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BXJLLETi:Nr I^^o. 149 THE INSPECTION OF DOMESTIC WELLS 203-1 LABORATORY or THB INLAND REVENUE DEPARTMENT OTTAWA, CANADA BULLETIN No. 149 THE INSPECTION OF DOMESTIC WELLS „- , „ „ Ottawa, March 23, 1908. W. J. OiRALD Esq., Deputy Minister of Inland Revenue. SiH.— Two established facto regarding typhoid fever, and enteric fevers generally, are the following :— 1st, the contagion of these fevers is essentially water-borne ; 2nd, they are characteristic of the Countnr rather than the City. It is true that, when one cane of typhoid fever originates in a city, we may gener- ally expect to find it not a solitary case ; indeed, a more or less extended epidemic i* the usual history. In sonntry places, it is on the contrary, quite usual to find the malady restricted to individual families ; and most physicians, having large country practice, are acquainted with households in which a more or less continuous succession of fever patients are found from one year's end to another. It requires no great ingenuity to explain these phenomena. They are just what one might expect, who is at all well acquainted with the conditions of domestic water supply. The procuring of a satisfactory supply of water ; the maintenance of such supply in a state of purity ; and thfe more or less frequent inspection of the article, to ascertain ite character, are matters which must chiefly interest the localities concerned. When, as in the case of most cities and towns, the municipal supply is obtained from a single source, the problem of inspection becomes a comparatively simple one. It is otherwise with smaller towns and villages, and with farms, where wells, usually the property of individuals are in use. It is true that the widespread danger to health and life which results from the pollution of the single supply, in the case of a city or town, does not obtain in the case of welU. Excepting the wells of public schools, hotels, and a few of more or leas public character, the danger is usually restricted to a single family. But wells supply- ing lodging houses, eating houses, factories, and especially bakeries, breweries and creameries, must not be forgotten. While it is practicable and sometimes not diflScult to effectively protect from pol- lution the river, lake, or other source of city supply, the projection of well supplies is much less easy. This is partly due to their great number, partly to their usually being placed in clo^ proximity to the house, stables, privy, &c., and chiefly to the ignorance and thoughtlessness of those who use them. The chief danger of water pollution lies in the readiness with which sewage may find entrance to an otherwise satisfactorr suddIv. 203-lJ ' ^*^' The term S«irtnj« Imh priiiwry roference to th« w»»te w»ter carried by the Mwcrt of town* h»ving iiyiitematic (lr«in»Ke It in tt|.pHe«l fenermlly to water renderwl impure by having dis»tolve«l in it, tin- noluble luntter fr<>in manure, priviM, or household wa«te. It u characterixed by »«th organic and inorganic iinpuritiea. Tlie organic matter i« Mwage in partly living (microbial), and partly non living (albumin, urea, Ac). T>ie«e oompl-tely removH, by the agency of plant life. "fhe inorganic impurities of sewage may lie in part removed (phosphates, sulphates) but the chlorides remain. Common salt (chloride of sodium) is the most characteristic and constant morganic ingredient of sewage. It is present in moet human for»l, is fed to cattle, horses, Ac , as such ; and in on.Hwiuence ..f this, it ttnils its way into the urine and faeces, and into dish water md general househohl slops. It j)ersists in sewage, even after this has been, as already descrilK'd, purified by filtration. Hence the presence of chlorides in drinking water cannot l)e taken as a conclusive proof that such water is unlit for fori«d by a certain limit of chlorine (in chlorides), and any considerable increase in this normal limit, especially if it ii a fugitive or temporary increase, must be held i,J indicate pollu- ti m by si'wage, unless oilier explanation can be furnished. The reasonableness of this sUtement will appear if we make a brief study of the conditions of well supplies. i. n • In March, 1900, the writer presented this subject in an address to the Untano Provincial Health Association, and may bo permitted to make some ijUOUtions from that address. . , , , , -^ a i " When rain falls to the earth it is either absorl)ed by soakage, or it flows along the surface to lower levels. Usually both flow and absorption take place, but the ratio between the quantity carried off by surface flow, and that absorbed, varies with the nature of the soil, the degree of slope, and other conditions. When the surface is nearly level, and porous, as is the case with ordinary arable land, most of the water will disappear by soakage, and if the rainfall is heavy, the ground will be wetted to a great depth. In the diagram (Fig. 1) the dotted portion represents a layer of porous soil, S— (which may be sand, loam, gravel, etc.), underneath which lies a non-iwroua layer, C \k^v>/.:;>;v;V:-vV:V:^-:-vX:;^v..