Evening star., 1953-08-23
SIum Toilets Bar
Top Rating TO
Water System
Cited as Potential
Source of Disease
BY z D. c. Officials
By John w. Stepp

By John W. Stepp
Until Washington gets rid Of
the outdoor f1ush-type toilets and
drinking water hydrantS Of its
slums, the city water system may
never achieve top certiflcation
by the Federal Government.
At least two key District ON
cials have reached this conclusion
in the course of studies in con-
netcion with the latest slum-
clearance drive now under way
here. High-level officials tomor-
row will be holding their third
meeting in as many weeks to
report to Brig. Gen. Louis w.
Prentiss, Engineer Commissioner.
Particularly panied by the lack
of Federal certif1cation is David
v. Aud, the District director OF
sanitary engineering, and, until
recently promoted, former head
of the Water Division.
Potential, Not Actual, Hazard.
In Mr.. Auld's view, It is Bit
ter irony that the Districts
water system, regarded gener-
ally as one of the best in the
world, should fail to have top
most Federal classification al
most solely because of slum con-
ditionS that constitute a purely
potential hazard to the water
supply.
The Districts drinking water
now has only provisional GER
tif1cation. This is a second
notch rating set up by 40-year-
old law designed to prevent the
spread of water-c carried diseases
by means of interstate railroad
trains.
Under the law, the United
States Public Health Service
must certify whether water sup
piled for consumption on trains
is safe. The Health Service bases
its approval or disapproval on
the recommendation of local
health authorities.
The key man in the local GER
tif1cation picture is William H.
Cary, jr., director of the Health
Department Bureau of Health
Engineering. Mr.. Cary is a
staunch foe of any condition
that casuses, or may cause, the
spread of disease. And as far as
he is concerned, his Office simply
refuses to recommend top certi-
f1cation for Washington's water
before the outdoor toilets and
hydrants go.
Mr.. Cary, to begin with, firmly
agrees with Mr.. Auld that the
threat to the water supply is only
potential. But the health en-
gineer attaches great Importance
to the potential when he counts
$4,000 outdoor water closets and
hydrants in the city.
These sanitation fixtures, in
great evidence in Slum areas,
operate in such fashion that,
should water pressure go down
sharply in the supply pipes,
residue water in the toilets and
hydrants could back up and
spread elsewhere in the water
system, Faulty shut-off valves
in the fixtures could lead to the
same result.
Cites Dysentary Outbreak.
Mr.. Cary recalled a wartime
experience in a MidweStern city,
where 5000 cases of dysentary
resulted from a backing-up of
sewage from outdoor f1ush-type
toilets into the water system.
This occurred when part Of the
water system was shut of for
repairs. At the time, a troop
train took on water there, and
an undetermined number of
dysentary cases broke out among
the servicemen shortly after
ward, Mr.. Cary said.
According to the health engi-
neer, a few minor precautionary
improvements could be made in
the city's water storage system.
Sanitary Engineer Auld dis
counts the possibility of any
health menace from this source,
however. Both officials agree the
outdoor toilets and hydrants
represent the worst potential
danger" to the water supply.
Actually" Mr.. Auld said,
"these slum conditions are what
give us the rating we now have
certification with a small ques-
ton mark beside it,"
Without committing himself |
on what he might recommend |
for future certif1cation status,
Mr.. Cary declared on that point,
nonetheless:
THE idea is to get rid of the
slumS."