Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-02
CLOSING SHALLOW WELLS.
RECENT ORDER TO BE SUBJECT
OF HEARINGS.
Commissioners to Explain to Those
Interested the Necessity for
Decisive Action.

Possibly few announcements made by the
Commissioners affecting the District have
called for more protests than the one re-
Gently made requiring the abandonment of
all of the public shallow wells in the Dis
trict. So numerous and SO earnest were
the protests that the Commissioners have
announced that they will give public hear
ing in the case of each well condemned.
The object of these hearings Is not for
the purpose of ascertaining from the citi-
zens who attend whether not the wells
should be abandoned, but for the purpose
of convincing them that the action of the
Commissioners is in the interest of public
health and the prevention of the spread of
contagious disease, and a result of thor
ough chemical and meteorological examin-
ations made by the United States public
health and marine hospital service
For the benefit of those interested In
this question who are not familiar with
the report of the department to the Com
missioners last March, in which the impur-
ity of the water in shallow wells was made
known, the Commissioners are mailing
copies of the report to them. Commission
er Macfarland is Of the opinion that if the
public become familiar with the contents
Of the report they will readily appreciate
the position of the Commissioners in the
matter.
Relating to Wells.
That part of the report which relates
to public shallow wells is as follows:
1.-THE waters of the shallow wells have
frequently been regarded a means of
conveying the infection Of typhoid fever,
and as there are sixty-three shallow wells
in the District of Columbia used by the
public, we have made a particular study
of this phase of the subject.
THE waters of eighty-seven public wells
are used for drinking purposes In the Dis
ri of bto fn,,- Of hnSn
wells are deep and sixty-three are shall
low AS will be seen from.our report the
water of the deep wells has been found
to be of excellent quality both chemically
called 'artesian' wells are practically ster-
lie, and no evidence was found Of ferment-
ing organisms.
ION the other hand both the bacteriolog-
zeal and chemical examinations indicate
quite a different condition in the case of
shallow wells. OF the sixtythree of these
shallow wells now used by the public, thir-
ty-one show indications of sewer pollution
twenty have waters of suspicious char
acter and only three show no evidence OF
pollution.
Dangerous From Sanitary Standpoint.
Our studies developed further that the
water of many of the shallow wells varied
widely from time to time, both in chemical
composition and in the number and char
acter Of the bacteria present. This in IT
self is a dangerous indication from SAN
itary standpoint, showing an intermittent
source Of surface contamination or sewage
pollution.
TT is also evident from study of our
data that there Is relation between the
proximity and number of prvies and the
archaeological and chemical findings of the
we'll waters. 1t was foupd further, that
most of the wells with broken pumps and
leaky platforms, permitting surface con-
tamination, often disclosed this condition
by the laboratory analyses.
ION the other hand. our archaeological
studies gave no special grouping of typhoid
cases about any particular well, and no
definite relation could be discovered be-
tween the use of any particular we'll water
and the occurrence of typhoid cases. This
is no guarantee that some of these shallow
wells have not been infected In past years
and will not again become so in the future
The infection of a shallow well Is usually
temporary.
In Densely Populated Areas.
cit is evident that densely inhabited
area with miles of sewers, some of them
doubtless broken or leaky, and with almost
four thousand outhouses, must produce a
more or less polluted condition of the soil,
rendering the ground water unfit for drink
Ing purposes On general sanitary princi-
Piles alone shallow wells and prives have
been eliminated from all large cities having
an abundance of water supply and sewage
system. We unhesitatingly subscribe to
this view and believe that the shallow wells
in the District of Columbia should be con-
demned, a conviction that Is abundantly
confirmed by the results of our chemical
and psychological examinations
From the fact that thirty-one of the
sixty-three shallow wells -ssrow indications
of sewage pollution and twenty-nine are
suspicious, we feel justified in recommend
ing the permanent closing of all the shall
low wells in the District of Columbia, and
If for any reason any Of those now re-
garded as suspicious should be continued
in use, laboratory facilities should be af-
forded the health officer Of the District to
watch them closely and authority granted
him to close Immediately any such we'll
upon the first indication Of sewage pollu-
tion or, still better, close the shallow wells
and sink deep wells in their places
The Well on 9Th Street.
To the Editor Of The Star:
The Star Of May 20 contained an item