-:1:| Fig. 1. Wow thTiS^vTi;!! '^ '?,f "">' "'•tth. depth of the Ktound-waw, l^vIT under con.ider.tion. If nowTlV.^rCT.unk a. frT ♦"iw "I*" 'r*' '"•" ^ -^ t.in w»t. r to the depth of the\TerL« ^^Ad «L ^.^fw**^ °'^?' **»'' ''"" •"' ««- carried lower, ..... into the cl.v thTST. '^^i ^'J^ **? '""^'^y- " ^he well be water, but ,„;,«,; to enL^A iSnJe ll^^yZ' ^^ welfTtli!l'**~'^j'u*^- level of the ground w.ter ww!h^«nnN^»K j'" -vidently riM and f.11 wit^thi r««IU f««, the .urface HoriSTil^tlllt; W^^;."' "'"'^ '"'■**''^ ''*'*"'> »- - • ^^ • *"" ^nfratie identical strata of sand, gravel etc. .|>DOeed that ■frmfiA».>i»_ »C .. 1- *. ^ _. It must not how described, is at all oon. resulted eaeentially frti rock. n,e chief of the*. rock, thus breaking it up traction by heat and cold '*k*" j (5) the movement o oomponenfcs, with the conaequ plants, which action is both n, formation of carbonates, etc. and every part of the earth's s.- wja, M that soU formed by the me whJch produced it, but may lie hun from the attrition of rock masses fields of Soirtbern and Bastem O * 'MbT^iSh'V**''*'*"''" °' T ">?«• •"typ^-as'lhave ^ !, by which I mean everyth r that is iot rock, has ^ration of chemical Mid m«^ "^oal lore. upon^oM « have been, (1) the freeriog of ..ter in the po^Tof tt! attrition of stone upon stooe at the bottom of rivers and ?L'r ""^ i«^'«">.' <«) "l-tion of certain r^ falling apart ,rf the residue ; (7) action of the looU of «icl , I chen»i«al ; (8) ohe-nical action by oxidation. -* cha«ir« l»ve taken place under "wate^ *«»«n and agun been the bottmn of lake m •«i doe« not neoesMrily remain on the spot "w way Thus, soils which have resulted nnd .bout Alfoma, now cover the •t thing has h^pened the world aiicai of oTtr ; Mtd tiw wrrian of Ui»m imnMOM vtumm of nisjr, Mad, ||r»v*l and boaldcrt, hav* baen oocaa and river onrraBta ; bat above all gl* ian and ieeberga. An ioebarg ia not a larftti blook of ekan, p-.r« ior, Vtuta Mctioa of a glaoiar, bmkea off by the lifting power of the ocean when th> ntoviii. maM ban been ao far tbmat i. thoaiancli oi Utn» of roclt detritu«. It Ooatii out to lea, and wherever it melt*, this Kuil-forming material ia depoaited, Dorbaps forming a heap or bill, perhapa being atrewed along the oourae of the floating oerga. After a period tk aub- mergence, which may be hundred* of thouawnda of yearn in duration, aubterraneaa force* cauae, what waa to long tea bottom, to become dry land , and we can imagine the condition of things detent witliout too much dilKcultr, aince a little obsm^atioa of regiona qaite accaaaiole to ua, a owa na very mark •d traoea of the period itaelf. Of oourae the inllu(*iice of new 'nrcea cume* into plav on what ia now dry land. Atmoapherio effectH, vegetable and ani— al life, aunahine ana «tonn play their part in altering the surface ; and in the end tiun cumen to be juat what we And it, the very ground upon which we build our houtea and in which we dig our wclla. In Fig. .1 we have a 'omewhat mure complex sieotion diagramoed, repreaenting a atate of thingH much tiHire uxunl than the very ainiple condition* de cribed in Figa. 1 and 2. Jig..' (^^Hare we have the rocky aubatratum R, moij or leaa contorted throughout, and upheaved an a niountainoua ridge at R\ Conformable to the surface of the rock, but of varyin;r thicknean, we have a atratum of gravel, G, which crops out on the aurface between I and 2. Lying on thia gravel ia a layer of clay, C, which varies in thickness, and cornea to the surface at 2. Overlying thia, ia the toil, S. The line fi'B-, rt-presenta, as before, the mean level of ground water, with a gentln elope towards the drainage Btream D. Tho rain, which falls on the region 2 to 3, supplies thiM ground water, which ia Upped by the wt-lls, W', W', W. It u at once evident why a well at W remains dry, or only containa water when the aeason is abnormally wet. The rainfall on the rooky nurface to the right of 1, is of course not absorbed to any great extent, but ilowa down to the gravelly aurface between 1 and 2, and U>gether with the rain falling on this aurface, is absorbed by the gt '4,vel, and Ands storage in it between the rock (R) and the clay (C). Here it accumulates in a second and lower w.