The New York herald., 1876-08-19
at last, and the narrative we print to-day
shows how terrible is the disgrace which is
sure to ollow
The Croton C.sspooi System.


sure to ollow.
The CrOton CesspOol System.
Is it possible that the engineers OF the
Croton aqueduct cannot devise q remedy for
the fearful evils that surround us, arising
from an impure supply of water to this city
Have we reached the limit of engineering
skill in this respect, and is the condition OF
the Croton water to grow from bad to worse?
These are questions which every intelligent
citizen of New York is asking just now, in
view of the formidable dangers to the public
health which the horrible condition Of the
peatedly called attention to the fact that We
draw our water supply not from the pure
mountain and woodland streams that ripple
and flow from the natural springs Of the
Croton watershed into broad storage lakes
of wholesome water, but from vast cess
pools called reservoirs, charged with
the filth of extensive settlements along
their banks The statements of facts
published in the HERALD regarding
this deplorable condition of things remain
uncontroverted. The slaughter houses,
piggeries, washhouses and the domestic
drains of large villages and farms, from
Mount Carmel to the Croton dam, continue
to pour their volumes of filth into the
reservoirs, making our drinking water a
saturated solution Of animal and vegetable
refuse, and yet we are told that these dis
gusting impurities are merely "fibrous mat
ter" ''the alge in the streams" 'nostoc,
anything and everything, in fact, but what
they really are We hasten to assure these
inventors Of 'fshy" theories and algnic
"bosh" that the people of New York refuse to
be deceived by such utter nonsense. The
community is too intelligent to swallow
what the officials are pleased to consider sci
entifc opinions as correctives of the Croton
filth the latter dose being bad enough. If
the reading of Engineer Campbells views on
the purity of the Park reservoirs could pro-
duce the mechanical effect of an emetic
after draught of Croton perhaps we might
overlook their absurdity and come to regard
them as counter-irritants. Unfortunately
the fact remains that the water used by our
great population is absolutely unfit for any
purposes except those of street sprinkling,
fire extinguishing, sewer flushing and irri-
cation where it can be applied. The mill
ions expended on the water system of New
York should have secured guarantee of
pure water. Perhaps in the world there has
not been expended such vast sums for the
water supply of single city, and yet we are
.r< hat &C.
Grafton in the water, no cause Of
alarm, no cause of complaint, in fact,
in the present condition of the sup
ply. Unfortunately, indeed, the cesspool
system has been carried SO far as to place
New York ut the mercy Of her officials. We
are helpless because we must have water
anyhow. We are reduced to the necessity
of appealing to the servants of the public for
relief from terrible evil which finds its way
equally into the finest Fifth avenue mansion
and the poorest east side tenement If the
city authorities cannot Danish the causes of
the present water poisoning from the Croton
watershed let them at least arrest the refuse
and drainage before it pollutes the water by
constructing sewers around the lakes The
cost of such work will be large, but the
benefit to the public will be incalculable.
The water should also pass from lake to
lake over series of cascades. which would
promote the oxidization of the suspended
impurities.
As the Croton watershed is fast becoming
the site of "a city the sooner city regulations
regarding drainage and general cleanliness
are enforced the better. Let us have
'.fbrous matter" "alg~," ''nostoc," 'bac-
terip'' or anything but saturated solution
of village sewage.