The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-09-16
SUSPICIOUS SPOTS.
East Jersey Water Company
Says the Pequannock
Must Be Pro-
tected.
SOURCES OF POLLUTION
Interesting Facts About the Water
Supply . BellevilIe Wells to
Z Be Developed.
R OF POLLUTION

oAAAAAAo ~ stAN $500
ply. submitted by Engineer Morris r.
Sherrerd to the Water Committee of the
Board of Works on Tuesday, was included
what seems to be the East Jersey Water
Company's ultimatum regarding its re-
sponsibility concerning possible sources
of pollution in the P~equannock valley. In
a letter written to Mr.. Sherrerd by
Clemens Herschel, the company's engi-
neer in answe to a previous
cation on the subject the latter said
II am Instructed to say that the East
Jersey Water Company does not con-
| strue the contract as requiring them
to maintain, cleared of vegetation, the
bottoms of the reservoirs and sixty
feet above them; nor does it construe
the contract as requiring them to
exercise the city's powers to remove pos
sible sources of pollution, after having
| once located and constructed the reser-
| voirs at points at which the water to be
| retained therein and to be delivered there
from has not been made unwholesome, or
made impure by any matter of substance
| coming or arising from preventable
sources of pollution"
1--WE shall be ready at all times to coop
ct Will liz SiNt - ~~
| all sources by which the original purity of
the water EAR in any name be affected,
and we invite the action of the city to this
end, for you must, of course, appreciate
that the infuenc and acts of the city and
of it's Board of Health are necessary for
the purpose and should be exercised as
contemplated"
In conclusion Mr.. Herschel declared that
the company thinks it can be shown that
| the water as now delivered to the city IS
the equal, if not the superior, of any water
! supply in any American municipality OIL
10000 inhabitants or more. The reduction
in the typhoid fever death ate since the
introduction of the ~Pequannock supply
| goes to prove this, Mr.. Herschel asserts,
and he adds that the discoloration of the
water is due to recent rains and cannot
be prevented.
Mr.. Snerrerd at the same time submit
| ted the first report made by his assistant,
Arthur D. Ball., in connection with the IN
| v~estigation being made at the water
| shed.
When the News not long ago called
attention to existing conditions in the Pc
| auannock Valley, the Board of Works or
| dered that a thorough examination should
be noted and their location liked on a
map.
That work has not been completed, but
| Mr.. Balls report shows that he has al
| ready found 1888 separate sources from
| which it is possible hat the city's water
might be contaminated. The danger from
| many o. the places is very remote, it is
true. but it exists nevertheless. and the
| list has been compiled and referred to the
Engineer and City Counse for proper ac-
ton.
In one section of the report Mr.. Ball de-
tails the work that he has been pursuing.
An index of the suspicious spots is APP
| pended and special attention is called to
| what the Assistant Engineer characterizes
| as the worst places of contamination.
/ First of these is said to be John Oilers
place, just above Macopin intake gate
house.
everything from house and yard
! washes dow into the intake reads the
report. This is especially bad in rainy
weather." At David Oldham's place,
Charlotteburg, Mr.. Ball says the condi-
| lions are dangerous, as the barn manure
| pile, water closet, pigpen and chicken
| coop are all on a stream which enters in
to the main stream only a short distance,
| and only one and a half miles from the
intake.
The closet at the Charlotteburg Station
is in a bad place, says the report, and
Samuel Cotter's place on the Echo Lake
road, and Daniel Lavelle's property, near
the Echo Lake postoffice, are said to fur.
nish sources of pollution, on account of
| pigpens or manure piles. At Upper Ma
copin Thomas b. Vreeland is said to have
a barn and manure pile thirty feet from
| Echo Lake stream, and John Shawger has
| a pigpen n chicken coop close to Tim
| her Brook. Near the end of Timber
| Brook, says Mr.. Ball, Sidney Allison has
| edge of the stream, and a barn, a manure
| heap and a pigpen on Kanouse Brook are
noted,
s.At Leo Wise's place, Newfoundland
continues the report, ARE barn, manure
| pile, chicken coop and water closet on
main stream. This place is very notice
able. as it is on the main road and can
be plainly seen. Across from this is Jacob
| Winters place with the water closets,
| barn. manure pile and drain from house
all draining through swamp land to main
Attention is called to the conditions at
Browns Hotel that have already been
Factory at Stockholm, where there are
thirty persons employed, and where a
water closet is on the edge of the stream.
James Bigelow, David Davenport and
~ LStA0 t%AN o1AiSA w A1C2t
properties have been mentioned in the
report as containing what might prove to
be factors of contamination.
1 From the kincaid Hotel property, it is
reported that the water closets, barn.
manure pile, pig pen and chicken coop all
drain through swamp land to a stream a
short distance away. Somewhat similar
conditions are said to exist at Thomas f.
! Booths hotel at Stockholm.
A vault. pig pen and chicken coop are
said to drain through a meadow from N
H. Margerum's land to a stream a short
distance away and at Benjamin Snyder's
place above Canistear Reservoir. Mr..
Bali founda pigpen and drain from house
that drained through meadow land to a
nearby stream. At Porter Norman's. Oak
Ridge. was found another suspicious spot.
When presented the repor was not read,
but to save time it was referred. as above
stated. to await the outcome of action
taken to clear away alleged nuisances on
the Ozier farm The matter is now in the
hands of City Counsel Price.
A diagram showing the average daily
consumption of water every year since
1890 and the estimated average con-
sumption until 1900, was presented by Mr..
Sherrerd. The figures show that from
Is. 100000 gallons per day in 1890 the people
of Newark have raised the amount of
water consumed to p, 70G. 600 gallons per
crease Mr.. Sherrerd figures it out that
the daily consumption for 1898 will be
26, 400.0o gallons. while in 1899 it will ex-
coed the contract supply by climbing to
2S.l00,0o0 gallons, and in 1900 it is estimated
f~that a round 30,000.000 gallons Will be re-
quired to supply 1.-THE city's daily needs.
A. the East Jersey Water Company
II. 100000 gallons per day until September
% 1qMJ Mr. Sharrprd s,4ys fine a5ovn fg-