-ter-bearing stratum, and the normal level for this water supply may be represented by the line N. Now it is evident that if any of the wells W to W* be continued through the day, they will obtain a water supply from this lower gravel ; and the well W* can get a permanent supply from no other source. W* then becomrs an illustration of a aa<»lled 'deep well,' and in wet aeasons, when the level rises above the normal N, aay as high as M', this well will over- iL^^,:^£f ^T:".^^'f ;r;:3;".t:. TpTJss'^ir? tiM ifweial enqairj that I wiih to pnifioM ( ?::!^!T'' 1?*"«* r?*."'"*"*?* ?«*i» f r^ thai I II h«v u> u«, r»p..& ib '.n Sllr^ViJr^ fiwiijdw.tor, ihoM M from . d«^ «,r MGondary wafa!; ruwlT mS oont^n . .upply only «h«> the groond in th« imm«di.Twoln^TwrC « iT L^ :Si±!*r'."' t." »»^,««»»»dw.t.r well. diiH,r.m»ed. «• S^ntld « du. ^^ » . * i7««»« »•»•»■ well. ImmI it bMD B»df< no dMper than W .S^ W» W« k^ now to oonldT th* c»»«of r of the w.fr which flnTrhJe th«o tyjS J well!. h^«i**'T„*tt**1 '."""*.*'" oberoic*lly pure »ub.Unc« which it i. o(t«i de«:ribed m Hurf«r«,Lt •.•..*"■ '•""•« "P"" *•»" ""^"^ o'tl»* R'^u'Ml. flow, along thi. It^ wirir.!.^^/'' '•'""K "«"»««f rily into «,lution mo« .nd ^ore of the «lubte ^nt.^ r^ ' '* T** '"*" "*""*'*• ^"^ •" I*rtly Jnorgwiic ^lt«, chloride. .no« Ur«lr of .nS InH* ^"** n " ^.' '"''»" "■" *"''"• '»'« "^8»"^' «'^t«" * " ^ more largely of animal, and Mpecially of human oriirin To then*. wa«t- «~J,.„». .ul J.rm «.wage fa pro|«rly aopliiT Ti.e gr-und-watl.? of tWn region m"? iTthetfoi much leM pure than wa.tj.e rain water that fell on the .urfaL gatherin^id I My may fm, for reaMnx which will be prewntly given. "■"nng ground. I We may dUmiM the inorganie impuritie. with a word, by Mvins that unlau th-v ridi^d »°„'^.^"'?8«'«"-.»f>»'*f«?- The orwamc matter, mu.t be'mo^^.^"fXU' St of view of^«.r*""'**'.K" »T''^'*'**y' '''•y -"y »* '>•"«''«- f^^^b* En JfT.K '•«'»•'• •^«n^o««»> 'w from appeti.ing when we remember thnr h^f^^iv 1 '"^ «»•»•'">» tho«, condition, of deSy which wo caU *««/ uLv mav ftetdifeTchUtr.^"*'^" '"* "^"« ««''- *" -'-^"^ ^l^^^rL ficaUol^fe «T« *t* M "^ ""■*^ ?"• Jr ^**'*'"'«'' *^« 'ff*"* o* bringingabout puri- c£nZ a^H ™^ !!• ^^ ■"■ 1"^ *»? oxidation, a procei by which organic mattir i. uXJ^l "^"ll' '"'; '^«*~y«'- That thi. should be effective, the water mJt S^niS "*^'*'""?"^'"^ "^'^ ''^ """^«'J •'"'' •Ithough it i. impoTble to "x a iJ?lH • ™- "/""•? 'T'* *" .'*" ''•P* '' '"o'' • n**""! filter, it i. «fo^ «y that w* rcnih^rtt ~^'*"^"«*^'*«'*'"'''°''''*'"'' '"'«'•' • con.tn,ctio» can ei^ 4 ^®y "hould be 80 constructed that no water could find cntrancn to it wi»i»».* fiarat^on through a depth of «,il, at W eoual to the vorS^l S^c. Uwe^^J Ce"fhiTourh^'?K '°T '?:!l "! S"""^-**«^- To insure tS U U ^^'^o «iJ VnH t^ K lut TtP,""**! • '«>t or more above the surface of the Mu-ouSin. ^i ft^. " *''• ^""u^?'" '*°'"' ""'»« «' the well backed up by a layer^uffl ^LV:^*'"°T "• *'^'«'"'«'». "d extending continuously frt^ th^'Te^l rf Se ground water quite up to the mouth of the well, } »» i^ levei oi tne. 8 DiAOBAM of well : showing a backing of puddled clay or other impermeable material between the brickwork and the porous strata through which the well isdug. ^^N.^^^^^^^^^S^^K^_^^ ^__^^^^^^^^^^^^jfc^^^^^^^ \^!^s^Mt^^ ^^^fft ■.^"'?e of ""PPly. to have it examined from tin^t^ "me 2 toSri'ttTn ^T " ^''f^^y-J^'^ of Water Commissioners Tp^^t Z-^nn^,^ 1 A-l """^ *" ^"^'^.f "^'^ «P«=^' "l^ty it " to see to the pro- tection of the supply and its proper distribution. ^ K.KI ^^^^ this with the case of 5,000 families resident in the country. It is pro- babethat these obtem their supply from 5,000 different wells, each having ite o^,^ peculiarities of situation and protection, and each well having a specUl interest onlvto ^e particular famdy drawing water from it If the owner of on^f tbTl7i desl.^ iwfon feluT"^- "'t " T *^ *^«.*«.'-""-»"« '»» P"rit^ the total cost of such e«^ matioii falls upon himself, and any opinion procured by him, has no value for hi. neiah- boui^and does not help them t« a conclusion as to the purity of their wells 11 °u "li ^ "^r''^ whereby useful information regarding the safety of country Ibter^-htisS"''^'':^'''':"!.'? «'rP*'™«velyinex^sive,%nd theSoi^Tr^'tT cable ? This is the question which I seek to answer affirmatively «„nnll" '';!'\""P|'»^''«"'»y conclude that normal ground-water is a safe source of supply Owing, however to the fact, that the soil and sub*,il of one locality dWera f.