168 



a period exteuding from June 29tli to August 1st. In addition to this, 

 bacterial analyses were made on river samples during that period. The 

 portion of the river investigated is shown on the map of Indiana. 



The results of this work were summarized as follows : "It appears 

 that the Calumet Kivor is, for a part of its course, a septic tank, in which 

 the sewage entering it travels but a short distance from its point of 

 entrance before undergoing putrefaction." As the conditions were serious, 

 involving the health of the people of several cities and extending over a 

 large territory, it was thought that the problem could be more advanta- 

 geously dealt with by the formation of a sanitary district to study the con- 

 ditions and reach a final solution, and it was so recommended. 



At the same time these conditions along the lake were being inves- 

 tigated, the states bordering the Ohio River were much concerned with 

 the condition t)f the river and a preliminary survey had been made of 

 that portion of it bordering Ohio by the Ohio State Board of Health. 

 Indiana was next in line in doing similar work along its borders, and in 

 the summer of 1911 that portion of the river lying between Cincinnati, 

 Ohio, and the mouth of the Wabash River, a distance of 357 miles, was 

 surveyed. A houseboat was equipped for the survey in which living and 

 working quarters were provided, and it was found to bo adniiriil)ly adapted 

 to the work. 



The total dniinage basin to the Ohio-Indiana line is S0,94T scjuare 

 miles, and the population located on this area was aliout 8,000,000. Four 

 hundred and fourteen samples were collected feu- chcniicil nnd liacterial 

 analysis, ?,?,3 of which were river samples. 



AV'itli tlie exception of tlivce ov four imints in tlic river, iind these at 

 or near the entrance, the analysis did not show a serious condition to 

 exist, one wliicli at tlie stage of water encountered would create a nuisance. 

 At no point along the river was the r:iw wiiter found to be fit for drink- 

 ing i)uiT)oses, however. 



One noticeable feature that should lie mentioned is the high typhoid 

 death rate in the cities using raw river wnter, and the decrease in the 

 rate after the introduction of filter plants where this step had been taken. 

 At Cincinnati for three years before filtered water was used the average 

 rate was 64.0 per 100,000 and the average rate for the three years fol- 

 lowing the introduction of filtered water was 12.G. 



As an Indiana problem alone, future investigations could be limited 



