Kin M UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, LAWKEN^^ stora WATER SURVEY. Circular Number One. I . v ) Information Regarding the Collection of Water Samples, the Interpretation of Analyses and the Sanitation of Water Supplies. BY FREDERICK H. BILLINGS, Professor of Bacteriology, AND CLIFFORD C. YOUNG, Director of the Water Survey. STATE PRINTING OFFICE, TOPEKA, 1918. 5-798 S'-* ' ' . . ■ , •• . -#j ■ > . . j «s f . • . • ' 0 ■ • ; . ■ r- ■ ", i ■ \ -a- g ( N _ \ K \*2) L ' \J.V. FOREWORD. This booklet has been prepared primarily for Kansas munic¬ ipal officials and county health officers, for whom examination of water supplies is made by the University laboratories in the interest of public health. To these and to any others in¬ terested in wholesome water, who may have occasion to send samples to Lawrence for examination, attention is specially called to the necessity of following in strictest detail the di¬ rections for collection and shipment of samples; since it is only by utmost care in all the steps leading to a final inter- pietation that error can be reduced to a minimum. ( 3 ) \ “V V 5 F/lto top of ground j/ass Bacteriological Shipping Case, Portable Refrigerator. Cross Section. Chemical Shipping Case. Cross Section. SANITARY WATER ANALYSIS. Steps in the Process of Making an Examination of a Sample of Water. The various steps concerned in the complete process of de¬ termining the sanitary quality of a shipped sample of water may be enumerated as follows: 1. Sterilization of the glass containers in the University laboratory. 2. Shipment of the containers and portable refrigerator to the sampler at the water supply to be examined. 3. Collection of the samples. 4. Icing of the portable refrigerator. 5. Shipment of the iced samples to the University at Law¬ rence. 6. Bacteriological and chemical examination of the samples. 7. Interpretation of the results. 8. Recording and giving notice of interpretation. The third, fourth and fifth steps are those in which the party at the water supply to be examined is directly concerned, and it is for such that explicit directions are herewith given. Collection of Samples for Bacteriological Examination. Handling the Containers. Great care must be exercised so as to avoid bringing the hand or other object against the parts of the bottles which come into contact with the water. Hold the stopper by the handle when collecting a sample. Do not lay it down. The glass around the mouth of the bottles should also be protected. Unstopper the bottles only when ready to put the water in, and stopper them immediately afterward. Fill only to the top of the ground glass. Time for Collection of Samples. Ascertain the time of de¬ parture of a train that makes the best connection to Law¬ rence; then collect just before such departure. ( 5 ) 6 University of Kansas. Collection of Samples from a Pump. Use the pump for at least three minutes just before sampling, taking care that the waste water is carried to a distance so that it will not wash back into the well or cistern. Collect the water directly into the bottle. Collection of Samples from a Bucket. Draw up three or four buckets of water and allow the water to waste, using care that the water does not wash back into the well. Pour from the bucket directly into the bottle. Collection of Samples from a Faucet. Allow the water to run at least three minutes; then collect the sample directly into the bottle. Collection of Samples from a Reservoir, Lake or River. Re¬ move the stopper of the bottle, hold the bottle by the bottom, and plunge it mouth downwards into the water to a depth of about six inches; then turn it horizontally, and as it fills move the bottle mouth forwards and then upwards. In other words, do not let any washings from the hand enter the bottle. Icing the Portable Refrigerator (Shipping Case). Examine construction of case carefully. Place as large a piece of ice as possible in bottom of case; then fill in with cracked ice un¬ til the case will just close easily. Shipment of the Samples. The samples should be routed by express, so that they will reach the laboratories as soon as pos¬ sible after collection. They should be shipped so that they will arrive in Lawrence before Thursday of each week. Water samples are classed in “Scale K” by the express companies. Collection of Samples for Chemical Analysis. The same care should be observed in collection of chemical samples as when collecting water for bacteriological examination. The bottle should be filled to overflowing; water emptied out, then filled to the neck of the bottle for shipment. Shipment of Samples for Chemical Analysis. Chemical sam¬ ples must be shipped with the bacteriological samples. Scope and Interpretation of Bacteriological Analysis. Sanitary examination of' water is made along two distinct lines—bacteriological and chemical. The former attempts to show the presence or absence of sewage contamination through the finding of living bacteria that are characteristic of sewage. A sanitary chemical analysis, on the other hand, does not take living bacteria into consideration, but attempts to show by the presence or proportion of certain chemical sub¬ stances that sewage has found entrance into a water supply. Water Survey. 