Futility of a Sanitary Water Analysis 



45 



by chemists and sanitarians the world over as being the best test 

 of the wholesomcncss of all waters, whether from the surface or 

 from the ground — namely, the incidence of typhoid fever and other 

 water-borne diseases among the habitual users of such water as a 

 beverage. Although there are on record many hundred analyses of 

 ground waters, which would, by the interpretation standards above set 

 forth, be classified as polluted, but which, judging from the location 

 and all the surroundings, might be regarded as wholesome, never- 

 theless the basis of the statements made in the following paragraphs 

 will rest solely upon the typhoid rate prevailing among the users of 

 the various waters. The first series of ground-water analyses to be 

 discussed are grouped in the following table: 



SERIES "H." 

 Parts per Million. 



It will be seen from the above that all the waters analyzed con- 

 tained more nitrogen in all the specified forms than would be allow- 

 able under the standards of interpretation above quoted. The 

 analyses presented represent either the city supply of Rockford, 

 III., or that from private wells which are largely used in that place. 

 They are in all cases ground waters, and are similar in character 

 to waters from various wells in that region. The writer has before 

 him 135 analyses of well waters from Rockford, by far the majority 

 of which present characteristics similar to those presented in Series 

 "H." Rockford has the lowest typhoid fever death-rate of any 

 city in the United States having a population of 30,000 or over. 

 It will be noted in the various pubhshed tabular statements, such 

 as that presented by Mr. George C. Whij)ple in the report of the 

 Commission on Additional Water Supply for the City of New York 

 that Rockford almost invariably stands at the foot of the list, with 

 a death-rate of about 6 per 100,000. 



