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Pollution of the Nashua River

(From: Charles Folsom, "The Pollution of Streams." Massachusetts
State Board of Health, Eighth Annual Report, 1877, pp. 61-69.)

It is readily seen, that, except at the headwaters, the Nashua River

is so polluted throughout its whole length that it would be unwise

to use any part of it for a domestic water supply. It is not at any

place in Massachusetts, except occasionally at Fitchburg, offensive

to smell, although some of its tributaries (at Clinton, Fitchburg,

Leominster, and Shirley) are in a filthy condition. In fact, with the

selectmen of every town in our state having the power to act as a

board of health, although that power has seldom been exercised as

effectively as is desirable, it would not be easy for any of our rivers

to become so offensively polluted as has been not uncommon in

England. . . .

How far the present condition of the Nashua River, not considering

the obstructions from dams, has to do with the disappearance of

salmon, trout, and pickerel, it would be difficult to say: that they

have been driven from many of the smaller streams, in part, at

least, by the offensive matters discharged into them, there can be

hardly a doubt; but the same causes have also been at work here

which have driven the game from out woods, -- that is, both have

often been exterminated. Last year, it was reported to the Board of

Health that fish had been destroyed in the river, two miles below

Clinton, by the mill refuse from that town; and in Quilt Pond even

the eels have been killed. But a few rods below the outlet for the

waste of the Lancaster mills, fishermen may often be seen, when

the water is not low, having "quite good luck" in catching the more

hardy varieties of fish. Of course, salmon cannot be expected to

thrive even in a river of absolutely pure water, if it is thoroughly

obstructed by high dams.

The attempt which is now making to stock the river near Lancaster

village with young salmon and bass, will be followed with great

interest. It is feared that the trades pollution will destroy many,

although the fact has not been proved by the experience of the

past summer.

Except at Fitchburg, and just below the mills in a few other places,

where the river is somewhat turbid, the Nashua has generally the

appearance of an unpolluted stream, until it reaches the city of

Nashua, N.H. To render it actually pure and free from contamination

throughout, would be indeed a difficult task; and it is doubtful

whether the amount of good attained would compensate for the

necessary cost and inconvenience, especially as there are other

sources from which water for domestic use may be got.

Some Pollution Unavoidable

Until we have better means of disposal of our refuse than at

present, some of our rivers must be used, more or less, to

scavenge the country; and the resulting evil, if reasonable care is

used, must be very small as compared with the methods by which

filth fails to be promptly and efficiently removed. Sewage-irrigation

is not profitable, and if on a large scale, is costly, while small

towns, generally, cannot afford to have well-constructed sewage

systems. The various methods of filtration or precipitation do not

purify sewage. It is easy, however, to prevent any serious pollution

which may render such streams unsightly, offensive, or unfit for

ordinary purposes; and it is not necessary, in their case, that the

water should be pure enough for men to drink. If it is fairly

cleansed, that is as much as we can expect at present, however

much we may desire something more.

Sewage-Clarification at Walpole

In Walpole, at an establishment for washing and bleaching

cotton-waste, the refuse was so highly offensive a few years ago,

that the proprietor roughly prepared a cheap set of precipitation

basins by simply throwing up a wall of earth, which retains the solid

matter and grease. The effluent flows through a half-dozen rods of

marsh, and, at its discharge into the brook, still looks somewhat

turbid; but twenty rods lower, and before entering the river, when

visited, without any previous notice, October 19, 1876, there was

nothing objectionable. This arrangement has been in existence four

years, during which time complaints -- which had been formerly

frequent--ceased. There was no stink at the time of inspection, but

it is said to be a source of offence in the immediate vicinity in hot

weather, although no one lives near enough to be annoyed by it.

Propriety of Legislation

As may be seen from the pages of the last report of the State

Board of Health, no laws allowing injunctions and special actions by

local authorities have been successful in rendering pure the streams

of England; nor should we have reason to expect a better result in

this country. This position is well illustrated by what actually

occurred in Clinton in 1875. A petition was sent to the local board

of health in regard to the nuisance in that town from the pond

already referred to. After giving the matter their careful

consideration, they replied in the following words: "As the power

conferred by the statutes on the board of health is, in its

application to this case, in their opinion, very doubtful, it is decided

to take no further action on the petition." What is required is

evidently some general Act of the Legislature applying to the whole

State and placing the necessary authority in some central board.

