Hearings of the International Joint Commission in re remedies for the pollution of boundary waters between the United States and Canada

by International Joint Commission

In Ford the average death rate during the period of 1904-1915, inclusive, was 364.5; the maximum was 849, occurring in 1907; the minimum was 126, occurring in 1908.

In Wyandotte the average death rate during the period of 1900-1915, inclusive, was 87.2; the maximum was 144, occurring in 1913; the minimum was 12, occurring in 1911.

For Trenton the average death rate during the period 1904-1915, inclusive, was 94.8; the maximum was 243, occurring in 1913; the minimum was 0, occurring in 1905, 1910, 1912, and 1914.

The objects of these surveys were to determine in each community—

1. The general sanitary condition.

2. The quality of both private and public water supplies.

3. The adequacy of present sewerage systems and the extent of their use.

4. The amount of typhoid fever and probable reasons for its presence.

The surveys were begun on February 15 and completed on May 1, 1916. They were carried on simultaneously in each community. Frequent bacteriological tests on the public and private supplies were made, the location of existing sewers was determined, also the number and character of connections to them, the history of the typhoid-fever cases occurring during 1914, 1915, and the first four months of 1916 was ascertained. A study of the data collected shows that the following conditions exist:

The village of Ford obtains its water supply from the Detroit River through an intake located at the harbor line. This water is supplied to the consumers without treatment. A 12-inch and 42-inch sewer empty into the river above this intake and a 36-inch sewer discharges at a point some distance below. A private sewer from the industrial plant of the Michigan Alkali Co. discharges into the river at a point about 50 feet downstream from the water intake. Float measurements made at a time when a southeast wind was blowing showed that the effluent from this sewer was undoubtedly carried past the water intake. The results of bacteriological analyses on the village water showed that it was badly contaminated at all times and at no time fit for drinking purposes. The histories of typhoid-fever cases in Ford showed that in practically all cases the infection was obtained from the village water supply. There was a remarkable absence of secondary or contact cases. The general use of outside closets which discharge into the sewer, but which are not provided with flushing devices, is to be deplored.