The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-04-02
WATER SUPPLY.
C. C. Vermeule's Instructive
Statement in the biologists
Report-Passaie Con-,
demned.

The annual report for 1893 of the State
Geologist of New Jersey. just issued. is
a far more interesting volume than the
average public document. Scientific men
will find in t some archaeologic revela-
tons that are almost sensational, while
to the multitudes to whom the lessons of
the rocks are still sealed books 1t offers
practical suggestions and instruction.
The chapter on Water Supply and Water
Power, by Mr.. C. C. Vermeule. is es-
peciasly to be commended. In the strong
est possible manner to the State officials
and to all public spirited citizens for
careful consideration and as a basis for
prompt and effective action. The sub
ject has been discussed before, in the
Governors messages and elsewhere, but,
perhaps, never SO thoroughly and at the
same time concisely and lucidly as in
this report.
One fact is made most clear is that
the Passa.c River and it's tributaries
below Paterson must not only be at once
abandoned as a source of potable supply,
but even as a natural sewer must be
radically reformed. unless the public
health is to be endangered. For weeks
at a time in summer. o~ne-seventh of its
flow at the Dundee is sewage of the
most offensive character: and there are
periods when for a day or two, from
40 to 80 per cent of the inflow to the
Dundee lax is sewage! The condition
of the stream amid such circumstances
is indescribably foul. Its channel is SO
deep and its flow so smooth and sluggish
that there is no chance of self-purifica-
ton. It is. therefore. from Dundee lake
to Newark Bay, simply a reeking, pois-
onous water, full of menace to those
Who dwell on or near its banks. Mr..
VermeuIe reasonably urges, as a sanitary
necessity of the near future, tina the
bulk of the eva be diverted from
the river or otherwise disposed OF, or
else tina reservoirs be constructed from
which the channel can, in dry weather,
be periodically flushed and thus DE made
approximately clean.
POTABLE WATER ABOVE THE
FALLS.
The potable water supply for the vast
masses of population in Hudson, Essex,
Passaic and the adjacent counties must
come, then, from streams above the
Great Falls. The flow of these streams
many years to come. The Rockaway,
- dAto w q v A@fo -
plying capacity of 25S. 100000 gallons daily
water asftasi Is not UTILIZED hs excepting 4 part Of
i BE 0s Quality al. 4 MOTIFS It IS. efhn oaaS aaa il Il IN 2nm afaesiat
danger q becoming generally polluted.
Ar 9 Rs !, Tuxedo a : nj + RR9Ilpbr ,lra sew s7,f info
threaten to do likewise. Dover. Rocka-
way aad Boonton will soon construc;
sses Wh simpty,ng af sa1 + th the onIy nsta nnd
DTisas p prompt legislation ~intervenes,
M shsTsfo axpp fSe viii TPG Il 8 Of FEW sRis ye maEb Be- rem
dered unfit for use. The moral OF the stu
alton to the men at Trenton Is obvious.
places on the Ramapo in New York. I'M
less through negotiations with Albany,
which might properly 6e undertaken.
take steps to prevent pollution of those
and other streams within the borders, of
their W State. and to secure to that
tiles the right to use them. II they. do
not, the present generation will certainly
Northern New Jersey considerably ex-
eeeo D III SVpRisi UNFIT FOR USE.
less a'S Urgent, though important.4 It is evis
dent that the Delaware below Trenton
is and hsnceforth always viii be unft
sluggish, tidal ditch, containing at best
more than 2 and an at worst 8 20 or IL 10 per cent
OF sewage. For a cOnSlueT1Dle distance
above Trenton 1t is polluted by the drain
age of large owns, but its rapid current
there perhaps effects its publication. At
the Water Gap it is almost perfectly
pure. and the flow there is SIT ,0O0, 900 gal
Ions a day without storage. With stor-
age this could readily be increased to
1857, 900, 900. This superb supply is not now
utilized, nor Is there any prospect that 1t
will be in the near future. 1t is, of
course, remote from the great centres of
population and is, moreover, divided in
ownership between three states. It's vast
quantity, its fine quality, and Its height
800 ~feet-above tide level. all suggest,
however, that at some time the three
~.ates concerned may find it desirable. to
conserve it and apportion 1t equitably
among them, for the use of Philadelphia,
metropolis Of New York. That, however
is a matter which may safely be left to
the future. The present. problem concerns
New Jersey alone, and is most urgent
II is how to preserve from pollution or
alienation the quarter of a billion gallons
of potable water furnished by the Rama
po,. Rockaway and Whippany Rivers,
which will soon be very needful for city
use. This is "a question which the State
Biologists report presents and which
most urgently demands the attention Of
the people of the State. and of their pub
liz sprvanfs-NeW York Tribune