STATEMENT OF MR. GEORGE F. DARROW,
PRESIDENT OF THE WATER BOARD OF OGDENSBURG.
Mr. Tawney. Mr. Darrow, you are the president of the water commissioners?
Mr. Darrow. Yes, sir.
Mr. Tawney. What have you to say in regard to the disposal of your sewage in the city of Ogdensburg?
Mr. Darrow. Well, we have never suffered from any pollution of the water supply, because we have filtered all of our water that has been taken from the St. Lawrence. Our water supply up to four or five years ago was the local river, the Oswegatchie, but we suffered from typhoid there, and we changed over into the St. Lawrence and put in a slow sand filtration plant. We have been almost completely free from any typhoid or any other water-borne disease since then.
Mr. Tawney. Do you chlorinate your water?
Mr. Darrow. No; we never have, except at one time, when we had a little break in our intake pipe.
Mr. Tawney. You discharge all your sewage directly into the river, do you?
Mr. Darrow. Yes, sir. The intake pipe is above the city and there is nothing that would cause contamination nearer than the village of Morristown, which is 12 miles away on this side of the river.
Mr. Tawney. How is it with respect to the towns below you?