Filtration of the public water supplies is necessary in all
these localities. It is advisable to install intercepting
sewers in Fort which will carry all sewage to a point near
the southern boundary of the village where a treatment
plant consisting of Imhoff tanks followed by chlorination
should be installed. This will protect the Ford water
supply from contamination by sewage from the village and
also lighten the load on the Wyandotte water filtration
plant. Better raw water can be secured at Wyandotte and
Ford by the extension of the intake pipes into the river
channel. The best location for the intakes can only be
determined by a careful investigation of the quality of the
water at different points in the cross section.
At Trenton filtration of the public water supply and a
general sewerage system which will properly sewer the
entire village and carry the sewage to a point well below
the water intake are the essential measures immediately
necessary for the proper safeguarding of the public
health. As Trenton is the farthermost downstream community
of importance, we do not feel that a treatment plant is
necessary at the present time. However, we shall insist on
a design for the sewerage system which will contemplate
treatment of the sewage should such treatment become
necessary in the future.
Below Trenton on the Michigan side of the river we have only one
city of any size; in fact, only one community which takes its water
supply from water which is affected by the Detroit River. That is the
city of Monroe, of about 7,500 people. It is situated on the River
Raisin, which obtains its water from the western end of Lake Erie.
The studies made by the engineers of this commission have disclosed
the fact that the sewage of the Detroit River contaminates the waters
of Lake Erie to a point as far as the islands which separate that
portion of the lake from the rest of Lake Erie.
Mr. TAWNEY. How many miles is it?
Mr. FOLLIN. I do not know exactly.
Mr. TAWNEY. About 18 miles, is it not?
Mr. FOLLIN. It is probably a little farther than that. Last summer
we made an investigation with respect to typhoid fever conditions
at Monroe and found that although not started by the city water,
the city water then did spread an epidemic of typhoid fever in the
town. We made some investigation of the waters immediately in the
western end of the lake next to their waterworks intake and found
that they were not of sufficient quality to enable the water there
to be made fit for domestic purposes by chlorination alone. We
accordingly called a meeting of the State board of health, at which
the officials of Monroe and the officials of the Monroe Water Co.,
a private company, were called in for consultation. They expressed
their willingness to go ahead and complete the filtration works for
the city. Those details are now being worked out. No definite order
was made by the board of health in that instance because it was not
deemed necessary.
So our statement that possibly the village of Trenton alone need to
immediately treat its sewage is based on our local conditions along
the Michigan shore and not on any study of conditions that might
exist on the other side. But our recommendations to them are that
their plans be so drawn that treatment works can be installed when
necessary. Trenton is now very seriously in need of the installation
of a good public water supply, and we would certainly endeavor to
hasten the time when they can have such a supply.
Mr. TAWNEY. All the sewage of these cities that you have mentioned is
deposited in the Detroit River in a raw state?
Mr. FOLLIN. In a raw state; yes, sir. There is no treatment whatever.
Mr. GARDNER. They are all below the city of Detroit?
Mr. FOLLIN. They are all below Detroit.
Mr. TAWNEY. You are a sanitary engineer, are you not?
Mr. FOLLIN. Yes, sir.
Mr. TAWNEY. You are a graduate of the State university at Ann Arbor?
Mr. FOLLIN. I am a graduate of the State university at Ann Arbor;
yes, sir.
Mr. TAWNEY. How long have you been in practice?
Mr. FOLLIN. I have been with Mr. Rich, at Lansing, for one year and
have been graduated three years.
Mr. TAWNEY. Have you given any study at all to the report of our
consulting sanitary engineer in regard to remedies for the pollution
of the Detroit River?
Mr. FOLLIN. I have given only general consideration to it in the same
way that Mr. Rich has, realizing that your problem was----
Mr. TAWNEY. From the study that you have given to it, what have you
to say as to the thoroughness of the work that was done?
Mr. FOLLIN. We consider that the work has been very thoroughly
carried out, and that the recommendations made are very feasible.
Mr. TAWNEY. Does the State Board of Health of Michigan agree with the
sanitary experts generally that no raw sewage should be deposited
in any stream that supplies other municipalities or localities with
water for domestic and sanitary purposes?
Mr. FOLLIN. Personally we feel very strongly that way, but we realize
that those opinions can not be forced within a very short time onto
the municipalities in Michigan; but such an ideal condition must come
slowly.
Mr. TAWNEY. What have you to say as to the standard of purification
recommended by the consulting engineers in this progress report?
Mr. FOLLIN. I do not feel that I am in a position to comment on that,
although from the little study I have given the matter I believe
it is very reasonable. I might explain one other thing. Our reason
for studying only Ford City, Wyandotte, and Trenton below Detroit
on this side of the river and not studying the river at River Rouge
and Ecorse was because the Detroit water supply is furnished to
River Rouge and Ecorse and that the river supply is first used below
Detroit at Ford City. It was our intention to first study those
conditions because they related to the purity of the water in the
Detroit River.
Mr. POWELL. I understood you to say that in one of these
municipalities in which the water was treated it was found afterwards
on examination to be unfit for drinking purposes.
Mr. FOLLIN. Yes; I did say that. During the course of our
investigations we made 35 examinations of the treated water at
Wyandotte, covering a period of several months. During that time we
found only 15 of those samples to show the water fit for drinking
purposes only 35 per cent of the time.
Mr. POWELL. That is, after it had undergone the process of
sterilization?
Mr. FOLLIN. After it had undergone the treatment of hypochloride of
lime.
Mr. POWELL. Have you figures as to the condition before it underwent
the treatment?
Mr. FOLLIN. We have those figures. In no case was the raw water fit
for drinking purposes without treatment.
Mr. POWELL. Can you give the result of your bacteriological
examination?
Mr. FOLLIN. We have a report now under preparation which will give
these figures in detail, and we hope to have that out within several
weeks.
Mr. POWELL. You can not speak from memory?
Mr. FOLLIN. Yes; the raw water was not fit.
Mr. POWELL. But that is a general statement. Do you remember how many
B. coli to the cubic centimeter there were?
Mr. FOLLIN. We have not that data with us; no, sir.
Mr. TAWNEY. Will your other assistant have the figures?
Mr. RICH. I would like to have Mr. Waterman speak with reference to
the attitude taken by the municipalities which we investigated. The
statement read by Mr. Follin is the advance sheet of our report. It
is the conclusions that are come to in our report. The report will
contain more than this contains, but this is a digest of what will be
the findings.