Xo. 4.] FARINI SEWAGE DISPOSAL. 321 



I do not mean to say that these wells that are not yielding a 

 supply of pure water are all in an extremely bad condition, for 

 such is not a fact, but they are more or less contaminated, 

 some severely and some only slightly, and any well that shows 

 pollution to any extent must be closely watched and studied to 

 find out the cause. There are a number of ways by which the 

 water in a well or spring can be contaminated, and probably 

 the most common way is by the well being so situated that it 

 receives the wash from the surrounding slopes which runs over 

 the surface and into the top of the well, particularly during and 

 after heavy showers and in the springtime when the snow is 

 melting. Another and very serious way in which pollution of 

 the worst kind may reach the water in wells and springs is by 

 a closely located cesspool or privy of poor construction con- 

 stantly discharging their contents into the surrounding ground. 

 After a time the ground becomes saturated, and the area sat- 

 urated increases until it has spread out for great distances in 

 many cases. In very porous subsoils, or perhaps along the 

 surface of or through the fissures in underground ledges, it is 

 hard to estimate how far sewage may travel, but certainly for 

 hundreds of feet in some cases. 



People sometimes ask why a well does not or should not con- 

 tinue to give a good pure supply of water w^hen it always used 

 to, and I would say that it is because of this saturation of the 

 soil, which in some cases may take years before it reaches the 

 water supply, and also because the contamination is not always 

 perceptible to the eye, nose or mouth, and only an analysis can 

 show whether or not a well is polluted and to what extent. 

 You see the trouble lies largely in the fact that germs of 

 disease are invisible, and you cannot tell by looking at water 

 whether or not they are present. By all means have an analy- 

 sis made of any water that you use for domestic purposes as 

 soon as you detect any taste or odor to it. 



One of the worst diseases that we have to contend with is 

 typhoid fever, and while the State health authorities have made 

 a wonderful reduction in the numbers of cases and deaths in 

 this State, it is still far too common. Typhoid fever is fre- 

 quently contracted by using water from a well or spring that is 

 polluted by sewage. Now typhoid germs will not live in well 



