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. . . .