USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1895-1899 > Part 19
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23
RULES and REGULATIONS
IN RELATION TO
MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION OF PLUMBING WHICH SHALL BE PLACED IN ANY BUILDING WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE TOWN OF NORWOOD.
Prepared in accordance with Chapter 455 of the Acts of the Legislature of Massachusetts for 1894.
1. Every person carrying on the business of plumbing in Norwood shall annually have his name and place of business registered with the Board of Health, and shall give immediate notice to said Board of any change in his place of business; and no person shall carry on such plumbing business in Norwood unless he shall pass a satisfactory examination before the Board of Plumbers' Examiners appointed under Chapter 455 of the Acts of 1894. Every person before doing any plumbing work in a building shall, except in the case of repairs which do not in- volve any change in location of a water fixture, or trap, or of a waste, drain or ventilating pipe, file with said Board a notice of all work to be performed, upon a blank to be furnished by said Board for this purpose, and shall obtain a permit for such work, and he shall also submit plans when desired by the Board, show- ing such work.
24
2. Every building provided with water from the town or other water supply shall have a waste-pipe for the conveyance of waste-water, separately and independently connected with the public sewer, or if there is no sewer, with a sufficient and proper cesspool satisfactory to the Board of Health for the Town of Norwood, easily accessible for inspection and cleaning.
3. Drain and soil-pipes within a building, and for a distance of not less than five feet outside the foundation walls thereof, through which water or sewage is used or carried, shall be made of lead, iron or brass ; shall be sound, free from holes and other defects, of a uniform thickness; and if iron is used, of not less than one-eighth of an inch for a diameter of four inches or less, and of five thirty-seconds of an inch for a diameter of five or six inches, with a proportional increase of thickness for a greater diameter ; shall be securely ironed to walls, laid in trenches, or suspended by strong iron hangers ; and shall have a proper fall of not less than one-quarter of an inch to a foot towards the drain or sewer. All pipes passing through cellar or foundation walls shall pass through a slot so that no bearing of such wall shall be had on the pipe. Changes in direction shall be made with curved pipe, and connections with horizontal pipes shall be made with Y branches. Every stack of soil-pipe of every building hereafter erected shall be carried above the roof, open and undiminished in size, and to a height of not less than two feet through or above the roof. No soil-pipe shall vent under any window or nearer than five feet to a window or open- ing of the house.
4. All iron pipes before being put in place shall be coated inside and out with coal tar pitch applied hot, or with paint, or with some equivalent substance; joints of cast-iron pipes shall be made by thoroughly calking the same with molten lead; joints of lead pipes when connecting with cast-iron pipes shall be made by soldering the same into brass ferules and calking the ferules to cast-iron pipes.
5. Every fixture connected with a drain or soil-pipe shall have an independent water supply, and every fixture having a waste pipe connected with the sewer or cess-pool, shall be furnished
.
25
with separate trap, except where any two adjoining fixtures are not over three feet apart they may be trapped together ; this does not apply to water-closets or urinals which must be trapped in- dependently. All such traps must be placed as near as practica- ble to said fixture, and shall be protected by special ventilating air pipes of a size satisfactory to the Board of Health or their agent, except where the water-closet is the upper fixture in a building, and not over two feet from the upright stack; all ventilating pipes smaller than two inches shall be of the same size as the waste, and for water-closet traps shall be not less than two inch bore for thirty feet or less, and of not less than three inch bore for more than thirty feet; such air pipes before connecting with any other pipe shall rise to a height of the overflow level of the fixture which it serves ; two or more such air pipes may connect together or with a soil-pipe, but in every case such connection with a soil-pipe shall be made above overflow level of the upper fixture of the building. No washer joints will be allowed upon any vent connection. All ventilating pipes shall be so arranged as to drip.
6. Rain-water leaders when connected with soil or drain pipes shall be suitably trapped.
7. Drip or overflow pipes from safes under water-closets, and other fixtures, or from tanks or cisterns, shall be run to some place in open sight, and in no case shall any such pipe be con- nected directly with a drain, waste-pipe or soil-pipe.
8. Waste-pipes from refrigerators, or other receptacles in which provisions are stored, shall not be connected with a drain, soil-pipe or other waste-pipe, unless such waste-pipes are provided with traps, suitably ventilated, and in every case there shall be an open tray between the trap and the refrigerator.
