Sources of Water Pollution
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Abstract
From personal experience the writer came to a realization of some of the difficulties in obtaining satisfactory sources of water supply for many of the smaller and some of the larger cities and towns in the state. There are many settlements in Ohio which have grown into populous villages and cities by reason of local conditions which have affected their prosperity, and when they have reached the size and dignity of a large village, or a small city, and sought to obtain the usual sanitary conveniences now considered as essentials of populated centers, have found that there was no convenient source of public water supply, or convenient and safe point of disposal for sewage, both of which are essential to the life and growth of any considerable village or city today. Other problems with respect to the disposal of city wastes also arise as villages and cities grow in numbers and density of population; but the chief and first problems are an adequate and safe water supply, and a convenient and safe method of disposing of village and city sewage. The sources of public water supply in this state are low level lakes, like Lake Erie, rivers, creeks, wells and impounded water. There are a few small natural lakes at high elevation in the state, from which water can be drawn by gravity; but with no exception can such water be considered wholesome and safe for drinking purposes in its natural condition. Water from Lake Erie, the Ohio River, or any other river or creek in the state, cannot be used in safety to health without some artificial purification. This fact is recognized now, although it was not a few years ago. There may be some spots in Lake Erie, far removed from its shores, where the water is safe for domestic purposes, but these spots are not within practicable reach, and may not at all times be safe. The lake is shallow and simply a wide stream for the discharge of all the polluted water that reaches it from the other three Great Lakes and numerous sewage polluted rivers and