Connecticut western news., 1917-11-29

1t was tested it was found to Ee in guOd condition. Every spring when We got resdv to pnmp I think in each case Dr. Lee sent a sample of the water fo, anaIvsis and alsa before the samm CT pamping which sho wed that we trie,i to keep pretty good taos on It. Five weeks ago when we stopped pumping and tine reservoir water was pat on the people still tasted chemical, which was largely matter of imagination. It is pretty hard to get De tier location than we now have, and we have been told that Ill all pro obability that supply is equally as safe, if not safer, than the reservoir Contamination can get into the reservoir that We cannot help, but it is pretty hard tO get into the we'll If am wrong and that $ pot a suitable place for the well, and you can prove it. we will discontinue it.
 Dr Black: Cant you increase your water supply?
 MT. Lyles: It would be pretty ex. peusive as it is all rock.
 Mr. Jackson: How much water stor- age do you think you hal when we visited there?
 Mir. Lyles: l5O, 900 or 900, 900 gall Ions.
 Mir Jackson: How much has it in- creased since that time?
 Mir. Lyles: l should say that we have 800, ,000 gallons there today.
 MT Jackson:' Will you tell the Con- mi toner and Council and citizens of Canaan what you told me in relation to the patroling of the reservoir; how often your man went there?
 MT Lyles: Why once u week, some times little ofter CT, and sometimes | not so often.
 i nr. Lee: The only question raised is the contamination of riIe we'll. It is not the chemical that we are afraid of, but it is the fear tEat We may some time get contamination from bacteria, knowing that the river is always con- taminated, and we feel that if the we'll is not discontinued that we should clean up the river. We know that the overflow from cesspools is going in there, and we know that contamina tion is going ln there, and that is what we ara afraid of
 MT. Lyles: After this trouble com. menced the Water Company was anxious to knoW for their own benefit just what the conditions were and we succeeded i'll getting MT. Newlands to come here and look over the situation and make a report, and woald like to read it.
 November 6, 1917. Mr. H. E. Lyles, .... 1 Canaan, Conn.
 Dear Sir:
 We submit herewith our report on the sample of water collected by the writer on October 25th from your we'll supply. The results show no evidence of the presence of objectionable or dangerous contamination and we can see no reason for objecting to the use of this water under existing condi- 1 tions.
 1 During the writer's visit to Canaan on October 25th, you submitted a small bot5te of water which was taken from the we'll supply sometime ago, during perioi when the water had very noticeabie odor, but there was not sufficient water for a complete examin. ation. We made tests tor solids with the following results:
 Sample No. WS- 9283-A Solids. volatile 40 parts per million Solids. fixed 125 parts per million Solids, total l65 parts per million
 The foregoing figures show only slight variations in solid content as compared with the sample collected Octobe' 25tii, the volatile matter being somewhat higher than at the present ! time.
 It has been claimed that wastes from the wood alcohol plant of the Barnum- Richardson Co.,, located about B miles above the site of the we'll, were find ing their way into the supply at the time the objectionable odors were noticed We visited rne work referred to and took up tiie ms'ter with MT. 1 P. ". Durrett, chemist of the com pany. who showed us that the company has for son etime past been emptying useless by-products into a small pond, thus eliminating discharge into the Blackberry River, and they propose to collect the wastes in large railroad tanks for disposal in manner which they believe will avoid future contam- inatien of the stream. The odor of the small sample of water submitted for examination is similar to that of the wastes from the plant and it is quite possible that during the period when the company was dischaIglng. this sub stance into the Blackberry River. a portion of the volatile odor-p oducing material found its way through the sand and gravel into the we'll. Useless by-products from the plant are all volatile compounds which have been condensed'in the crude distilla:ion of wood and a very minute anoent of these wastes will impregnate large volume of water with a nnticeanle