9. Soil or ventilating air pipes shall not be constructed of brick, sheet metal or earthenware, nor shall any chimney flues be used as such pipes.
10. Every water-closet, or line of water-closets on the same floor, shall be supplied with water from a tank or cistern, and the flushing pipe shall not be less than one inch in diameter ; but
26
this requirement shall not apply to water-closets substituted for vaults, where the same are located outside of the building proper, and water-closets so located may be arranged so as to receive their supply directly from the main, with such water-fixtures as shall be approved by the Board of Health or their authorized agent.
11. Pipes and other fixtures shall not be covered or concealed from view until after the work has been examined by the inspec- tor; but all main runs of soil, waste and vents shall be so ar- ranged as to be easily accessible at all times. No lead, waste or vent pipes shall be placed in any wall, ceiling, or under any floor, unless so arranged as to be readily got at for inspection at any time. The inspector shall be notified by the plumber when the work is sufficiently advanced for inspection, all lead connection with soil-pipe to be in position before such inspection. Such inspection will be made within two working days after such notification.
' 12. Plumbing work shall not be used until the same is in good condition as shown by the water test made by the plumber in the presence of the inspector, or in case of additions, alter- ations or repairs, where a water test is not practicable, a test satisfactory to the Board of Health or their agent.
13. A grease trap shall be constructed for every hotel, eating- house, restaurant, or other public cooking establishment, in such a manner as to be easily accessible for inspection and cleaning.
14. No steam exhausts shall enter soil-pipe or drain used for waste.
مصر
-
REPORT
OF THE
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH
UPON THE
SANITARY CONDITION OF THE 1
NEPONSET MEADOWS
IN THE TOWNS OF
CANTON, SHARON, NORWOOD, DEDHAM, MILTON AND HYDE PARK.
1897.
BOSTON : WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 POST OFFICE SQUARE. 1897.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
Report of the Board, .
V
Financial Statement, .
xi
Report of the Engineer :
Introduction,
1
General Conditions,
1
Present Condition of the River in the Great Meadows, 4
Pollution of the River and its Present Sanitary Condition, 8
General Character and Present Sanitary Condition of the Meadows, 14
Feasibility of Improvement of the Sanitary Condition of the River and
Meadows, .
17
Plan for draining Meadows,
20
Estimated Cost,
22
The Effect upon the Meadows,
24
Report of the Chemist,
28
.
1
REPORT
OF THE
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH
UPON THE
SANITARY CONDITION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE NEPONSET MEADOWS.
To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth in General Court assembled.
The State Board of Health, acting under chapter 83 of the Re- solves of 1895, has investigated the sanitary condition of the meadows on the Neponset River in the towns of Canton, Sharon, Norwood, Dedham, Milton and Hyde Park, and herewith submits the results of that examination, together with recommendations for the improvement of the sanitary condition of these meadows and the removal of nuisance therefrom.
These meadows are shown upon Plan No. 1, and cover an arca of 3,662 acres. Of this surface hardly more than 600 acres appear to be in a condition adapted to profitable agriculture. From the re- maining territory crops of hay are obtained occasionally, or not at all. The condition of the meadows seems to have grown worse in recent years, and many of the larger owners, have abandoned the attempt to secure some degree of drainage by the maintenance of open ditches, on account of the steadily diminishing returns from the crops.
At an carlier day and for a succession of years a grass known as the fowl meadow or false redtop grew on these meadows, -the first name still is used to designate the locality, -and, proving to be a valuable forage plant, gave a high value to the lands upon which it flourished. The present condition of the territory, however, is evidently not so favorable as it once was to the growth or preserva- tion of this grass, and it is also probable that cheaper transportation
vi
NEPONSET MEADOWS.
has brought into this market hay of a better quality at a price lower than that at which this marsh grass could be profitably sold. As a result of either or both of these conditions, the value of these lands has steadily fallen.
While it might be expected that the meadows should be unin- habited, as they are, it is not at first so easy to understand why the higher grounds in the vicinity should be still unoccupied by the rapidly increasing suburban population which seeks and finds accept- able building sites at distances from the business centre of Boston more considerable than any portion of the area in question. The facilities for transportation by convenient railroads are at least as good as can be found in other directions from Boston, and the towns which make up the district appear to be desirable places of residence. There has, however, for years existed a popular belief that the meadows have become a source of sickness, and this feeling seems recently to have increased. Intelligent observers report that these meadows are at times the source of disagreeable odors and the direct cause of much sickness. The examinations by this Board have shown that the upper portion of the stream was very seriously polluted, and the opinions of the physicians residing and practising in the valley, which have been from time to time collected, indicate a general belief on the part of the medical profession that the con- ditions affecting health here are more unfavorable than they formerly were.
