The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-03-10
TYPHOID SHOWS
 RAPID DECLINE.
Only Six Deaths From Dis= ease in Connecticut
 During Past Year

BY WARREN J. SCOTT, s. B. Bureau of Sanitary Engineering
 State Department of Health
 Director
 Back in the year 1900, the typhoid death rate in Connecticut was 30.6 deaths per 100000 population. In the year 1897, reports show only six deaths in Connecticut from typhoid or para typhoid fever. .4
 If the 1900 death rate had con- tinue din 1897, there would have been $40 deaths from this disease instead of six This is of interest because typhoid fever is the most important Water-borne disease. While this disease may also be caused by other modes of infection, safe water supplies have unques- tionably played a major role in ty- phoid fever reduction. Connecticut Free of Outbreaks
 In the past 25 years, Connecticut fortunately has been free of water borne disease outbreaks. However, the danger of waterborne typhoid exists even in recent times, as borne out ill a summary of water-b borne diseases in the United States over the decade, 1920 and 1930, prepared by WOlman and German. They re- port PAP water-borne outbreaks Of typhoid fever and dysentery in this period with 9,367 typhoid cases.
 In Connecticut, freedom from wa ter-borne disease may be attributed to the character of the water sup plies in the state and the supervi- sion afforded them. Of the 108 public water systems in the state, 80 systems, including all of the larger water works, derive their supA plies from surface sources, i. e., from reservoirs, lakes or streams.
 The state law delegates to the Connecticut State Department of Health general sanitary supervision over public water supplies. Imme- diate control is vested in local su- pervisory authorities. Cleanliness of drainage areas sloping toward wa ter supply streams and reservoirs is considered of the utmost import ance in Connecticut, where reliance is placed on clean watersheds as a measure of first line defense against Water-borne disease.
 Careful Inspections
 Among the measures employed to insure clean watersheds are pe- riodic house to house inspections on public water supply drainage areas; patrol of watersheds to guard against chance contamination by hunters, fishermen, picknickers and campers; fencing of exposed loca- tions, purchase of land, posting of signs and control over recreational practices. Local authorities and the State Department of Health cooper ate in making our watershed pro- lection program effective.
 Storage of water in reservoirs is another safeguard against water borne disease. In some large res ervoirs, water is stored for many weeks or months before it flows to the consumer. Disease-producing bacteria tend to die out with long storage, due to the generally un- favorable environment including eff fects of sunlight, sedimentation and lack of food.
 Another widely used modern safe guard is chlorination of water. Min ute dosages of chlorine, usually about ,four pounds of chemical to the million gallons of water exert a toxic effect on harmful types of bacteria and destroy them. There are now in Connecticut 94 chlorina- tion plants on 60 public water sup ply systems. These paints are under constant, local supervision and are periodically inspected and checked by the state department of health. Filtration Systems
 Filtration is an additional method of protecting water. Fitler beds consist of shallow layer of sand, 2 to feet in thickness, through which the water passes downward So-called slow sand filters are used in Hartford and several other Con- necticut communities, the effec- tiveness of these filters being due to a natural gelatinous film which forms on the surface of the sand and which removes silt and bacteria.
 Rapid sand filters operating at higher rates are employed in Dan- bury, Willimantic, Putnam ano