858 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



sight, Erie canal was doubtless the most economical, and follow- 

 ing that, Genesee river. Moreover, both these plans could have 

 been carried out in a short time. Serious objections to their 

 adoption, however, were raised, not only on the ground that fil- 

 tration is inadequate to render the water safe for drinking, but 

 also that the owners of waterpower on the various races would 

 prevent any abstraction of water from the Genesee river. 



The objection to the use of the river water by the mill owners 

 rested principally on the ground that their waterpower would 

 be damaged by the abstraction of the proposed quantity. On 

 March 20, 1891, a committee of owners of the Johnson and Sey- 

 mour race, the Rochester, Carroll and Fitzhugh race, the Hy- 

 draulic Power Company's race and the Rochester and Brush 

 Electric Light Companies, reported that the majority of such 

 owners would permit the city to take 2,000,000 gallons per day 

 from the river on the payment of an annual rental of f 14, 600; 

 and on the same day the mill owners on Brown's race resolved 

 that they would oppose with all reasonable persistency any prop- 

 osition to draw any further supply from the Genesee river or its 

 tributaries. 



Lake Erie 



In May, 1895, the writer examined Lake Erie somewhat care- 

 fully as a source of water supply for the manufacturing town of 

 Lorain on the south shore, twenty miles west of Cleveland. The 

 results of that study are given in a paper, Lake Erie as a Source 

 of Water Supply for the Towns of its Borders, and little addi- 

 tional reference will be made to the matter in this place, except 

 to state that there are a considerable number of chemical analyses 

 given in said paper. 



Table No. 99 gives monthly chemical, microscopical and bac- 

 teriological analyses of Lake Erie water at Buffalo from April, 

 1902, to March, 1903, inclusive. Only one chemical analysis was 

 made per month, but there were several determinations of bac- 

 teria. The chemical analyses are by Frof. Herbert M. Hill, while 

 the bacteriological determinations are by Dr. Wm. G. Bissell. In 

 order to fully understand the indications of these latter, one needs 

 to study them in detail as given in the monthly bulletins of the 

 Health Department. 



