Mr. WATERMAN. I can not add very much to the statements which Mr.
Rich and Mr. Follin have already made, but I would like to say
something in regard to the attitude which the village and city
authorities in the places which we have investigated have taken
toward these surveys. We found that at Ford village the authorities
were very enthusiastic toward this investigation. They evidently
wanted to learn just what the conditions were, and they were eager
to get our opinions as to the means of correcting the conditions now
existing. At Wyandotte the city authorities showed some enthusiasm,
but we did not find them as enthusiastic as we felt they should have
been over an investigation of this kind. I might say that the city of
Wyandotte has been struggling with the problem of public water supply
for some eight years, and that during that time many bacteriological
examinations and chemical examinations of the water have been
made at the State board of health laboratory, and at one time a
consulting engineer was employed to make preliminary plans for a
water filtration plant; that this proposition was defeated by a vote
of the city; and that since that time very little has been done. The
only thing was the introduction of a hypochlorite of lime treatment
in March, 1914. As already stated, our investigations showed that a
hypochlorite treatment is not adequate to give the city of Wyandotte
a safe water supply. In the village of Trenton, I am sorry to say,
the attitude of the village authorities has been more unfavorable
than favorable. They do not seem to realize the importance of
improvements in the sanitary conditions, and we have met with very
little cooperation from the authorities themselves. I think that this
is about all that I can add to the statements already made.
Mr. GARDNER. Do you think there is any growing interest in this
matter?
Mr. WATERMAN. I should say that in Ford village and Wyandotte there
is undoubtedly a growing interest, and that among a very few people
in Trenton, that you might call thinking people, there is a growing
interest, but the general attitude is not favorable.
Mr. GARDNER. They are not all thinking people.
Mr. POWELL. There is one point you are clear on, and that is that
chlorination is not sufficient for the purification of the water down
there for drinking purposes?
Mr. WATERMAN. Yes.
Mr. POWELL. It would have to be supplemented or preceded by
sedimentation or screening?
Mr. WATERMAN. You are speaking of the water itself?
Mr. POWELL. Yes.
Mr. WATERMAN. We feel that filtration of the water supply is
necessary, followed by chlorination.
Mr. TAWNEY. Is this contamination of the waters of these various
places due to the sewage which they themselves deposit in the water
raw, or is it due to the pollution that is put in above raw, that
goes farther out in the stream?
Mr. WATERMAN. In the case of Ford City, I would say that the sewage
of the village itself undoubtedly contaminates an already polluted
supply, and the same is true of Trenton, although undoubtedly the
pollution which enters the river from the city of Detroit is more or
less mitigated before reaching Trenton. At Wyandotte the sewers are
all below the water intake, but the sewers from the village of Ford
are above and undoubtedly pollute that supply.
Mr. TAWNEY. How far above?
Mr. WATERMAN. I would estimate the nearest one was about a mile above
the intake, and there are two others within a distance of 2 miles
from the intake, both entering directly into the river at the harbor
or dock line----
Mr. TAWNEY. And the intake at Wyandotte is how far out?
Mr. WATERMAN. The intake at Wyandotte is approximately 150 feet out,
so that whatever pollution comes in at this point 1 mile or 2 miles
above would probably be diffused that distance from the shore at
least, probably more.
Mr. MIGNAULT. What is exactly the position taken by the citizens of
Trenton?
Mr. WATERMAN. I do not think the citizens, as citizens, have had very
much opportunity thus far to express themselves on the question. It
is really the village authorities.
Mr. MIGNAULT. Well, substitute in my question “the village
authorities” for “the citizens”; what position do they take exactly?
Mr. WATERMAN. They take the position that everything is all right
down there, and that there is no reason in the world why they should
not go on putting in sewage in the water.
Mr. MIGNAULT. They are not impressed by the statistics which have
been read here.
Mr. WATERMAN. Those statistics have not yet been presented to them.
Mr. TAWNEY. Nevertheless they have been informed of those facts.
Mr. WATERMAN. Yes; they have been informed of the facts, and the
majority of the village council have, by their acts, shown that they
do not appreciate those statistics which have been brought to their
notice.
Mr. MIGNAULT. What exactly were the powers of the State board with
regard to a city like Trenton, in order to compel it, if necessary,
to take the necessary measures for water purification or treatment of
sewage?
Mr. WATERMAN. The powers of the State board, I think, have been
outlined by Mr. Rich, and if I repeat, I am trying to repeat what he
said, that the State board has the power to order any improvements
in the sewage systems of the village necessary in the opinion of the
State board for the betterment of public health.
Mr. MIGNAULT. No such order has been given so far?
Mr. WATERMAN. No. We feel, and are rather certain, that such orders
will be given, if necessary, after the completion and adoption of our
present report.
Mr. POWELL. I suppose they would rather run the risk of death than
face the certainty of increased taxation.
Mr. WATERMAN. That seems to be the opinion, although one useful fact
has been brought out by our investigations, and that is that the old
residents of these towns and cities are, for the most part, immune to
typhoid fever. It is the newcomers who come on, usually within six
months time of taking up their residence there, who are liable to
take it.
Mr. POWELL. The old ones are immune.
Mr. WATERMAN. They have either had it some time in the past or have
become so used to the water supply that the typhoid germs diffused
into their system do not affect them at all.
Mr. POWELL. There is such a thing as being immune from it.
Mr. WATERMAN. I think so.
Mr. POWELL. I may say, Mr. Rich, as you are aware, the commission
has had before it since August, 1914, the pollution investigation.