If such an Act were passed, the question would naturally arise,

'What constitutes pollution sufficient to call for interference, and

what remedy shall be adopted?' For it would be manifestly absurd

to say that present methods must be abandoned until some

practical substitute could be suggested. Of course no one system

would be applicable in all cases alike. For instance, in a seaboard

city like Boston, where the waste is enormous and the present

nuisance great, any attempt to utilize or deodorize sewage must be

attended with great pecuniary loss, and, on so great a scale,

perhaps with otherwise unsatisfactory results, while it may be cast

into the sea easiest and best. In Salem, evils of a similar character

may be found, and the most practicable remedy would doubtless be

similar. In Lynn, although on the sea, it will be extremely difficult,

if possible, to find a suitable outlet for intercepting sewers. It is

out of the question to discharge sewage on a beach, to be washed

up on to the shore; it would be idle to attempt to dike and irrigate

the flats near the city; a pumping-station discharging sewage into

the Saugus River would probably be objected to by all those who

frequent Revere Beach, while a nuisance would follow in Lynn itself,

if any attempt were made to remove the precipitable part of the

sewage, by any of the chemical processes, near the city. What

remains, then, but carrying the sewage inland, or to some other

distant marshes for irrigation, a costly if practicable method, or

restricting the use of water-closets, at least their connection with

sewers, and emptying vaults and cesspools, by some odorless

processes now in use in large cities and by systems of "dry

removal?" The problem, certainly, is a difficult one, and is not likely

to be solved in the best manner without careful consideration of the

present and future wants of the city. In Natick, where the water

supply of our largest city is endangered, something should be done

at once, and irrigation seems the only real remedy, as also in

Worcester. In small villages with few or no sewers, probably

nothing would be gained by compelling them to keep their drainage

out of streams such as are not used now, or are not likely to be

used in the future, as water supplies. The same mill might be a

serious nuisance on a small or sluggish stream, and of no

consequence on a large or rapid river, especially if near the sea.

The Nashua River beyond the State Line

After leaving our state, the Nashua is polluted only by the waste of

a city of 12,000 inhabitants in New Hampshire. On the Nissitisset,

in that state, the pollution is quite small. In Nashua, there are on

the river two large cotton mills, two small dye-houses, one card and

glazed-paper mill, the gas works, and several other mills of various

kinds, which can hardly be considered as sources of contamination

to the water.

The upper cotton mill--the Nashua--employs 1,100 hands, has

75,000 spindles, and, with a fall of 34 feet, uses the water for

power and for washing the cloth. The trades pollution above does

not seriously affect this company, as they are some eight miles

below the nearest mills above them. No dyeing is done; in the

other processes, lime, sulphuric acid (the two probably nearly

neutralizing each other in the bleaching), and soap are used. The

amount of stock converted into cloth yearly is, in round numbers,

5,000,000 pounds.

The Jackson Company, perhaps a half-mile lower on the river, use

only clean cotton, and does no dyeing or bleaching. They have a fall

of 18 feet, employ 450 hands, with 22,000 spindles, and, as the

river serves only as for power for them, they are not seriously

affected by the dye works, paper mill, etc., above them. The Board

of Health of Nashua, in kindly replying to our circular, state that the

pollution of the river consists, in that city, of lime, dyestuffs,

excrement, street-washings, etc., and the poisonous chemicals from

the card and glazed-paper mill. They also state, "Below the mills,

on the Nashua River, the water is almost black, is unfit to drink,

and in very hot weather is sometimes odorous, but not to the

extent of causing general complaint." A large portion of the town

sewage finds its way into the river, and, quite below the settled

parts, the gas works pour a considerable amount of offensive

matter into its current.

Pollution of the Merrimac

The amount of filth passes into the Merrimac, a river draining a

large part of the State of New Hampshire, including the cities of

Concord and Manchester; and we might expect to get full evidence

of contamination at Lowell and Lawrence. And yet the numerous

analyses which have beeen made in previous years show no very

striking amount, although the mere fact of this sewer-character of

the river, especially with the knowledge that it is likely to increase

rather than diminish, should render its use allowable as drinking

water only on the ground of necessity. It is now used for that

purpose to some extent in Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill.

It should be remembered in this connection, however, that it is

quantity, and not quality, of impurity which we detect by chemical

analysis; and that it is the general opinion of authorities, that

water containing an amount of impurity so small as to escape the

test of the chemist altogether, may possess such virulent character,

from containing the contagium of specific disease, as to be unfit for

drinking.

To purify the Merrimac River, so that it would, without treatment,

be desirable as a domestic water supply, would require the vigorous

cooperation of the authorities of two states in an amount of

compulsory legislation which we could hardly now expect to see

enforced. The cities just named, however, must get their water

supplies from the Merrimac, in part at least, or else incur enormous

expense; and if the water were carefully filtered, as it is not now,

before being used, we should prefer a supply that had not been so

exposed to contamination, especially in view of the fact that

London, which has the lowest death rate of all the large cities of

the world, gets sixteen-seventeenths of its water, but filtered, from

rivers much more polluted than the Merrimac.

In view of the above facts, the importance is readily seen of

preventing any further fouling of the Nashua and Merrimac rivers,

although . . . so far as chemical analysis goes, the latter compares

now very favorably with waters of standard purity. . . .