Golden Valley chronicle. (Beach, Billings County, N.D.) 1905-1916, 1908-04-24

water than any other means; and
some of the diseases are so uniformly
transmitted by the water supply that
they are known as water bourne dis.
eases. Typhoid fever is such dis
ease. as we'll as some of the other
forms of intestinal troubles. If dis
ease may be carried by water it is of
the greatest Importance that every
precaution should be taken to insure
~ pure water supply.
A hasty examination of a water is
of very little benefit and may often be
entirely misleading. A water may be
clear. free from any sediment or cdor,
and may taste good, and still be dan
.gerous for drinking purposes. Too
much emphasis cannot be given to the
fact that water may look good and
taste good and still be a source of
very great danger. A chemical analy.
sis. supplemented when necessary by
"A meteorological examination, is
necessary to. determine the quality of
"a. given sample of water for domestic
ways sufficient to determine the fit.
ness of the water, as contamination
is more likely to take place at one
time of the year than another. The
amount of rainfall will influence very
considerably the bacterial content of
water from shallow wells or poorly
constructed cisterns. During the
heavy spring rains the number of
bacteria reaches an enormous figure
and decreases again as the dry season
progresses. All the bacteria that are
found in water are not dangerous, but
II drainage and other conditions allow
contamination from outside sources
there is always an opportunity for the
introduction of disease producing
germs.
The domestic water supply of the
country and small towns comes almost
entirely from wells and cisterns, while
in many of the larger cities the water
is pumped from stream or reservoir
and usually subjected to some purify
ing process before being used for drink
ing purposes. Wells and cisterns fur
nish by far the larger water supply
for the people of Oklahoma. 1t fire.
quently happens that choice may be
had between we'll and cistern as
q source of water supply; while. in
many localities the cistern is a neces.
'sity on account of the poor quality or
scarcity of the ground water in that
particular locality. We do not intend
TO discuss the merits of the cistern as
compared to the we'll as source of
water supply for the home, but will
say that either may be made a safe
source of drinking water when prop
erly located and we'll constructed.
1t cistern is constructed, it should
be water tight so as to prevent con-
Examination from ground water during
the wet season, as we'll as to prevent
leakage of water that runs into it
from the roof; and if we'll is to be
dug or drilled it should be located
upon higher ground than the house,
Darn and outbuildings, and some dis.
lance from the latter. The principal
troubles that may be traced to an i'm
pure or contaminated water supply
are as rule intestinal troubles, the
most dangerous being typhoid fever.
The most common as we'll as the
most dangerous contamination Of
drinking water comes from the privy
vault. Every precaution should be
taken in locating the we'll to place it
or1x
any possibility of contamination. The
germs of typhoid fever will remain
alive for some time in water and
may be distributed to considerable
distance. 1t is we'll known that the
urine and faces from typhoid pa
tent is dangerous on account of the
presence of large numbers of the
typhoid germ. In many cases of this
disease the infected material from the
sick person is not disinfected i'm any
way, or only partially so, and is
thrown into the vault or cesspool to be
II source of danger in the future.
typhoid fever is not a contagious dis
ease but is strictly an infectious dis
ease and it's spread in family or a
community is due, as a general rule,
30 the use of an infected water supply.
1t is easy for a we'll to become con.
taminated ii it is located near a
privy vault as the ground water which
feeds the we'll may have come in con.
tact with the seeI age from the vaults
cesspools, etc., or it may be contami
mated by surface water carried down
by seepage. A review of the results
obtained by archaeological examina
sion of large number OF samples of
water shows how unsafe the water
may become at certain seasons In
many cases an examination of the