|om that of another oca ty in nature of constituent materials, their de^i. ^mS less or porosity ; contiguity to neighbouring heighte of land, or to swamp^; ^sTeU^as n amount of annual rainfall, wo cannot expect ground-water to have the skme chan^ te« every whera What we may expect is that in a given geological and topograEl area, the ground-waier will have a certain definite chai»cter. If the soil con^st Inrudv of limestone d«^ we shall find bi^iarbonate of lime in the water, if g^um cW tenze the sod o the locality, we shall find sulphate of lime in th; wa^ffchlorid^ be present in the soil, then chlorides will be found in the water, and Loon In a neqfhtouring areis separated, say, by a rid.e of granite ft«m the first, and having a soil resulting chiefly from the weathering and disintegration of granite we shall find a Srt.::S!r';«"'rS"^''^"/''''r^*"'^ haWng^maH quaEiT'orsiFc^lilS other products of the disintegration of granite in solution. Now all the wells, and there may be hun.lreds „f them which are dug into this ground-water, will fall into a S by themselves, and exhibit common characters, provided that local soakage is prevented th^n w!ll"'*n •'■ ?^^^'^?**'h ^ ^^J '"»r"**"''""'«* ground-water of that region. How then will an individual well be affected, in whose ca:ie sewage tinds entran.^? Organic SlnhT '"'^^.'jnd especially will this be true of nitrogenous organic matLr" phosphates and chlorides will be increased, nitrates and nitrite7may be found in it. and a l^wtenological examination may reveal the presence of the colon b«:illus. To deter- ?fZ^ !^ " '"" '°^^'" " °- «?""« n««Jed. What I propose to do, is to confine attention to some one characteristic, and to select that one which is most snrelv and certainly determined. This I find to be the Chlorine in Chlorides. ^ The determination of chlorine, in chlorides, is one of the simplest and most definite estimations that a chem.rt can be called upon to make. Owing to the presence of c^I^ won salt (ehlondc of sodium) in human food, and iu use by domestic animals, it is al- ways found m sewage, so that any notable admixture of sewage with a well water at onoe raises the chlorine percentage. ' Chlorine is, however, invariably present in normal ground water, and the ciuestiou arise, for each region : "How much chlorine is normally present in the ground-water ?5 this locality I Of course the answer can only be given after analysis of normal «mple« 203—2 1 .11 10 but once it is known, any marked variation from that standard, stamps a well of that region as suspicious, and justities discontinuance of its use until fuller examination can be made. It must not, however, lie forgotten that contiguous wells, like W- and W''' in Fig. 3, maj obtain their water from entirely different sources, so that it becomes necessary to take depth, and other factors into consideration. The lower or second water-bearing stratum may ha\ e a very different normal content of chlorine from the first, or ground-water proper ; but its number will also be a fixed one, and if once known, it will be as easy to detect any sewage contamination in this kind of well as in the other. It is also to be noted that the normal chlirine number for a given area, will vary from month to month, and will be especially affucted, by unusually heavy rainfall, or by prolonged drought. But experience shows that variations, due to these causes, are insignificant in comparison with those resulting from sewage contamination. For many years past I have endeavoured to put this method to the test of experi- ment, and for that purpose I have collected personally and by deputy, over 730 samples of well water, chiefly within the drainage area of the Ottawa Valley. The difficulties which lie in the way of any single individual's accomplishment of so gigantic a task as this, are almost insurmountabla ; and I can only hope to illustrate the subjrct in a very imperfect way from the data in my possession. The first difficulty is to obtain samples which represent the normal ground-water, and the normal deep water supply or supplies- Very few country wells are protected against surface soakage by the method indicated in Fig. 4, and I may say here, that I think the Provincial governments might profitably entrust to certain of their officials whose work takes them to different parts of the country, as in the case of the Road Inspectors, the Board of Health Officers, Ax., the additional duty of seeing that new wells are properly protected from surface drainage. It costs very little more to properly protect the well by tamping clay behind