7 As the constituents of sewage-contaminated water that are directly detrimental to human safety are the pathogenic mi¬ crobes of some infectious disease, the most direct evidence of the unfitness of such water for human consumption would be the detection of such microbes in a water supply. All sewage and sewage-contaminated water, however, con¬ tains the wastes from human bodies, and as such wastes are almost sure, sooner or later, to contain the bacteria of infec¬ tious disease, the demonstration of merely the presence of fresh sewage in a water supply is enough to condemn it. For this reason, most of the bacteriological examination is directed to¬ ward detecting microbes that normally inhabit the intestine instead of detecting those of specific disease. This is a safe procedure, since water-borne diseases, such as typhoid, dysen¬ tery, and cholera, have their seat of activity in the intestine. Specific organisms of these diseases have come from persons specifically affected; hence there is more or less uncertainty attending the search for such bacteria, unless there is an epi¬ demic. The specific disease microbes, however, are always associated with those normally found in the intestine, so that for the purposes of sanitary analysis, the presence of the latter implies the former. The normal intestinal bacteria that serve as a basis for the detection of sewage contamination are those belonging to the Bacillus coli group. Scope and Interpretation of Sanitary Chemical Analysis. The chemical determinations that in general constitute a sanitary chemical analysis are: the amount and character of suspended matter; oxygen consumed; oxygen dissolved; nitro¬ gen as albuminoid ammonia (so-called) ; nitrogen as free am¬ monia ; nitrogen as nitrites; nitrogen as nitrates; and chlorine. The results are expressed in parts of the substance determined in a million parts of water. The object of these determinations is to find out whether or not organic material from sewage has gained entrance to the source from which the water of any supply is drawn. Organic matter of this kind is readily acted upon by bacteria, and, during the decomposition, compounds are formed which can be identified and determined with accuracy by chemical methods. The decomposition products of nitrogen-containing organic matter are the ones that can be determined most accu¬ rately. Nitrogen in albumin-like compounds (or that which is liber¬ ated by alkaline potassium permanganate) indicates the pres¬ ence or absence of undecomposed animal or vegetable material containing proteins. Any abnormal amount of these com¬ pounds shows that the water is polluted. 8 University of Kansas. Nitrogen as free ammonia in any considerable quantity shows that the bacterial action on the protein compounds has been carried further, and that ammonia compounds or urea are present. Some exceptions to this statement are well known. Nitrogen as nitrites yields the information that the bacterial process has gone a step further, and that the oxidation of the nitrogen is taking place; or, in case nitrates are present, that reduction has probably been going on. Nitrogen as nitrates shows that the organic material has been completely transformed to a mineral salt which is rela¬ tively stable. On the Atlantic coast the chlorine determination is of great value as an indicator of contamination by animal excrement (urine contains salt), for every district has a normal value for chlorine. Any excess over this normal amount shows that the water is receiving drainage which probably contains urine. The determination is of little value in the Middle West on ac¬ count of the salt beds underlying the country. The oxygen consumed tells us how much oxygen is necessary to completely oxidize any undecomposed organic matter. The oxygen dissolved is the amount of oxygen in the water available for use in oxidation, if given time. One can not set a standard for the exact amount of any or all of these substances that are allowable in a water. Each an¬ alyst must judge whether or not the water is contaminated from the relative amounts as shown by the analyses. From this statement it will be apparent that it is ridiculous to express the results of an? sis in per cent of purity. It is misleading to say that a wate is 99.96 per cent pure, for, as a matter of fact, the sewage fro. a city does not often vary more than one-hundredth of a per c< from the water supply. Scope of a Technical Analysis of Water. Every natural water contains some minerals in solution which affect more or less, depending on their nature, the value of a water for domestic or industrial supply. It is the object of a technical analysis to determine how much and what kind of salts are present. Hard waters are those containing calcium (lime) and mag¬ nesium salts or iron in sufficient quantities to interfere in steam-making or general household use. Their soap-destroy¬ ing power is enormous. Temporary hardness is that portion of the salts dissolved in a water that can be removed on boiling. These salts are cal¬ cium bicarbonate and magnesium bicarbonate. The calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and hydrocarbonate (HCO3) deter¬ minations give us the desired information. Water Survey. 9 Permanent hardness is that portion of the salts which re¬ mains in solution after boiling. They are usually calcium sul¬ phate, magnesium sulphate, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium nitrate, and magnesium nitrate. The sul¬ phate (SO4), nitrate (NOs), chlorine (Cl), are the determina¬ tions necessary to find the permanent hardness. Iron discolors plumbing fixtures, fabrics in washing, tea and coffee in cooking, and imparts an inky taste to the water. Sanitation of Water Supply. From very remote times, a good water supply has been con¬ sidered one of the greatest blessings. Since the fight of Isaac’s herdsmen for the wells of Gerar down to present-day litigation, its possession has been subject to contention. Possibly good water was of more frequent occurrence among patriarchal tribes in their nomadic life than in our modern settled habita¬ tions. At all events, the growth of civilization has pressed upon us the problem of combating the contamination of water supply. HOW THE QUALITY OF WATER IS JUDGED. The quality of water has generally been judged by its degree of sparkle, of turbidity, of temperature, and, since the intro¬ duction of soap, of hardness. These standards have their value, but