140 



The Philippine Journal of Science 



1916 



In general, the deep wells show a high degree of bacteriolog- 

 ical purity. The flowing wells, so far as known, are all sterile 

 or very nearly so, and deep-pumping wells seldom show any 

 marked degree of bacterial pollution except where the equipment 

 is defective or carelessly handled. 



SURFACE WELLS 



Ordinary surface wells still furnish a large share of the water 

 utilized in the Philippines and constitute a great menace to 

 public health and an obstacle to sanitation. Numerous causes 

 contribute to make these wells dangerous in the extreme, among 

 which may be mentioned the fact that most of them are un- 

 covered and many are uncurbed ; the general method of drawing 

 water from them is with a rope and bucket; they are located in 

 crowded barrios; clothes are w^ashed at the well side, and there 

 is a general neglect of sanitary precautions. 



The status of the surface well is clearly demonstrated by the 

 results of biological examinations made in the field, as illus- 

 trated by Table I. 



Table I. — Bacteriological field examinations of surface wells, 191U. 



No. 



Province and town. 



87 



17 



26 



26 



27 



38 



39 



40 



41 



42 



132 



133 



131 



136 



6 



7 



Cebu, BaUmban 



Cebu. Cebu 



do 



do 



....do 



do 



do..:... 



do 



do 



do 



Iloilo, Iloilo 



do 



Uoilo. Iloilo (Molo) 



do 



Mindoro, Pola 



....do 





Bacteria. 





Approx- 

 imate 

 number 



Acid 

 formers. 



Gas 

 formers. 



per cc. 







(•) 



^ 





2. GOO 





*" 



4.000 







4.000 







726 



- 





1,300 





■ 



5.000 



(") 





60 



— 



— 



2.000 



+ 



A- 



(•) 



(") 





1.500 



(b) 





2,000 



(b) 





2,000 







1.500 



+ 





(•) 



+ 



(•) 



_i. 





• E.xcessive. 



b Few. 



The data in Table I were obtained from wells examined in 

 the course of the field trips. Fifteen of the sixteen sources 

 listed gave unmistakable evidence of pollution on a single ex- 

 amination, while the sixteenth was so located that contamination 