the stones when the well is being made, or by using concrete, than to finish it in the unscientific way i n which we find this important matter usuallv performed, and I am sure that it is ignoi .mce rather than any wish to save a few dollars at the risk of health, which explains the unsatisfactory condition of nearly all t he wells which I have visited. If, in each topographical area, we could find a few thoroughly protected wells, of known depths, and of whose history a full record had been kept, we should possess the data which we require, and which we cannot now obtain with any such certainty as would give a sure basis for the illustration of the scheme I have suggested. It is by so much the more important that new wells should be constructed in such a way as to fulfil these conditions. On 13th October, 1899, 1 personally visited forty-three wells, chiefly on farms, in the district between Kinburn and Packenham, in the county of Lanark. This is an extensive clay region, fairly level, except quite near Packenham, where the land dips towards the Mississippi river. The Mississippi rises in a series of small lakes, about eighty miles west of Packenham, in the townships of Abingdon, Barrie and Clarendon, in Addington county. These townships are very thinly settled, and the whole course of the river is through a region but little affected by human habitation. With the exception of the towns of Perth and Almonte, it may be said to be quite as nature left it, and a purer gathering ground could not be wished. This is proved by the fact that a sample of the river water taken at Pakenham gave only two parts of chlorine per million. No doubt, this small content of chlorine is chiefly derived from sewage, for, although the organic matter of sewage may change by oxidation as already explained, the chlorine remains, to tell the tale of past sewage pollution. In the case before us, the amount is too small to give any concern for the purity of the river water. No doubt there are points on the river, («.y. just below the town of Perth) where locally, a higher chlorine figure would be found, pointing to local and serious sewage contamination. But the volume of the river is so large, that by the time the sewage baa distributed itself uniformly throughout it, the figure 2 per million, for chlorine, has been reached, and the organic impurities have been fully oxidized. Tlie following numbers were obtained for seven wells in the region referred to, the wells havini< a depth of less than 10 feet, and being of the kind called surface wells :— i 11 Welt. 1.. 2. . 3.. 4.. Depth. Chlorine per 9 feet 4 9 .. 10 9 ir 22 10 M . 22 Well. Depth. 5 8 feet. 6 7 „ . 7 8 „ . Chlorine per million. 2« 32 180 Why are these numhero so much higher than the river water gave ? There ia but one answer- the wells « re dug in soil which is more or less saturated with sewage. Not one of these wells so far as I could learn, was protected by a clay backing (see^Fig. 4) trom soakage, and consequently, most of them are contaminated with sewage which has undergone no such amelioration by soil-filtration as would have resulted from proper construction. Not one of them is certainly a safe well, while No. 7 cannot but be a most dangerous supply. In the following teble I have placed the numbers resulting from examination of 21 wells, vaiymg from 10 to 20 feet in depth. These samples were taken on the same day, and from the same region : — Well 1 . 2... 3 .. 4... 5. . . 6... 7... 8... 9... 10... II... Depth. Chlorine. . 20 4 . 12 4 . 16 4 18 6 18 14 15 16 12 .... 22 15 .. .. 24 13 ... 32 14 32 12 44 Well. 12. 13. 14. 15 16. ,17.. 18. 19. 20. 21. Depth. .. 17.. .. 20 . . 17.. .. 12. . 13.. . 13.. . 12.. . 18.. . \S . .. 12.. Chlorine. .. 84 .. 54 .. 88 .. 90 . . 98 . 114 . 128 194 .370 It 18 quite hkely that most of these wells derive the main portion of their supply trom the ground- water of the locality, but it is very certain that most of them are con- taminated with soakage water. The first four aie among the deepest of these wells, and as likely to be true ground water wells as any, yet their chlorine content is not high in fact, the very highest chlorine numbers in this li«t correspond to decidedly shallow well*, whose contamination by sewage is beyond a doubt. The following six wells are examples of deep wells, and should give pure water • if properly protected from soa'1> \Vfll». 1 . . . I>F|ith. '.. . . 21... . 26 .. . 30... 96. . Clilorinp. - " . .' 6 ... 26 . . . 52 ... 52 IWpwfUn 6 ... 7 ... » ... 9. .. 10 . . Dfpth. . 22 . . Chlorinn. ... 86 2.... .1 . . . . 4 i. . 27 . 2.3 . 