Soil and Water Pollution : Presented to the American Public Health Association at New Orleans, Dec. 1880Runnels, M. T. (Moses Thurston)
Science
Soil and Water Pollution : Presented to the American Public Health Association at New Orleans, Dec. 1880
Runnels, M. T. (Moses Thurston)
Water -- Pollution; Water-supply -- Indiana -- Indianapolis
The well from which the second sample was taken, was within twenty-five
feet of a privy vault twenty feet deep. Several families used water
from the well. Two cases of
TYPHOID FEVER DEVELOPED
in one family, and all the persons who drank the water were constantly
ailing. The third sample was taken from a well where four cases of
typhoid fever had occurred. A thorough search had been made for the
cause of the trouble. The well water had been suspected and was
condemned by the attending physician.
Seventy feet from the wall there was a privy vault overflowing. Another
vault was within twenty-five feet of the well. To the effluvia from
the former was attributed one case of typhoid fever. The stench was so
great at night that not even the windows in the upper stories of the
houses in the neighborhood could be kept open. People living near had
sore throats, malarial fever and diarrhœal disorders.
The fourth sample was obtained from a surface dug well, from which the
inmates of the State Female Reformatory were supplied with drinking
water. Since the first of last August thirty-nine cases of well defined
typhoid fever, and thirteen milder cases of the same disease appeared
in the Reformatory. The attending physician attributed the outbreak
of the fever to the water from the well. After a thorough chemical
examination of the water, the well was condemned and filled up, and the
water supply now comes from a driven well.
It is worthy of remark that the persons attacked by typhoid fever, had
been daily drinking the foul water from the well until the appearance
of the fever; that the immediate surroundings of the well and the
sanitary condition of the building were good, and that no direct cause
of typhoid fever outside of the well could be discovered.
The fifth sample was taken from a well which supplied a family of six
persons with water. Diarrhœal troubles,
SYMPTOMS OF TYPHOID FEVER,
sore throats, etc., were not uncommon, and the family physician was
frequently consulted. One privy vault forty feet north from the well
was full. Another privy vault was fifty feet northeast of the well. The
contents of the vaults undoubtedly contaminated the well water to some
extent, and of course the evil would be increased with time.
The sixth sample was drawn from a well on the south side of the city.
No privy vault or cess-pool is located within fifty feet of it. To all
appearances the surroundings are good. The well water has been used
for drinking purposes for several years. One person in the family had
typhoid fever three years ago, and malarial and bilious attacks have
annoyed the other members of the family frequently.
The seventh sample was obtained from a well from which three cases
of typhoid fever had previously been supplied with water. The
attending physician attributed the development of the disease to the
unwholesomeness of the water.
The eighth sample was obtained from one of the wells at the water works.
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