FIGHTING POLLUTION IN OHIO — 

 A DEMONSTRATION OF METHODS 



By John T. Travers 



Superintendent of Str earns j Ohio Bureau of Fish and Game 

 Columbus, Ohio 



My purpose, on this occasion, is to explain, in as brief a 

 manner as possible, the progress the Ohio Fish and Game De- 

 partment is making in its efforts to control pollution and elimi- 

 nate it from Ohio streams. In this explanation I will avoid 

 all terms and phrases of a technical nature that might have a 

 tendency to confuse, or cover up the actual point we are aim- 

 ing at. It is my desire to present to you the results of our 

 investigation of this problem, following with a number of 

 demonstrations, made with raw industrial waste taken from 

 manufacturing plants at various points in Ohio. All the facts 

 presented to you here are the results of my findings, through 

 actual experience in wading around in polluted water for the 

 past year. This was necessary for me to do, in order to note 

 and observe, at first hand, the exact conditions as they exist 

 in the streams. In this investigation I have not taken anything 

 for granted, or accepted anything as a fact, unless it could be 

 proved as such. No tests of pollution have been made by 

 proxy. All tests have been made at the sewer or in the pol- 

 luted stream. 



The history of stream pollution and of the contributing 

 causes leading up to it, as it exists today, are as familiar as an 

 open book. Thousands of pages have been written on this sub- 

 ject and the problem has been studied from all angles by the 

 ablest men in the country. The progress made so far has not 

 come up to expectations. Outside of the process developed 

 by the Ohio Fish and Game Department, the results so far 

 have been very unsatisfactory. I believe I am safe in saying 

 that pollution of streams in the United States has increased 

 more in the last five years than it did in the twenty years pre- 