they are considered by sanitarians to be superficial criteria for determining wholesomeness. Water may be hard, warm, flat and turbid, and yet be safe to drink. It may also be soft, cold, clear and sparkling, and still carry infection. Whole¬ someness depends upon comparative absence of salts and or¬ ganic matter deleterious to health. Injurious salts, while in¬ ducing disturbances of a more or less discomforting nature, even causing permanent injury if long continued, do not create such serious consequences as polluting organic matter, especially if this takes the form of pathogenic microorganisms. It is believed that decaying animal refuse, draining from gar¬ bage heaps, barnyards, piggeries, manured fields, cesspools, privy vaults, and the like, may occasion sickness when it finds its way into a water supply; but an equal degree of danger does not exist in all of these sources of filth. Animal manure and garbage are in a class by themselves, in that they are not liable to contain the germs of disease that would produce infection in man through water. Cesspools and privy vaults are in an¬ other class, since they are open to infection by bacteria par¬ ticularly pathogenic for man. Water containing such germs assumes its most menacing aspect, especially if under the in¬ sidious guise of a cold and sparkling beverage. It would be desirable, of course, if every source of water 10 University of Kansas. supply could be examined by a sanitary bacteriologist in order to determine the liability of contamination; but so huge is the task that the solution of the question in many instances must be left to the intelligent judgment of the resident himself. Bacteriological analysis, moreover, though the most reliable we have, may fail at times to tell the whole truth, especially if too infrequently made. Such analysis is concerned usually with the detection of the colon bacillus, an intestinal organism indicating fecal contamination, and condemning water by its presence, because of occasional association with infectious mi¬ crobes of the same habitat. Of such, one kind is the well- known Bacillus typhosus , the source of typhoid fever, which, in this country, is the principal water-borne disease. Its germ is found in the intestines of typhoid patients, of convalescents, and, for a while, of those who have fully recovered. It is be¬ lieved, also, to occur sometimes in healthy people who have never been known to have had the fever. The excrement of all such individuals is laden with the specific organisms, and becomes exceedingly dangerous to others if its disposal is im¬ properly cared for. In rural districts it usually finds lodg¬ ment in privy vaults, cesspools, or on the ground, from any of which permeations or washings containing living bacilli may find their way into some water supply. As the specific germ of typhoid is known to emanate only from infected persons who constitute but a small percentage of the average community, the majority of country water supplies, even though otherwise contaminated, would be incapable of creating an outbreak of this particular disease. Typhoid, moreover, is not limited to water as a means of transmission, for contact and infected food play their part. But, after all has been said, it still re¬ mains true that water has often been a serious source of in¬ fection, causing numerous epidemics and disastrous loss of life. THE WATER SUPPLY OF THE AVERAGE MAN. The average man, when confronted with an adverse analysis of his water supply, is liable to be surprised, declaring that it is the best in the country, and that it has been used for years without producing illness. Granting that he be right, immu¬ nity in the past is no guaranty, unfortunately, for the present or future. In his case, some connection has evidently become established between well and outhouse or cesspool, and ap¬ parently he has not happened to' harbor a typhoid-infected per¬ son on the premises. There is nothing needed now but the carrier of the specific organism to begin the trouble. Rural water supply is generally obtained from springs, wells or cisterns. From a sanitary standpoint, springs and deep wells—deep in the sense of penetrating below the first impervious stratum—are the most reliable sources. The usual Water Survey. 11 excellence of these, and, in fact, of all good ground water, is largely due to the filtering property of the soil. Springs, espe¬ cially those flowing through fissures, and deep wells reap the benefit of prolonged filtration through earth. But both may be subject to contamination, particularly springs, which are Diagram Illustrating Relations between Water Supply and Sewage Disposal in the Country. a, Stable with adjacent well, liable to contamination from surface washings and ground seepage, d, House with sewage drain to the surface, s, Spring in danger of contam¬ ination from drain just above. g, House with properly placed well and outhouse. c, House with cesspool, apparently properly placed on lower ground, but because of adjacent formation, the well is liable to contamination. The well at house g is in little danger from the cesspool because of the intervening impervious stratum of earth or rock (i, i), an impervious stratum whose relations to sanitation are important. often open to surface washings from sewage drains, and the like, located farther up the slope. Hence it is advisable to in¬ spect the watershed above a spring; also, to guard it from the surface washings by a wall or ditch. THE DANGER THAT LURKS IN A BADLY LOCATED WELL. Driven wells and dug wells reach only to ground water, differing in this respect from many springs and all deep wells. Their shallowness brings them at times into proximity to drainage from privy vaults, cesspools or leaky drains, and any one sinking a well near these sources of filth must rely upon the filtering action of the