Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1912-07-17
Protection of Sources of Water Supply.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE
supply water entirely pure and safe.
If the sources are dangerous in popu-
lated regions it is because of the &C.
tions of men.
1t is now perfectly well known that
many of the diseases most fatal to
men are communicated from the sick
to the we'll by means of infinitely
small germs-living organisms-many
of which may live for a considerable
time in water. These disease germs
are sc minute that a thousand of them
across the period used in writing this
article. They are wholly invisible to
the naked eye and the finest micro.
scopes are needed to distinguish one
kind from another. They are in
effect the seeds of disease. Several
kinds may be conveyed from invalids
by water to healthful persons and
may produce in them the disease ex-
listing in the patient. Typhoid fever
comes from taking into the system
typhoid germs as certainly as wheat
seed own in the earth produces a
wheat plant. From a typhoid patient
millions of germs are thrown nut in
the excrement. These germs are
more dangerous than are the drugs
marked Poison in the apothecary's
shop for there is no known antidote
for typhoid germs. If they are once
lodged in a mans body under GER
tain conditions, a run of typhoid fe.
yer is inevitable. Since there are
many kinds of disease germs that
may be convey ed from the sick to the
we'll by drinking water it is exceed
ingly important to secure the sources
of water from contamination. The
history of one case will make this
clear. A village of some two thou
sand inhabitants in Vermont was
supplied with water from a reservoir
made by damming a book. This
brook ran through farm lands. In
one house was a patient having ty.
phoid fever. 1t was winter and the
excrements from the invalid were
thrown out on the snow. By the
melting of the snow the disease
germs were carried to the reservoir,
and were thence distributed to all the
users of public water. Typhoid fever
broke out all over the village but was
limited to those using the public wa
ter. Thus the epidemic was traced to
it's cause. The germs of n endemic
disease were conveyed through drink
ing water from the mucous men,
brane of an invalid to the bodies Of
hundreds. and of these many died.
The carelessness or ignorance of one
person caused the death Of scores. In
this case the germs of disease were
carried in surface water down slopes
that were visible.
But the water that falls in any
region does not all at once run off as
surface water. A large part sinks
into the earth through the loan, the
sand or gravel and through the loose
rocks, until it comes to some continu
Gus unbroken surface of clay or rocks,
along which it slowly trickles until it
comes to the open air as a spring.
Some of this "ground water" is
caught and held through the summer
earth, maintaining it's moisture, but
pervious layer of clay or rock and
runs, out of sight, carrying with it
soluble matter from the soil and
rocks and also carrying any disease
germs scattered on the surface of the
soil. 1t is therefore necessary to
guard not only the surface water in
the form Of brooks and rivers; but
the ground water that finally unites
with the surface water. Wells and
springs are all fed by the ground
water.
The clearing away of forest
growth. the blowing and smoothing of
the surface, the draining of swampy
places have all lessened the flow OF
ground water. On cultivated land
the rain flows off quickly. A heavy
rain floods the brooks which quickly
drop away to a much lessened body
of water. All the processes of Guilt
walton have tended to lessen the flow
of water from the land. 1t is quite
certain that the annual rainfall in
Vermont has not materially changed
since it has been inhabited by white
men but it is equally certain that the
water flows off more quickly and the
surface flow is greater while the
ground flow is less. The swamps that
bordered every stream have been
drained, the beds of the streams have
been Strengthened and the brooks and
rivers are less constant in their flow
than they were even half a century
ago. Brooks that were mill streams
fifty years ago are nearly dry
after long spells of dry weather they
are roaring torrents after a heavy
rain. The conditions that existed
when the entire state was covered
with a dense forest can never be re.
stored. The winds will bring the wa.
ter from the ocean as they have done
for centuries; but the downward flow
of the rainfall will be rapid. This
rapid drainage may be modified anc
checked by the erection of reservoirs
at convenient places near the heads Of
rivers; but this ~expedient is costly.
1t is however, the only method BY
which the water power Of the state
can be restored, and at some future
day it will be done. The continued
prosperity of the state will demand
it. The future heat. light and power
of the state lie in the streams thai
flow down it's beautiful valleys.
Most of the cities and villages o:
Vermont, as we'll as other states
have systems of sewage that empt,
into the s reams that flow through
them. The water of the larg'
streams is therefore polluted. Dol