New-York tribune., 1903-03-01
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PuaE WATER FOR ITHACA
deadly Disease Germs TO Be Kept
Ont Of That College TorU".
7-
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enoxts 70 stamp Qua she epsder1ic Of typhoid Fever
vF4sarht has been raging there for more than
month The Board OF Health has placed ban
upon Ithaca water. making It misdemeanor ~{or
any one to drink or serve 20 others un6oiied water
fren city pipes The University OF Cornell is fur
nikhtng spring water 20 the students who have re-
mained. These. with other precautions promise
the early abatement Of the plague.
Interest centres now in the steps which VIII ce
taken to give Ithaca a pure water supply Tne
trustees OF Corne have furnished the Ithaca Water
Company ith SI5ooOo for the immediate srecten OF
modern nItAring plant which, 1t Is said, win make
Ithsra water entirely heaIthfuI- While the plant b
building the entire watershed will receive thor
ough cleaning.
municipal ownership OF water supply. This Is the
fourth tirae within thirty years that the city has
tried TO own ftsewater plant, and three times the
project failed. The recent epidemic seems to nave
stanpeded many citizens for municipal ownership
A canvass made by committee OF business men
shows ratio in favor of city ownership Of at least
s to l. and district 1zs favored the plan' 8
opposed IL and 90 were non-comnittsL, Only tax
payers can vote at this election and women have
the same right the men.
T,bo,a a. the head of Lake Csyuga has always
been famous for the beautiful streams which have
cut deep gorges through the hills in four or hye
places It is hard for any one who has taken the
drive along Buttermilk Creek to believe that the
clear snarkiing water Is laden with deadly disease
germs Six Mile Creek. the chief source OF supply
ana contamination, is larger stream but hardly
less pure looking.
The campus of the university is bounded by two
creeks and their accompanying gorges. Cascadila'
the water Of which is not used either by the city
or university systems, though II is more nearly
pure than any the other streams is on one size.
On the other is Fail Greek. from which the campus
water supply is taken just below Beebe Lake. In
the early stages of the endemic this water was
,,se6 for an purposes at sage College, where the
women students live in dorTnitories. None OF them
have taken the fever. though the water has re-
Gently been condensed by the faculty authorlues'
owing TO the presence of typhoid fever cases
al its
The first proposed step in reforming the Ithaca
water system the erection Of SAND filter plant at
2 cost OF SI5OO0o. Never were water bonds more
quickly financed than these for an improvement
which means the life OF both town and university
The university trustees supplied the actual cash;
the city authorities made it possible for the water
company to undertake the Improvement oy raising
the water rates g a month.
This was one investment which Cornell Uni
versity did not consider from financial point of
view" said one Of the trustees who attended the
recent board meeting in Ithaca whether the
bonds ever pay interest, whether they will ever be
taken up was not considered. Cornell must
have pure water, and will pay for 1t.
AS soon as the frost Is out Of the ground ex-
-aya1ions will be made for the filtration plant on
South Hill. The plans are now being worked up
by experts from New-York, who are working IN
conjunction with the university bactertoogists ana
1orfcologists There will probably be six or eight
filter beds at least two Of which can be held IN
reserve The general plan used by the city OF Al
bany will probably be adopted, with SUCH improve
-nents as have been made since the Albany plant
vas installed. The plant now being built tor Ph-
sdalphia has several improvements. 1t VIII De
necessary to put roof over the Ithaca plant 10
prevent freezing in winter
..EyFu . 4aftration plant make Ithaca water safe
Sc-s drinking purposezg' is question that has
hsssx asked In ithaca hundreds Of times a day.
4t IS discussed the campus, the street corners
IN tbe homes and the clubs, Every one is inter-
ested: nearly every one has theory OF MS own
A few weeks ago xhen Ithaca was at the Sneight
of fts fright ii seemed as II nothing but abso-
lutey new water supply would satisfy the people.
The tremendous difficulties in the way OF an
III artesian well spring service started the people
studying the filtration problem and they are rapidly
coming the conclusion that in the filter Hes the
solution.
What is known as the ''slow sand" system OF
flteriag public water supplies. though originating
abroad has developed great popularity in this coun-
try as a result of tests made at Lawrence by the
Massachusetts, State Board of Health Immediately
after the typhoid epdemics in that city and Lowell
in 1890 and 1891 Sedgwick in principles Of Sanitary
Science and Public Health CdacmlaE Company:
1902 speaks of these researches as perhaps the
most elaborate and costly series Of experiments
hitherto undertaken in the interests Of sanitary
science. They revealed with certainty the natural
laws governing the artificial publications Of surface
waters by simple sand filtration"
The general plan pursued is TO lay out large,
level shallow beds of carefully selected sand, upon
which the water and through which it drains.
After a few days species Of benefcent bacteria
develops therein near the top and forms film Of
Jelly, from which. says Sedgwick, "a purifying
mechanism organism OF great efficiency results.
This agency arrests and destroys disease germs
and also acts chemically upon any decomposed ami
nal or vegetable matter. in such a manner to
render it absolutely harmless. At intervals varying
in length from a few weeks to two or three months
IT is necessary to remove and replace the upper
LAYER Of sand. While filter bed is thus being
treated use is made OF others which are kept lin
reserve. CIogging Is apt to occur more frequently
In spring than other seasons. but it is quickly
remedied.
Albany is one OF the cities that adopted this
system recently. For nine years prior to its intro
duction. the average number Of deaths from
typhoid fever yearly IS. and for the twelve
months preceding October, 1889, it was 1O6 Dur
ing the ensuing twelve the mortality fell OF to
s. and twelve Of the victims were persons who
acquired the disease elsewhere. According to
Engineering News" substantially the same plan
is already in at Lawrence Paterson. and Mount
Eernoa; ~ being introduced at Louisville, Prov
idence and Philadelphia On the last mentioned
instance at cost Of $15.oo00OO, and has been ap-
proved for Pittsburg New-OrIeans and Washing
ton The periodical just named said editcrIany
cn January g. 1903:
Fifteen years ago there was some excuse for
saying that filtration could be relied upon
for the removal of disease germs but the inter
vening years bacteTiologists and engineers have
demonstrated the contrary conclusiveIy that
few OF either profession hesitate to recommend a
filtered water supply. Household filters ex-
cept for one or two comparatively expensive types
attended with The utmost care, most certainly
Tot r5table."s
Another method OF wholesale filtration, called
both the mechanical system" and the American
system" makes of chemical agents, like alum
20 hasten the removal OF vegetable and coIoring
matter The water thus treated Is allowed to stand
sn settling basin, TO allow certain bulky impur-