Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1918-03-15
THE WATER QUESTION.

The question which now engages thu
attention of our Town Council, and
causes the anxious concern OF the
house.keepers OF the town IL How
can We continue to have q sufficient
supply of pure water The Council
has employed engineers and has care
fully considered the different pro-
Posals. As yet there has beer no
satisfactory solution.
For some days they have beeh
pumping tina we'll on Spring Street,
near the Reformed Church to ascer-
tain whether there is a sufficient sup
ply of water. The test made Is Of lit
tie Importance, as the earth is now
full Of water. Notwithstanding this
fact, there Is very little doubt about
the suficiency of the supply. The
we'll Is fed by stream, short dis
lance below the surface large
enough to drown a child, in fact
child was drowned in this stream, q
1t is said that 1t is proposed to
pump this water into a reservoir, and
from the reservoir into the pipes
which supply the town. If this should
be done, it would result IN polluting
and poisoning our present supply
which in purity and healthfulness is
second to none in the State.
Seventeen years ago, the town, at.
ter careful analysis of the water, aud
finding 1t pure, inaugurated the sys.
tenn which gave 1t a supply of pure,
health giving water. As a result the
death rate decreased to a great extent
and Notwithstanding an increase OF
so per cent in population, the number
of deaths has in no year been as large
as 1t was in three years before the
town had mountain water. The ques-
ton which now excites our cit:zsns
Is: Shall the present water supply be |
polluted by introducing stream con-
taminated by cess pools and probably |
from the cemeteries and of
hard water requiring the use of chem
icals In order to answer household |
purposes :?
Last summer the water Of this we'll !
was so impure as to be very offensive
10 the sense of smell.
The difficulties with which the Couu-
Gil has to contend are in part as fol-
lows : The pipe from the strongest
springs to the reservoir is terra Gotta
and Is undoubtedly so filled with
rootlets that scarcely rs per cent of
The water reaches the reservoir. To
remedy this defect iron pipes must he
used and these at this time are very
costly, as Is also the labor necessary
10 put them in and more water it
has been said has been sold than can
be supplied by the present system.
The water is so much superior to the
hard limestone water that can be Sc
,ured from the we'll or springs at a
convenient distance from town, that
will use the mountain
water whenever they can. 1t is up to
he Council to solve the problem, and
It is sincerely hoped that they may be
able to do so without polluting the
present supply.
1t has been suggested that 1t would
be fair for posterity, which will use
The water, to pay for it, but it would
be very unfair for us after having
enjoyed pure water for q number OF
years to turn over to our children
polluted supply much worse than that
Of the wells which we abandoned.
The people OF the town, it is be-
Iieved, will insist upon sufficient
supply of pure water for domestic
use. If there is surplus, let 1t be
sold, but the health and lives OF the
people must not be endangered in or
der to sell water for other purposes.