It is suggested that, should an additional supply be found necessary in the future, better results can probably be obtained at less expense by sinking wells at some place where there is a considerable area and depth of gravelly soil, and avoiding the sinking of wells in rock, if a suitable area can be found where the water will not be exposed to danger of pollution.

HATFIELD. The selectmen of Hatfield applied to the Board, May 7, 1896, for its advice relative to taking the water of Field's Brook as a supply for a portion of the town of Hatfield. The Board replied to this application as follows:

BOSTON, June 4, 1896.

The analysis shows that the water is soft, practically colorless and of excellent quality for the purposes of a public water supply. Its quality would be likely to be more satisfactory to consumers if the water is stored in a reservoir from which light is excluded than if stored in an open reservoir.

The information available as to the quantity of water that the proposed source will yield in the drier portion of a dry year is not sufficient to enable the Board to advise you definitely as to whether the yield of the brook will be sufficient for the supply of the village at all times; and, considering the desirability of obtaining an ample supply and one which can be furnished under sufficient pressure for fire purposes, the Board does not at present advise the construction of works for taking water from this source, but advises a further investigation, to determine whether a more ample supply of equally good water may not be obtained at a reasonable cost, and at such an elevation above the village that the pressure in the pipes will be sufficient for use in the extinguishment of fires.

HAVERHILL (the Real Estate Improvement Company). This corporation applied to the Board, July 23, 1896, for advice with reference to the use of water from a well situated beneath a building in Haverhill, for domestic purposes. The Board replied to this application as follows:

BOSTON, Sept. 3, 1896.

The State Board of Health has considered your application for advice with reference to the use for domestic purposes of water drawn from a well beneath a building in the densely populated portion of Haverhill, and has caused an examination of the premises to be made by one of its engineers and samples of the water to be analyzed.

It appears that the quantity of water furnished by the well is insufficient for the supply of the building, and to insure a full supply at all times there is an automatic connection with the city water works by means of which the building is partially supplied with city water. For this reason it is difficult to obtain representative samples of the well water. The analyses show, however, that the quality of the water is objectionable on account of its extreme hardness, the hardness being about ten times as great as that of the chief sources of the city's water supply; and it is evident from the analyses that the water entering the well has been previously polluted by sewage and subsequently largely purified by its passage through the ground, but the indications are that the purification is not perfect at all times.

Considering the location of the well and the character of the analyses, the Board does not consider this well a safe source of water supply for domestic purposes, and advises that its use be discontinued.

HUNTINGTON. The Board received an application from citizens of Huntington, Dec. 23, 1895, for the advice of the Board relative to a proposed increase of their water supply by taking the water of certain springs west of the village. The Board replied to this application as follows:

BOSTON, March 6, 1896.

The State Board of Health received from you Dec. 23, 1895, an application with reference to a proposed additional water supply for the village of Huntington, in which you state that you have at present a source of supply sufficient for about forty families, but that, having in view the extension of the works, for which your present source will not furnish a sufficient quantity of water, you wish to increase your supply by obtaining water from a group of springs west of the village. In a communication accompanying the application it is stated that an application may be made to the Legislature for a charter.

The Board has caused an examination of the proposed source of supply to be made and a sample of the water to be analyzed. The analysis indicates that the water is excellent for the purposes of a domestic water supply.

The quantity of water which the proposed source would furnish cannot be estimated with accuracy with present information, but it is likely in dry seasons to be less than the yield of your present source, which was found inadequate at times during the past summer for the supply of forty families.

It is the tendency in all communities, even in very small ones, into which a public water supply has been introduced, for the consumption of water to increase rapidly for several years, and it is improbable that your present and proposed works together would supply as much water as ought to be provided for a village the size of Huntington.

The Board would, therefore, advise that you have a thorough investigation made, with a view to determining the best source for the permanent supply of the village; and it would probably be a measure of true economy to secure at once a source which will furnish an adequate supply of good water, rather than to spend money upon a source that is likely to prove inadequate in a very few years, if the pipe system in the village is extended to any considerable extent.

Should you decide to make further investigations with reference to obtaining a supply from a larger source, the Board will advise you concerning it when you shall have submitted the results of your investigations.

HYDE PARK. The Hyde Park Water Company applied to the Board, Aug. 24, 1896, for its advice relative to taking an additional supply of water from the neighborhood of Mother Brook, between Hyde Park and East Dedham. The Board replied to this application as follows:

BOSTON, Dec. 3, 1896.