We have carried on two distinct pieces of work. I am not looking for
any compliments to the commission, but, as the representative of
the State of Michigan, are you willing to go on record, first, as
to the value and character of the work which we have done under the
two branches of the investigation, and, second, the diligence and
thoroughness with which both have been conducted?
Mr. RICH. I am heartily so. I believe that there has been no previous
examination of this wide character and extent carried on anywhere--at
least, none has come to my notice--and I feel that the work of the
commission has been of great value to us in our work, not only in
the specific material studied and the ground covered but in the
general principles evolved from that study. We feel that we have been
equipped with ammunition that is going to be very useful to us.
Mr. TAWNEY. You mean useful throughout the State?
Mr. RICH. Yes; and for all time to come, as assisting us in
formulating our policy in a great many cases. We also feel that
the investigation, after the first study, has been very thoroughly
carried on, indeed. Mr. McRae’s studies here were prosecuted with
keen insight into the requirements of the question. As far as speed
is concerned, I do not well see how the results could have been
obtained any more promptly than they have been. The only delays that
I have been able to notice in the procedure from the start to the
finish was while the material was in the printer’s hands, and I do
not see how that could be construed as delay in the ordinary sense.
There was the unavoidable wait for the material to be placed in such
shape that it could be put before the people.
Mr. TAWNEY. Dr. McCullough, you represent the Province of Ontario,
which has jurisdiction along the water front, has it not? Can you
give the commission any opinion with respect to the work of the
Province in connection with the subject and water purification on
your side of the line?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. Would you like me to outline the policy of the
Province?
Mr. TAWNEY. Yes. We have had the policy of the State on this side and
it would be appropriate to have the policy of the Province of Ontario
on the other side.
STATEMENT OF DR. J. W. S. McCULLOUGH, OF TORONTO.
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. In the Province of Ontario the provincial board
of health has control of the establishment of waterworks and
water-purification works, sewage works, and sewage-disposal works
of all kinds. No water plant can be established by any municipality
or by any individual for public use unless the consent and approval
of the provincial board of health, to which body all plans must be
supplied, is obtained.
Mr. GARDNER. How long has that condition existed?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. Since 1912; it exists in its present state since
1912. It did exist previously for some years, but not in a
satisfactory condition. No municipality can raise money on debentures
without the approval of the provincial board of health for works of
the character I have mentioned, and we have further power to force
extensions. We have also power, under certain circumstances, to allow
the municipality to establish works of this kind and raise money
without the consent of the people, and in a number of cases that has
been done.
Mr. GARDNER. Without limitation?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. Without the vote of the people and without any
limitation.
Mr. TAWNEY. Except the exigency of the case.
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. Yes; it is the policy of the board, of course, as
a rule, not to interfere in that way, but to have the people vote
on a money by-law. Now, there is another way a municipality can
establish works of utility, and that is by having a two-thirds vote
of the council. It is a sort of local improvement; that is, for
extension of sewers.
Mr. GARDNER. The provincial council?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. No; the municipal council.
Mr. TAWNEY. Has your board recently made any surveys for the purpose
of ascertaining the conditions along the Detroit River on your side
in regard to the villages or cities located there?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. We were concerned in making the first progress
report. The Provincial Board of Health of Ontario, as you will
remember, supplied laboratories.
Mr. TAWNEY. You were associated with Dr. McLaughlin in that--you and
Mr. Dallyn?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. Yes.
Mr. TAWNEY. I thought it was well to get in the record the policy of
the provincial board.
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. The policy of the provincial board is, broadly
speaking, along public-health lines. We are satisfied that the water
supplies are accountable for a good deal of disease of an intestinal
character, and it is our object to lessen the amount of pollution
of the boundary waters as much as possible and have the waters
purified as much as possible. Just recently we have been able to
secure a purification plant at Niagara, on the Lake, where there is a
military concentration camp, under an arrangement of this kind. The
municipality is bearing half the expense and the Federal Government
is bearing the other half, because it is such an important matter
from the point of view of having the troops there supplied with good
water.
Mr. MIGNAULT. Is that water furnished to the municipality generally,
or simply to the camp?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. At Niagara-on-the-Lake it is a municipal water
supply. They simply pump it from the Niagara River and clarify it.
It requires to be very heavily chlorinated, because it is badly
polluted. Then, in addition to that, the military authorities have
provided this year a portable violet-ray plant, whereby the water
supplied for cooking and drinking purposes to the soldiers’ camp is
purified.
Mr. MIGNAULT. That is merely for the water supplied to the camp?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. Yes; but not that will be further improved by the
town having a filtration plant, the cost of which will be borne
jointly by the Federal Government and by the municipality.
Mr. GARDNER. Do they take the water from above or below the Falls?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. Niagara-on-the-Lake is at the mouth of the river,
away below the Falls; about 12 miles below the Falls.
Mr. MIGNAULT. Some members of the commission had the advantage of
seeing the filtration plant at the camp last week.
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. That is the violet-ray plant. It does the work very
well; but, of course, it is only a small affair.
Mr. POWELL. There is filtration in connection with that?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. Oh, yes. That plant was designed by the engineer of
the provincial board of health, and by him supplied to the military
authorities.
Mr. TAWNEY. What is the standard of purity that your board of health
follows?
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. With regard to the sewage?
Mr. TAWNEY. Yes; standard of purification.
Dr. MCCULLOUGH. We think that, for these international waters, there
should be sedimentation and chlorination. We would be satisfied with
that.
Mr. TAWNEY. The standard of purification is 90°, is it not?