110 .280 670 5 .. 15.5 . ... 830 It is notewort! y that the increase in chlorine correspo >ds to an increase in depth, if w? omit t!p numbers six, t ight and nine in this list. Numb?r six is in a hotel yard, an I the well is not properly crotected ; "umber eight is twenty-five years old, has r- pump, and shows every sign of neglect in its surrounding-, and numlier nin • is eightei i years old, not pro;« 'ted from sonkage, and dug in soil which has been o^^ed as a gnrden and otherwise from immeraorable tin e. I have made, at different time> similar c 'llections of well-wat- r ^.-.mplec C-. IVterboro, near Hamilton, and nt several paces nearer Ottawa. Thr analytic-ai data have a spa ial interest for the neighbourhood in question ; but for such a I'eneral study as we are now making, it seems scarcely worth while to quote them. They emphasize the point to which T have alrearly alluded, viz. : the difli ulty of ascertaining the true chlorine value of nornial gniund water. If any conidenble number of properly pro- 'ected wells exis'ed in a given locality, there would be no difficulty about this mitt r, or at leas', the difficulty would be much lessened. As already pointed out, this work is properly the d ity of township and village municipalities. During the eight years which have elapsed since I brought it to the noti?5e of the Provincial Bo'.id of Health of Ontario, no r^ttempt has been made by any municipality, so far a.s I know, to carry out the plan then outlined. Because I am impressed with the importance of the subject, I have a.sked and ob- tained your permission to make some further investigations ; and the subjoined report upon inspection of wells in the towns of Oakville, Weston and Richmond Hill, ."Drirs a second attempt to demonstrate the usefulness of the method of te.jting well supplies, which I have just de.«cribed. I may explain that I do not consider the subject as one properly belonging to this Department of the Public Service ; and it is rather as an obieet lesson, than with any view to its further prosecution, by the Department of Inland Revenue, thnt I have recommended the undertaking ot the work now reported. The municipalities immedi- atoiy concerned are (he proper agents in the mati^er. They are best acquainted with the details necessary to give maximui.i value to the liivestiga.'in. It will be seen that the information obtainable in a hurried visit to distant towns, is far from complete or sal isfactory. The depth of the wells, their age, the frequency with which they are cleaned, their protection, construction and other features ; the depth of water which they contain at different seasons of the year ; the nature of the strata which they pene- trate, and many other details, are either quite unknown, or very ioiperfectly known to me. It would be a matter of no great exfiense for each municipality interested to ob- tain and record this information ; and such a record would be of immense value to the chemist in forming his opinion. The work recorded in the accompanying tables hu been done upon 32 wells in each of the towr.s of Weston and Richmond Hill, and 64 wells in Oakville Ont. The information ohta.infth!e in regard tx) the wells was so very limited that I have sought to secure a basis for interpretation «f analytical results, by doing a much greater amount of work upon tiiesi' samples than is contemplated by the plan already desruhed. Thus, in addition to detei mining the chlorine values, I have deterrainc>d the alkalinity, and the temporary and permanent hardnessi. This is done in orde.' to ascertain whether the water supplied by neighbouring wells, of similar depth, is derived from the same ground water. IS I The information thus obtained is far from aatiafactory. Where a well is walled up with limestone, the hardnew of the water will be much affected by this fact, and further influenced by the length of time that the water lies in contact with the stone. Bjr much the best way to get the information needed for interpteting resnlte of ana ysis, is to have it at fiwt hand, from the well-digger. The date o. sinking, the depth, the nature of the soil, the protection of the well, the extent of flow, the variation of level with the seawn, frequency of ciesning, Ac, these are the important facts needed, and they could easily be ascerUined by local endeavour. A stranger visiting the town for a day or two, is fortunate if he secures the water itself, and a chance hint or two regarding the well. The depth of the well, as given in the tables, is, in moat cases mere guess work ; an approximation made by the man employed as a