Water pollution—Wells

by Irving A. Watson

By far the most dangerous source of water supply is the well, because of its close proximity to dwellings. If the surroundings of a well are not free from all impurities and waste, we have no right to expect pure water, and an attack of typhoid fever, dysentery, or kindred diseases should not in the least astonish us. Conditions which endanger our wells are the rule and not the exception, both in the sparsely settled country and in the city.

In a speech before the Central N. Y. Medical Association in 1875, Dr. Harvey Jewett said,—

“We are often asked, In what way does the water of our wells, in farming communities especially, and in our larger villages, become impure? It comes bubbling up from the deep fountains, fresh, cold, pure, and clear as the crystal, and often gives no indication by taste or smell of containing impurities. How often do we see the waste water from our kitchens thrown out upon the ground year after year, until the soil is saturated thereby? Then, again, the continuity of sink-drains, cess-pools, and privy vaults to our wells is sufficient to saturate the earth with their poisonous, disease-producing elements. It is through the agency of this apparently pure water, constantly, insidiously introducing these subtle elements into the human organism, that the fountains of life are poisoned and disease generated. In large towns and thickly populated streets, with slovenly domestics, the whole surface becomes saturated with the waste water, and in wet seasons the well, being the only artificial drainage, receives the drippings, converting it into a cess-pool of filth. I have known instances where the waste water from the sink-drain ran directly into the well, until the horrible stench compelled an investigation and a remedy. Instances of this kind are by no means rare, where a direct communication from the sink to the well is found to exist. With some families in the country the whole waste water of the household is thrown out upon the ground, until the entire surface soil is saturated like a sponge with the elements of disease. The popular but erroneous idea, that filling in earth upon a water-saturated soil removes the necessity of deep drainage, should be exploded from the minds of the people, and the great central fact set forth, that no water-saturated soil is fit for human habitation, and that a large proportion of unhealthfulness and human ailments can be traced directly or indirectly to this influence.”

I have had forwarded to me during the past year many samples of well water from different sections of the state for examination, and over ninety-five per cent. were contaminated. In many instances no particular suspicion existed that the wells were polluted, so “sweet and sparkling” was the water. With the exception of a few wells in this city, the samples came from the smaller villages and isolated farm-houses. I suspect, and my experience is in accord with the idea, that the most dangerous wells are to be found at the latter, because such a well is subjected not only to the unsanitary influences of the household, but of the barns, cattle-yards, hennery, pig-sty, etc. No one can reasonably presume that a well situated in close proximity to such surroundings can long remain pure, except that its altitude is such as to render contamination impossible, which is rarely the case. It should be borne in mind that a well is in itself a system of drainage for a given area of the earth, which area is dependent upon the depth of the well and the character of the soil. The accepted formula is, that it drains a portion of soil represented by an inverted cone, the base of which equals in diameter the depth of the well. Thus, the well must drain a certain amount of soil or earth, and unless this certain amount is kept clean and uncontaminated, the well must become polluted. It should not be forgotten that this described cone of soil is the minimum amount that a well can drain, while with favorable conditions the maximum area is almost unlimited. A stratum of clay or other impervious substance, or fissures in the rock formation, may act as the carrier of a little stream or vein of polluted water till it reaches the well, and the source of pollution may be a long distance away.

The sketch which is here reproduced from the last report of the State Board of Health vividly illustrates the way in which a well is often polluted.

The double lines 1 and 2 represent the angle which the well drains. The slightly curved lines 3 and 4 represent the water line in the ground, the constant use of the well depressing this line below a level in the immediate vicinity of the well. The lines radiating from the cess-pool and vault illustrate the cause of said pollution, and consequently contamination of the water in the well. This sketch is in no way overdrawn: I have seen many wells apparently situated in precisely the same way. If somewhere in a near and convenient location to this well, as shown above, were placed a barn-yard and a pig-sty in addition to what we now see, it would represent the exact condition of many of our farmers’ wells. Yet the proprietor of this “best well in town” wonders why his doctor’s bills are so large! He bows “to the will of God” when cholera infantum takes the life of his little child, when his own ignorance or cupidity is the destroyer. How long shall the Almighty be charged with crimes that come alone from the ignorance, carelessness, neglect, and conceit of men?

I propose to give a few illustrations of water pollution that are of a very marked character. The following diagram is that of a hotel in one of the thriving towns in this state, and the facts connected therewith I obtained from a reliable physician under the promise of not giving to the public the locality or his name. I have seen the hotel myself, and assure you that the location was as represented.

A case of typhoid fever occurred the past season (1882) in the bed-room near the privy (see diagram No. 1). All the discharges from this patient were thrown into the vault without being disinfected. This vault was located about fifteen feet from the well which supplied this house. Result: Fourteen cases of typhoid fever, with one death, from the use of this water for drinking purposes.