Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1916-06-16
PURE WATER ONE OF GREAT
EST sUNnfsR PRoBEEAts.
Easy to determine Pure From I'm
pure Water and Many Ailments
Arise From the Use Of the Latter.

CBy Or. John w. Duke, State Health |
Commissioner
No question of health and santa
tion is more vital than the purity of
water supply in a given community.
is this problem oftentimes
a puzzling one in the hot summer
months. It is matter OF greater
concern to the villages, towns and
cities of Oklahoma than in some
other localities. Cities drawing their
water supplies from natural OF arti-
ficial reservoirs located in hills or
are little affected by hot
weather or draught. The quantity
and quality of the supply are not
greatly changed. With prairie cit
les and towns the problem is quite
different. Some are fortunate to
have a dependable deep we'll supply.
Many, however, have to draw from
the nearest river When the water
gets low in the long hot summer
months. the water sometimes gets so
low that Il cannot properly carry
away impurities. This condition is
always a menace to health, even II
not so aggravated as to produce evil
odcrs OF other unpleasant results rec
ognizable by the senses,
II is in summer that especial pre-
cautions should be taken against inn
pure water. The matter is too inn
portant a one to be left to chance.
Every family should know whether
the water daily used is pure or i'm
pure. It is not a difficult matter.
Water is easily tested and reports
will be made on all samples sent to
the State Board of Health. Aside
from the danger. of typhoid and 9TH
Fer serious diseases, stomach and in
testinal troubles are apt to result
from water even mildly impure.
fGhildren-are especially susceptible to
Psuch troubles. AT the same time
their resisting powers are less than
those of adults and illnesses not
Icritical for. older persons may result
fatally in the result of children.
L Theoretically the purest water is
rain water II is water which ma
iture has ristilled. However. It re-
Tceiyes impurities from the nt0ment
iit condenses, for each droplet of mist
! is formed about a particle of dust in
I the air The rain further absorbs
gases and as it drops through the air
collects a large portion of the dirt"
FLOATING in the lower portions of the
atmosphere. 1t is a common OBJ
.servation how shower will wash
! the air so that il becomes beautifully
clear and clean. But the impurities
COLLECTED by the rain before it reach
es the surface of the earth are prac-
IticalIy negligible from sanitary
viewpoint. The rear danger comes
after 1t has reached the earth. The
use Of rain water for drinkging pur-
poses. despite the natural purity, has
mot been recommended by sanitar-
Fians because it is so frequently col
lected and stored in such careless
manner that 1t Is subject to fmpuri-
tiles Because rain water is soft, it is
popular for laundry and cooking pur-
lposes, but unless cullected and kept
with unusual care it cannot be con
tsidered safe for general domestic
purposes.
Too little attention has been paid
Ito the rights of communities to d
lpure water supply Many cities emp
lty their sewage into river regard
less that other cities further down
the stream may draw their supply
lfrom the same river. The laws in
This respect are i'm a chaotic state
lboth in regard to the rights of cities
in the same State and those in, differ
lent States. There is no question
however, as to the general lega
Iproposition that If the acts of a city
Tor individual result in harm to tht
lhealth, property or life Of another
individual or State, the latter car
collect damages.
BY liberation and the use of chem
icals the quality of water can be i'm
I proved Nevertheless the question
of water supply is likely to prove ;
hard problem for many Oklahomi
communities, especially as the popu
lation of the State increases. Deel
wells properly constructed general,
give good results. Contrary to th
generally accepted opinion wells ar
, generally polluted from the surfac
and not from the sub-soil drainage
/ The filtering power of the soil is usu
ally sufficient to protect the waite
drawn from well, unless (1) tn
| soil is overburdened with organi
! matter, or (2) a cesspool or sourc
/ of pollution is close, or (3) channel
- or crevices exist in the soil and sub
lsoil, so that impurities reach tn