guide. The time of the year is favorable t» the protection of wells from fresh oewage ; so hat much would be learned in regard to .he safety of these wells, if a oompariwn could be instituted be. veen their chlorine value as here recorded, and that found in Apnl or May, when the frost is out of the ground. Such conclusions as I think can safely be reachpd, are noted in the tables The nu.ntor designating each well, enables its location in regard .1 othe. wells, to be seen by refereoce to the accompanying diagram. The o der in which the wdU appear in each table is chosen so a» to put contiffnous we 8 together. a« far as p wsible. Where a considerable distance is known to serrate wells, a line is eft blank in the table. It will not do. however, to interpret juxU- position of numbers in the table, as inH.icating juxtaposition in the wells. The linear disUnee between one well and the next, is unknown to me. In some cases it may not exceed 100 feet ; in other eases it may be a quarter of a mile. It is evident that exact knowledge on this {wint, wh.le easily attainable by the local authorities, would require the expenditure of much time and labour on t' e part of a visiting inspector X. A "^'l n ''°'' '?'«>••'"»»'«'» n^^ed to make the tables useful, is contained in the column headed ' R imarks. Finally I would draw attention to the fact that the results contained in these tables cannot be expecte.1 to greatly int«r)st others than the residents of Weston, Kichmond Hill and Oakville, except in so far as they throw light upon the application of the method of inspection which I have already described. Even to the municipalities named, they only serve as the beginning of an investigu- tion. which if completed at all, must be completed by themselves. The town of Oakville probably contains over 500 wells. Thus it will be seen that the sampling of sixty-four, wiected almost at random, and examined only once, cannot be legarded as more than a very superficial treatment of the question. I trust that we shall hear further of the matter. This is not alone a subject of interest to country and villajje dwellers. Very large numbers of city people spend their summers in the country, and make use of well water, hvery autumn finds them bringing back to town a certain amount of typhoid fever, contractetl doubtless, through the use of impure well-water. This is an aspect of the case which may reasonably appeal to city dwellers. I lieg to recomme k1 the publication of this report as Bulletin No. 149. I have the honour to be, sir. Your obedient servant, • A. McOILL, Chief Antdyal. u 16 i s k 17 TABLE I.-WELL WATERS-TOWN OP WESTON, ONT., PER, 1908. 4> 61 43 48 46 46 47 41 ea M 67 09 54 6U 62 86 63 S3 08 64 38 39 40 44 S4 S3 36 49 SO S6 Depth in Feet. Dwwption. 12 ! IB Mlullow. I " 1 10 16 17 30 26 ao 19 IB 10 30 30 Old, brick, inm pump. Brick, wood pump I Brick, wood |>ump, with I atrsiner New, itniM, iron pump jBrick, wood pump 'Old, Ktunc, wood pump Iron pump Brick, iron pump ; Brick, wood pump jOM well, wood pump j.Stone, wood pump Old, brick, woodra pump I ,Iroii pump, brick Wood pump, brick. ilron pump, brick iWood pump, Iwick. . ao 102 » 20 ,W 20 20 30 22 20 •f II Iron pump, brick . Iron pump, new well. Old well, brick Old well, brick Old, wood pump... Wood pum|i, bnck . II II Iron pump, brick Brick, cement, top, iron pump, 13 yean in une Iron pum|i. brick 20 202 40 102 «2 64 122 34 14 94 3i!2 66; 36! ^ 8i M 1»' 16 20 18 46 10« 761 641 601 34' loe: 1B7 12ft| 2»1 1121 140 140 246 260 .-M2 207 302 10!l 2HM l.M 190 116 123 168 339 164 168 120 87 88 164 112 129 106 190 32: mo ■r«6 '*A 236 64 106 186 Iftl 146 134 84 126 196 129 280 146 161 96 140 109 174 100 190 92 118 137 213 160 207 HO 17o 22 118 78 1.51 ! 162| 34! Oi 112 89 90 90 140 11 28 11 28 23 56 179 28 39 95 76 .■iO 96 78 HA Thii may be mineral chlorine, 118! 128; 269l 151: 106 TheM high chloride* auggeat aewage. 156: 1231 167 la Ruapicioua. 3SlThia should be looked into. 146 161 961 64!^ 96! 167 123 135 1061. 61 140 101 1 Very luapicioua. 1281 101 79 \ Why are theae wella higher in chlor- 116 I ine than ia No. 34 ? 68-1 I Theae are iaolated wella and no 118 f compariaonk are poaaible. 12!- J The low chloridea in theae wellr proof that the normal ground w^t.i m the Eaat end ot Weston, doei not contain mineral chlorine, except in trace*. NoTt— Alkalmity, IS an expre**ion, in terma of CaO, for the total base* existing as Carbonates Hardneas, la an exprenion, in terms of CaO, for ».he toUl alkaline earth banes (edwntiaUy lime and magnena) prewnt in solution. Hardness is known as ' permanent ' when these bases are in combination a* StXihatea or Chloride*, and a* temporary ' when they exist a* Carbonate*. When the AlkaUnity i* noUbly in exoew of the temporary hardne**, this is due to the presence of .Sodium Carbonate in the water. IS TABLE II.