New-York tribune., 1899-12-17
SOME NOTES on WATER.

rour items in the news Of Friday. entirely
a,s,,rct and separate. were closely related IN
tbeir hearing upon one of the most important
questions now before this municipality one
was the utterance of DR.. Biggs. of New-1ork
University. at the City Club, in when lie re-
minded lis of the fact. of which no clviiizeu
people should need to be reminded 'na' .ie
quantity and quality of the water supply ol
CITY are prime factors in determining the stanu
ord of public health The Introduction oi ah
abundant supply of pure water WILL ne au"eu
often decrease the death rate humper Vi
poipts These authoritative words OF Dr' pisse
are. of course abundantly corroborated oy the
records of many cities New-iork Included %!
an Interesting coincidence It was confirmed py
,bo cocond of the items to which we have re-
ferred In the same paper, nancy uisp"'0n
from Berlin stating that DIR. Leidy nau louhu
that city to he entirely free from typholu leVer-
q condition attributable directly to the purity OF
the water supply
This second item is worth considering. Ber-
lin WAS once a notoriously unhealthy place Ii
was infested by typhoid fever. The water sup
ply was both scanty and impure. IL was also
provided by private corporations slhiiar u
Ramapo Twenty years or more ago the nlu-
nicipality established its own plant. Ii now pro-
vides an ample supply of water for all purposes
The cost TO the people is slight. But the income
from water rates pays the cost OF operation ana
maintenance interest on bonds creates SINK
ING fund and turns in some millions or marks
wear net profits II is also to he observed that
although Berlin is most unfavOrably situated in
respect to obtaining pure water the supply Is
exceptionally pure. being made so by an elabo-
rate system of filtering. 1t is TO the ftering OF
its water them that Berlin is to attribute It's
immunity from typhoid fever
The other items referred 10 are, first that two
weeks ago the Sanitary Superintendent of the
Health Board submitted a report favorlng the
construction of filters for the Croton water sys-
tenn. and. second. that Mr. Moffett, Deputy
Water Commissioner. states that millions Of gal
Ions of water are going to waste within reach
OF BROOKLYN for lack of filters which would
make it fit for use. Now. filters may not he
urgently needed for the Borough Of Manhattan,
for its water supply is ample, despite the drouth,
and is of reasonably good quality, though hlters
would undoubtedly improve 1t by ridding II or
the flavor Of fish and vegetation and making II
clear instead of semi-turbld But in The Bronx
and in Brooklyn the case is different They are
menaced with water famine They have also
been menaced with epidemics caused by impure
water Indeed. the millions Of gallons that are
now going to waste at Springfield used 10 he
turned into the Brooklyn mains. But 1t was
found that the supply there was polluted and so
il was shut off. And partly because Of that very
shutting off Brooklyn is now suffering from a
scanty supply and is menaced with actual
famine.
What is the logical conclusion? 1t is per-
fectly simple. The city should utilize the sup
ply which ii has already at hand by protecting it
from pollution and by purifying it where neces-
sary. instead tof going off on speculative excur-
sions to the Ramapo and Catskill Mountains. 1t
IS not crcdtable fact, yet it is fact, that the
city has recently actually decreased its supply
by simply shutting off one important source just
because the latter was polluted. OF course, i'm
pure water should not have been taken But the
proper remedy was publication, not mere exclu-
sion Until we make the best possible use of
that which we now have II is idle 10 seek more