The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1911-12-02
THE
Sanitary Outlook

In a story in the Chicago Tribune
dealing with the problems of the sani-
tary district so much of 1t is pertinent
to conditions in the Calumet district
that the article is herewith reprinted
its entirety:
In 1891 the Chicago death rate from
typhoid fever was rs per 100000. The
rate has steadily fallen. until it reach
| ed the low level of Chicago history
| / (estmated), in 1911.
| Reversing the flow in the Chicago
| river keeps from the lake the sewage
that flowed into that stream. There
were many sewers which flowed direct
| ~ into the lake One by one these
have been turned into the drainage
canal until, at the present time no
sewer enters Lake Michigan between
| Evanston and the mouth of the Caiu-
met river.
Disposal of sewage by diluting it and
| flowing it long distance was the most
effective and economical method of
sewage disposal available for Chicago.
For years it has proved satisfactory for
| us, nor can it be said that 1t has harm
ed neighbors. The Illinois river
| is cleaner. contains more oxygen in its
| water, and supports more fish life than
| 1t did before the drainage canal was
built.
IT is easy, though, to see the llmita-
| tions of the canal. 1t is unwise not to
plan to meet those limitations before
the emergency is on US. That the
limitations are developing so easrly is
due to three factors:
l. The government has placed mar
| row limit on the amount of water
which 1t allows diverted through the
canal. and at the same time has estab
lished a high standard of purity of wa
ter in the stream.
Q The manufacturing district in
South Chicago and in the nearby Illi-
nois and Indiana towns has developed
| with rapidity which was not expect
ed
3. Trade wastes have been allowed
to pollute the canal and the Chicago
and Calumet rivers without any proper
control.
In some quarters an idea prevails
that the disposal of the Chicago sew
age by diIlution is another illustration
OF American wastefulness. This opin-
ion is based upon the idea that sewage
farms would be profitable. Perhaps
sewage farming is profitable in Berlin
and Paris, though even this is ques-
toned. There sthe per capita use of
|
Here the sewage is diluted with 200
gallons of water. Sewage farms will
not pay anywhere in the United States
except it may be- in districts where
sewage has a water as wen as a ferti-
lizer value.
Chicago must modify its present sew
| age disposal plan by providing for a
gradually growing:
1. Treatment OF the drinking water
?. Partial publication of tho sew
age or a part of 1t through
A. Settling basins;
3. Filters:
C. Oxygenation.
These are the opinions of the engi-
neers of the sanitary district Messrs
Wisner and Ellicott. They are based
on experimental work done under Mr.
Wisner by Mr.. Pearce and others al
the experimental sewage plant, To-
Gated at Thirty-ninth street and the
lake front
The first recommendation made bs
engineers was that the water taken II
through the Sixty-eighth street intake
be treated with bleaching powder Il
kill the typhoid and other bacteria
which get into the lake from the Calu
met river and the city sewers empty
ing into the lake from Gary to Souti
Chicago. This water is used by all o
r the people who live or work south o
J., | Thirty-ninth street or whereabouts
| This is a temporary measure an,
should be inaugurated during the com
ing year
When water is polluted by organi
matter, publication proceeds through