340 ^^^6 Philippine Journal of Science 1914 



many instances where the quality left something to be desired 

 the water was so much better than any other available supply that 

 its use has been permitted. 



POLLUTION OF WATER SUPPLIES 



All available data emphasize the difficulty in obtaining pure 

 water in the Philippines and in keeping it free from contamina- 

 tion. Edwards, in a biological study of Philippine waters,^^ 

 found 53 per cent of all the samples submitted dangerously pol- 

 luted, and confirmed the generally accepted conclusion that all 

 water used for drinking purposes should be boiled. Even where 

 pure water is obtainable, the methods of handling and storing " 

 are often such that the water is unfit to drink. 



At Antipolo, 25 kilometers from Manila, is the shrine of 

 Nuestra Seiiora de la Paz y Buen Viaje, to which people make 

 pilgrimages in large numbers. Sometimes as many as 10,000 

 persons visit the shrine in one day, and they have to be accom- 

 modated in the small town of Antipolo, which has no facilities 

 for meeting the sanitary needs of such a multitude. To quote 

 again from the report of the Bureau of Health.^' 



One of the greatest dangers connected with the pilgrimage is the fact 

 that it is customary after visiting the Virgin to bathe in the river which 

 flows by the town. The water for drinking and other domestic purposes 

 is obtained from this river at a point below where the bathing takes 

 place. In order to supply a better drinking water an artesian well has 

 been dug. Unfortunately, the quality of the water is not of the very best, 

 and on account of a slightly disagreeable taste it is almost completely 

 eschewed by the people, who still continue to obtain their water supply 

 from the river. Another source of great danger is the lack of proper 

 facilities for the disposal of human excrements. The sanitary facilities 

 of the town are not nearly sufficient to meet the demands of the great 

 number of persons who go there. 



The state of affairs in this small town is rather significant. 

 The municipality has not sufficient funds to provide a system of 

 sewage disposal adequate for the needs of its own inhabitants. 



For a long time Manila had the highest infant mortality rate 

 of any city on record. In this connection Musgrave says:^* 



The next most important faulty custom consists in the dilution of 

 milk compounds with unsafe water. In our investigation of the causes 



"Ibid. (1908), 2, 21. 



" For an account of the mode of living and the customs of the Filipinos, 

 especially with reference to the problem of water supply, see This Journal, 

 Sec. B (1909), 4, 211. 



" Annual Rep. P. I. Bur. Hlth. (1912-13), 62. 



"This Joui-nal, Sec. B (1913), 8, 465. 