soil to remove pathogenic bacteria. The filtering efficiency of the soil, in serving to protect wells from contamination, depends upon such factors as the extent and the nature of the intervening soil and also upon direction of ground-water drainage. The distance that should exist between a well and a source of pollution is, because of these, so variable that probably no definite rule would be trustworthy in all localities, other than the greater the distance the better. Nevertheless, from experiments conducted by the writers for the purpose, one hundred feet was found to be the least dis¬ tance compatible with safety. A less distance would doubtless be safe in certain instances, but greater risk would be incurred of encountering or establishing direct connection through cracks or passages in the subsoil. Pumping a well, moreover, lowers the water table about it, causing drainage from adjacent soil toward itself as a center. Contaminating material within the 12 University of Kansas. radius of this flow would thereby be drawn toward the water supply. The course of ground-water drainage toward its natural out¬ let affects the liability of a well to pollution. While it usually follows the direction of the superficial slope, it may take a different route, owing to peculiar subsoil formation. There¬ fore, while it is better to locate a well on higher ground than a cesspool or outhouse, it is also prudent to have a safe distance intervening as an additional precaution. Driven and dug wells, though similar underground in point of possibility of contamination, differ materially when danger of surface pollution is considered. Driven wells are compara¬ tively secure, while dug wells, open above, or covered with loose boards, through which filth may sift, or else with low and de¬ fective curbs, invite every sort of objectionable material that may fall or wash in. For this reason, dug wells are respon¬ sible for a greater extent of typhoid infection than any other source of rural water supply. PROTECTION OF WELLS. The necessity of protecting wells absolutely against any chance of pollution from surface drainage or infiltration of water just below the surface of the ground is a well-known principle of sanitary science. However, the hazy ideas that are prevalent as to ways and means of effecting this protec¬ tion have led to making the following notes on construction of wells: The curb of the well should be twelve to fourteen inches above the surface of the ground. At the surface of the ground there should be a platform of concrete or stone, sloping away from the walls of the well. The edge of this platform should be at least four feet from the wall. The walls themselves should be so constructed that no water can pass through them without having percolated through at least eight to twelve feet of soil, depending upon the character of the soil. The top of the well should be covered with a water-tight cover of wood, concrete or stone. If wood is used, nothing should be considered but ship- lap or tongue-and-groove lumber. Figures 1 and 2 show designs approved by the Rural District Council of Chelmsford, England. The first admits of very lit¬ tle variation in material, bell and spigot vitrified clay pipe be¬ ing used. The second allows considerable variation in ma¬ terial, depending on local conditions. Paving brick are pref¬ erable to concrete or stone. Bored, drilled or driven wells usually have a shallow pit to protect the pumping apparatus from frost. These all should be constructed and protected with as much care as the dug well. Drainage entering this pit, either by the direct route of falling through the cover or percolating through a few inches of soil, Water Survey. 13 is cumulative and will follow the path of least resistance down the casing and in time grossly pollute the water below. Old wells can be remodeled by raising the curb and digging out the dirt on the outside of the wells, and then plastering the walls with cement plaster—two parts sand and one part of cement. The well should then be encased with clay puddle or concrete. The final step would be a platform on the surface of the ground sloping away from the well. By carefully following these directions and locating the well at least 100 feet from a privy or cesspool, there need be little danger of having a contaminated well unless the ground water itself is polluted by larger sources than privy or cesspool. Or again, the privy or cesspool may be in the same water level that furnishes the well with water. In this case the well should be abandoned at once. Cisterns, if underground and near leaky drains, cesspools, and the like, are exposed to conditions similar to wells, when they are not water-tight, and few of them are. In the South, where mild winters prevail, cisterns are usually above ground, and are, therefore, not subject to soil pollution. Both kinds, however, are filled by roof washings, which, if not allowed to run to waste at the beginning of a storm, may carry refuse of an undesirable though not infectious kind. Cistern water has been known to be a vehicle for typhoid, but it is not so probable a source of danger in this respect as a dug well. Charcoal and other types of filters often impart a false sense of protection, inasmuch as they are of little value unless cleaned frequently, preferably after each rain. Due care with regard to location, to entrance water, and to cleansing, should insure good water from a cistern. Finally, it may be said that the maintenance of wholesome water supply of any kind requires constant watching. To dig a hole to water anywhere, and expect good results forever after¬ ward, is unreasonable. With the exercise of common sense, based on the knowledge of ordinary sanitary principles, a person should live in comparative security from water-borne disease. ( 14 University op Kansas Water Survey 15 i