IX, A, 4 Cox et al.: Water Supplies in the Philipvines 275 



The Bureau of Health has noted most remarkable improve- 

 ment in general health conditions in localities where the use of 

 artesian water has become general. In some places the death 

 rate has dropped as much as 50 per cent.^ 



Another step in the improvement of water supplies for large 

 communities consists in the reservation of uninhabited water- 

 sheds from settlement and guarding them against trespass. Wa- 

 tersheds at Manila and Cebu were developed, in 1908 and 1912, 

 respectively, into sources of fairly potable water, and the good 

 effect on the health of the people has been marked. Other similar 

 installations are contemplated in various localities in the Islands. 



A large modern Government ice plant at Manila daily produces 

 100,000 pounds of ice and 5,000 gallons of distilled water, which 

 are sold to the public at reasonable prices. A new sewer system 

 for the city of Manila, constructed at a cost of about 4,000,000 

 pesos, was completed in 1909. 



The problem of obtaining an adequate supply of potable water 

 is peculiarly complex in the Archipelago. The surface water, 

 especially in inhabited districts, is unfit to drink; the high hu- 

 midity and temperature stimulate decay and bacterial activity, 

 and the general ignorance of the rules of sanitation greatly 

 increases the difficulty of keeping such water unpolluted. 



The seasons * in certain parts of the Islands are responsible 

 for considerable variations in the quality of water. During 

 the dry season the land becomes parched and dry and the water 

 courses dwindle to a minimum; then come the heavy rains, 

 washing the surface debris into the streams, thus polluting the 

 water. It is estimated that in the rainy season 90 per cent of 

 the precipitated moisture finds its way into the run-off, whereas 

 in a shower in the dry season over 90 per cent of the water 

 is absorbed by the soil* or is directly evaporated. 



In this preliminary paper on Philippine water supplies we 

 have attempted to classify and arrange the information collected 

 by the Bureau of Science, to draw such conclusions as may 

 be possible, and to pave the way for future work. In spite of 

 the large number of routine analyses performed during the last 

 twelve years, the data at hand are incomplete. Systematic 

 hydrographic surveys have not been made, due to the lack of 



^Annual Rep. P. I. Bur. Hlth. (1907-8), 25. 



* In a large part of the Archipelago, including Manila, most of the 

 rains occur between June and November. In the remaining part, the 

 rainfall is distributed throughout the year. For a discussion of the rainfall 

 in the Philippines, and tables showing its distribution by months, see 

 Cox, This Journal, Sec. A (1911), 6, 289. 