The State Board of Health received from you, on August 24, an application requesting advice as to obtaining an additional water supply for Hyde Park from the region in the vicinity of Mother Brook between Hyde Park and East Dedham, through which the metropolitan sewer has recently been constructed. Subsequently you made more definite investigations in this territory, by driving test wells on both sides of the brook, about 1,000 feet below the lower dam of the Merchants' Woolen Mill in Dedham, near the boundary line between Dedham and Hyde Park, and a plan showing the location of these wells has been submitted.

The Board has caused an examination of this territory to be made by one of its engineers, and samples of the water from two of the test wells, one located on the northerly and the other on the southerly side of the brook, to be analyzed.

The sample from the well on the northerly side of the brook, which was collected before any considerable quantity of water had been pumped, was found to be soft and of good quality, though there were indications that the water had previously been polluted to a slight degree by sewage and subsequently purified by its passage through the ground.

From one of the wells on the southerly side of the brook two samples

were collected for analysis, one after pumping for about eight hours and the other after pumping for about two days. These analyses showed in a much greater degree than the first the effect of previous pollution due to the presence of population upon the territory from which the water is derived, but the analyses also show that the water had been very thoroughly purified by its passage through the ground.

With regard to the probable quantity of water to be obtained from this source, the information at present available is not sufficient to enable a definite prediction to be made. The examinations thus far made indicate that water can be drawn from the test wells with much freedom, and the character of the soil south and west of the wells, judging from surface indications, is favorable to a large yield of water from the ground.

The situation of the test wells is such that it seems probable that, when a continuous draft is made upon the ground, water will be drawn from territory in Dedham and Hyde Park where there is a large population, and the water will become harder than it is at present, and it may be less perfectly purified.

Another source of danger to the quality of the water is that the water of Mother Brook, which receives a considerable quantity of domestic and manufacturing sewage from the territory through which it flows, may find its way through the ground to the wells without being thoroughly purified by filtration. It is impracticable to predict whether the water taken from the ground in this region would deteriorate in quality from either cause to such a degree as to make it unsafe for use for the next two years; but, considering the necessity of supplementing your present supply and the desirability of obtaining a water of better quality than that at present supplied to Hyde Park and Milton, for use until such time as the metropolitan water supply shall be available, the Board would advise that this location be adopted as a temporary source of supply, but that the quality of the water be carefully observed by means of frequent analyses, in order that any serious deterioration may be discovered. The wells should be located as far as practicable from dwelling-houses and from Mother Brook.

KINGSTON. The water board of Kingston applied to the Board, April 27, 1896, for its advice relative to increasing the public water supply by taking water from the ground in the valley of Furnace Brook in that town. The Board replied to this application as follows:

BOSTON, July 3, 1896.

The State Board of Health has considered your application for advice with reference to a proposed water supply for the town of Kingston, to be

taken from the ground in the valley of Furnace Brook, so-called, and has caused an examination of the proposed source to be made by one of its engineers, and samples of water from test wells in the region in which it is proposed to locate the works to be analyzed.

Judging from tests which you have made by driving wells in the valley of the brook about 600 feet below the tack factory, and pumping from them, the conditions are favorable, both with regard to the porosity of the material and the freedom with which water could be pumped from the test wells, to obtaining a large quantity of water from the ground at this place.

The water of the test wells, as shown by several analyses, is colorless, soft, and otherwise of excellent quality for the purposes of a public water supply. The quantity of iron present in the water was insignificant, and showed no tendency to increase while pumping for a period of ten days; but there are indications that the water filtering past the dam at the tack factory is strongly impregnated with iron, and in constructing a system of wells for collecting ground water in this valley it will be necessary to avoid locating any of the wells in the vicinity of this dam.

The surface of the ground about the test wells is at an elevation several feet above your present pumping station, and it is understood that you propose to lay a pipe to convey the water from the proposed source to the pumping station by gravity; but if sufficient water is not furnished in this way it is expected to use the pipe as a suction main. It is probably not practicable, with so long a suction main, to reduce materially the level of the water in the ground about the wells; and, as the area from which water can safely be drawn is limited by the proximity of the dam above the wells and by the character of the material found beneath the ground a short distance down stream from the wells, which is said to be very fine, there is some uncertainty as to whether a sufficient quantity of water for the supply of the town at all times can be obtained from this source in the manner proposed.

It is very desirable, in constructing works for obtaining a new supply of water, that you secure an ample quantity for the needs of the town at present and for a reasonable time in the future; and the Board advises that, before finally locating your wells and laying the pipe to the pumping station, you ascertain whether the supply can be increased, if necessary, by extending the collecting system farther up the valley of Furnace Brook. The Board is informed that there are several long lines of lead pipe in use for distributing water in the town, notwithstanding the fact that the use of these pipes for the distribution of water seriously injured the health of many citizens of the town last year, causing this Board to recommend the immediate removal of all lead pipes in the town. The Board again