The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1912-12-19
Be SURE OF YOUR !
DRINKING WATER.
Georgia State Board Of Health stress
es Importance Of Pure Water
in Protection Of Health.

OSOA 5A0hS ONAAJ uAAhh NusSA NANAAS~N
knowing anything about its purity;
without knowing whether or not It is
contaminated by dangerous and per-
haps deadly disease germs?
Pure drinking water is of such vi.
tai Importance in the protection and
preservation of health, says the Geor'
gia State Board of Health, that not
only every community, but each iso-
lated family, should be absolutely sat
isfied as to the quality of the water Il
has to use,
Bad water-water polluted by hui
man excreta--is frequent source OF
typhoid fever; it may be the cause
Of dangerous community epidemics.
Plymouth, Pa, with 5000 inhabitants,
had 1000 cases Of typhoid and 100
deaths because, through carelessness,
the infected excreta from one typhoid
patient, thrown out upon the hillside
SHOWS, got into its source of drinking
water The cause was discovered be-
yond question, but when 1t was too
late; the damage had been done.
Bad water is also conveyor Of
cholera and, there can be little doubt,
of dysentery and other diseases. Be
sides, polluted water, even if free
from these disease germs, is debili-
tating to the system and unsafe for
use by children and those with deli
cate stomachs.
Water, to be good should not only
be clear and colorless that is free
from suspended matter giving rise to
cloudy or milky appearance, but It
should, above all, be free from all
kinds of animal contamination, partic-
ularly that which proceeds from man
and which is the real cause of trans
ferred disease. For domestic use 1t
is best that 1t be soft or free from an
excess of mineral matter.
City and town water supplies from
rivers or small streams, should al
ways be filtered before distribution.
Filtration Is essential; 1t has been
known in many instances to reduce
cases. The purity of the water when
it reaches the home is dependent
upon the care exercised in preventing
animal and human pollution in the
source, and the thoroughness of filtra-
ton and publication before distribu-
ton. Artesian water, if from good
depth, may be easily kept in it's state
of original purity by protection from
contamination at the mouth of the
well.
The Board of Health has for some
time been engaged in the work OF
examining the water supplies Of Geor-
gia cities and towns with a view to
determining their purity In the ma
jority of instances the boards ex-
animation has found that the water
supplies were comparatively pure
but in some cases contamination or
probable sources Of contamination,
were found and warning given. The
town authorities have usually been
prompt to remedy such conditions.
But equally important in the aggre-
gate, with the protection of the town
and city water supply, is the preser-
Vation of the purity of the well and
spring water which must be used eV-
erywhere in the country by the fam
lily and frequently by small commune
ties. An infected we'll may spread
typhoid or dysentery to an entire
country community, and then the in
lection may disappear from the well
before the disease develops
While impurities are frequently
washed into the we'll or spring from
the pig pen or the barnyard, 1t is the
unsanitary priyy that is the chief
source Of danger and disease. II is
the priyy whose seepings drain into
the ground and are carried to the
well by rains; 1t Is the filth which
may gather around the top OF the well
or spring and be washed into 1t by
the first shower that comes; 1t is the
filth which may be left around the
well by unclean feet, or on the bucket
by unclean hands, that is likely to
put the disease germ in the next dip
per of water that is taken for drink
ing purposes. Cleanliness around the
well is all important; 1t may best be
: protected by a surrounding layer Of
concrete.
But best of all is the covered we'll
with a pump. Speaking from sani-
tary standpoint, the open well with
its old-fashioned and too often germ.
laden bucket, is back number; safe
protection of drinking water demands
the covered well and pump, and the
covering must be of some material
impervious to water, such as concrete
and cement, through which no filth
may trickle.
The most important lesson which
the people of Georgia must learn, par
ticularly in the country districts, at
the school house as well as at the
home, in order to prevent the contain
nation of drinking water, is the ne
cessity Of constructing and useing the
sanitary dry closet. The Board of
Health will be glad to furnish. upon
application, approved plans for the
building Of sanitary dry closets which
may be considered perfectly safe
The Board of Health will also make
free analyses of drinking water. for
communities or individual families
Municipality, schools, factories or
other communities where many per
sons drink from one source, and
which are DESTROYS of such analysis
and examination. should make apph-
cation direct to DR. H. F. Harris. Sec
retary State Board of Health. Atlanta.
individuals desiring their we'll water
analvzed. should apply through the
member Of the board residing IN their
congressional district. While the
samples OF water for analysis may be
ot 4, an, convenient thoroughly