation, some say, although others attribute it to dead fish, eels, and animal organisms, and, later, to a green moss. The water tastes, at times, like cucumbers. The present trouble is traced to the new “Sudbury” supply. The older source, Lake Cochituate, is, however, contaminated by drainage from the town of Natick, through Pegan Pond.
Croton water (New York supply) has, at times, suffered from dead fish and decayed leaves.
Hartford, Yonkers, Poughkeepsie, and Albany report the presence of microscopic plants and animals in their water, and these organisms indicate stagnation. “Any undue preponderance of animal or vegetable life lead to the propagation of new forms of life dangerous to health.”
Springfield (Massachusetts) water tastes, at times, like green corn; while Cambridge is contaminated by the drainage of meadows.
Mr. G. W. Carpenter, Superintendent of Albany Water-Works, reports:
“There are two distinct causes (each imparting to the water an odor and taste peculiar to itself) that have affected our reservoirs, at different periods, during the last few years: the one giving to the water the odor and taste of fish, the other imparting to it a musty odor and taste sometimes detected in dead wood. In the former, it is extremely difficult to satisfy consumers that the impurities are not due solely to fish in the reservoir, while in the latter they are equally confident that the reservoirs are little less than stagnant ponds.”
The latter is sometimes exceedingly offensive and similar to sulphuretted hydrogen gas. In 1875 he again reports: “That all impounded waters in this section of the country are liable to become impure; that while the impurities have been traced to lower forms of animal organisms, little is known of the condition that favor their growth; that the germs of the organism probably come from the atmosphere.”
Chicago will be compelled to move her crib further into the lake, now two miles from shore, to get beyond the limits of the Chicago River sewage.
St. Louis, like Cincinnati, has outgrown its water system (established in 1872 at a cost of five millions,) and is obliged to drink muddy water.
Cleveland extended its aqueduct in 1872, 1¼ miles into the lake in order to escape shore water.
Detroit, after considerable discussion, removed their source of supply three miles above the city, and constructed new works in preference to expending more money on the old works.
Rochester, N. Y., expended 4½ millions for bringing the water of Hemlock Lake thirty miles to the city.
Baltimore celebrated only last October the opening of their new aqueduct, conveying the waters of Gunpowder River 7 miles in distance, at a cost of over four millions.
Indianapolis has been compelled to erect new works owing to the contamination of the present source.