— WEU> WATERS, TOWN OF RICHMOND HILL, ONT.-FEB. 1908. in fwt. DM'.rip(t(iB. n 7 I 10 , 12' 8 ' 1 30 9 24 2t> 18 21 32 27 2K 31 13 o (i 2 4 16 14 1!) 29 22 J ' Hauwmm. 311 StonnI, woimI pump. j HOj 30 lirick, wot>d pump 34 75 Iron pump, wind drivtm. .. . i Vi 20 !()ld well, wood |Him|> i 46 30 llron pump, brick 68 20 Old well, wood pump 148 80 M 110 80 20 Iron pump, atoned 20 Iron pump, btick 25 lirick, old woodpump. . .. 20 Iron jninip, brick 15 W(Hid pump, ct-ment top, •!>• rinRK from (piickitand .... 22 3H Brick, wood pump 3H 33 Iron pump, brick, watt-r ulty 570 20 Old well, bricked, wood pump M 25 Brick, iron pump \ 48 30 Brick, iron pump | 40 30 \Vi»k1 pump, brick i 780 Remarks. lasj I The •IihIIow well i* hi^^e,- i. ■toixvi ()|i<>n well, atoned Inin pump, cement curbing truii piiDip, •tonad Iron pump Pump in kitchen connect* tioth with well and ciitern Iron imnip, Htoned iHtone, irim pump, nod . . <>|i«n well, atoned, lowgnmnd jlom imnii), atoned Open well, atoned Htoned, iron pump . . |Tiled, iron |iump I Iron {tump, atoned 0|ien welt, ituned . . Nu pump, stoned.. . Open well Iron pttmp, atoned . 18 14 14 ♦ 15 Stoned, no pump. Iron pump, No pump No pump, atoned. Iron pump No pump, itoned ' < Wht Open well, atoned . Kraiarlu. Thia |rro«ip uf 23 well*, aitucteil within ■t aquare uf kbout 111 blacka. would ^>rm an intereatiiur atudy if they hawl the aatne depth, or if their in- diMdual detithi were aocurately Wll. terinit tlioae uf about IB ft. deep, likirine content should aptiitr' i« kaai than lOu part* |ivr pn ia the meaniqfr of the « found f- Na 7*. 96, 109 108, 7'.' .iium|i, atoned ;i 188 56 148 UiJ 1^ Iron pump, atoned . . Open well, stoned Open, stoned Open well, stoned . . T ilron pump 30 I Iron pump, atoned . 144 ir.l 68 \Hi i 24 89 190 2S1 5H 154 m in 34 ur, «4 146 13 jlron pump, tiled | 32 87 :Open well, stoned ! 64 140 16 Stoned, iron pump 14 30 120 64 179 15 {Open well, stoned 62 157 30 Iron pump, cement platform,: stontd 16 19K 16 In shed, iron puBip 196 166 63 Iron pumm Artesian, 5i feet in rock | jn 140 lot m« 24*1 ■JIS -H 2M2 1 112 84 I 6 ised fur ojoking, ke. Why baa Hiis well a bad reputation? 78 140 118 224 185 140 259 146 1" 128 118 84 140 73 112 66 84 60 209 146 Said to have "sulplmr"an'ellat time*. 30 i UH 66 •« «7 68 60 70 ;i 72 73 81 84 Ki 121 SN) 111 llA TABLE in -WBLI. WATKRH, TOWN OF OAKVILLK, ONT- FEB. lW)»—VoneluMvri}itiiia. ? 'StuiiMi, iron imuip. 19 jOpm well, itorad , la I „ .. 15 iStone, wood i>uin|> 16 StutiK, iron puaii ? jSlonrd, iron pump, in shed . ? Stoned, iron piinp 16 ,Oprn Wfll, atune, u-uu^nt I platfonii 16 jlron pump, tbrned. »> IS 16 Opni well, utoaed. . 19 , „ . 16 Iron pump, •toned . ? Stoned, Iron pump. 76 MO 6H fO 16 [2-»» ■178 j iW 42 40 04 242 12 66 61) M ItM liAIItllMll. 1 1X1 186 1133 ans I 154 3411 182 238 i KfUiarka. 84 '101 laO IS4 112 1.14 67 171 Ot doubtful charootrr. 160 170 I 28 |l61 1S7 388 |210 148 148 280 168 112 92 252 iril lot , US ,17» «7 ^112 I 116 146 28 118 ! 198 1386 112 174 286 498 283 235 Should be fur her M»minfd. 166 168 U !167 j 129 196 . 73 !l23 I 166 234 60 1174 i 126 157 28 Il2» 132 286 151 'iXi I NoTl. -.fudging by the number of welln in Oakville which shew \km than 60 utrtH of chlorine them i. mXS "* ^ ''""* "^^ *" rin«. The following iire nt-ctlcd : Apjiaralua. 1 Burretle, 50 cc. gr»fluated in 1-10 82.00 1 " oUnd 1.00 ' "Iwi funnol ('J inch.) 0. 10 stirrer 0.08 ..urceUin diihea (4 inch, diam.) 0. ttO (White Rttucerx will do.) 1 10 cc. pipetti> 0. 20 1 50 cc. graduate fli»«k- 0. 20 14.16 Reagtnh. 1. Distilled water. 2. Solution of Nitrate of silver, 4.7887 grammes of the crysUls to 1 litre. Each 1 cc. of this solution corresponds to 1 milligramme of Chlorine, (in cliloridea.) 3. Chromate of Potash, a 5 per cent, solution. 4. Solution of Sodium Chloride, 1.648 grammes per litre. Each 1 cc. contains 1 milligramme of Chlorine. The method of working is so simple that it may easily be learnt by any one having an elementary knr)wledg*of chemistry, in a few hours. It is fully described in 3atton'8 Volumetric Analysis, (published by J. and A. Churchill, London) and in other cimilar works. Beat, however, by persona! instruction. {jjayrlb^ilS ',,.,.". Exceptional samples of water may require prelimineiy treatment ; but these are so rarely met as to be negligible, or they may be sent to properly qualified analysts for an opinion. ""