The valley of the Neponset River has twice before been the subject of extended examinations by the State authorities, - first by the State Board of Health in 1875, and subsequently by the Massachusetts Drainage Commission in 1885. In addition to these examinations, a description of the Neponset River basin, with statistics relating to its pollution and analyses of its waters, may be found in the special report of the State Board of Health on the examination of water supplies, 1890, and in the twenty-second annual report of the Board. So much of the great body of facts collected by the Board as may be necessary for the purposes of this report will be found in the appended report of the engineer.
The earliest notices of these meadows give evidence that even then there were prolonged periods of flooding, and that it was found necessary to clear the bed of the stream from time to time of its obstructions, consisting of fallen trees and shrubs with the entangled rubbish. With the increasing pollution of the stream, however,
PLATE 1.
-
-
THE HELIOTYPE PRINT NO CO., BOSTON
VIEW OF NEPONSET RIVER IN HYDE PARK, NOVEMBER 30, 1895.
LOOKING DOWN STREAM FROM A FOOT-BRIDGE
vii
NEPONSET MEADOWS.
another and more persistent interference with the current became operative. The waste matters of human life and the refuse of manu- factories, when added to the waters of the stream, became efficient fertilizers for the vegetable substances that find a home there, and their increased quantity became a mechanical hindrance to the cur- rent, promoted deposits in the bed of the stream, and finally, by their decay, gave to the atmosphere odors which common experience as well as scientific knowledge declare to be injurious to health.
An accurate estimate of the amount of sickness produced by the condition of these meadows, founded upon statistical inquiry, is almost impossible, and largely for the reason that the common-sense of the people and their freedom to select more salubrious locations have prevented settlements in the immediate vicinity of these low lands. We find herc, at an average distance of thirteen miles from the State House, an area of more than eleven square miles which is uninhabited. The people have not had the same objections to resi- dence near the great salt marshes which line our coast, where the conditions of flooding and soil moisture are apparently as serious as they can be in the Neponset valley, but are not associated with a seriously polluted water or excessive growth and decay of vegetable matters.
We are of the opinion that the condition of these meadows and of the beds, shores and waters of the Neponset River is injurious to the public health. The opinions of the physicians of this district, as ascertained by an inquiry instituted by the Board, arc also distinctly to the effect that the conditions which now exist here are unfavor- able to health and that the unhealthful conditions are increasing in amount from year to year.
One disease has attracted considerable attention in recent years in many portions of this State, - malarial fever, -and portions of this valley have suffered from it, and severely, when the limited popula- tion is taken into account.
One farm-house was found not far removed from the meadows, but lying many feet above their level, which, well built and well cared for, had failed to offer adequate protection against an influence which, originating beyond the immediate surroundings of the house itself, was sufficiently potent to affect more than half of the ten occupants of the house.
We find that malarial discases arc uniformly prevalent in the Neponset basin, though no distinct concentration of cases has been
viii
NEPONSET MEADOWS.
anywhere observed except in the case of the farm-house above cited. This is a condition of things which points distinctly to some influence which pervades the whole district, and the obvious origin of such an influence is the condition of the Fowl Meadows, with the polluted river and large areas of stagnant water. While the current theories upon the subject of malarial discases may sufficiently explain the occurrence of these diseases in a marshy region, with stagnating water and the inevitable accompaniment of decaying vegetation, we are well aware that future scientific examination may find the really essential factor in some hiterto unsuspected condition of such terri- tories. But it fortunately is true that malarial diseases where oncc prevalent have disappeared upon the removal of conditions such as those now found through the Neponset valley, and that the general healthfulness has been distinctly and immediately increased thereby.
Attention is also called to the report contained in appendix pre- pared by the chemist of the Board. With the co-operation of the owners of the larger manufactories on the river, a very complete examination has been made of methods for diminishing the pollution of the stream by treatment of the effluents from these establishments, and it has been found that these effluents, either by themselves or when mixed with ordinary town sewage, can be satisfactorily purified upon properly prepared sand filters. It is advisable, however, to remove by sedimentation from the factory effluent, before it reaches the filter, so much of the sludge contained therein as is possible. This sludge can be removed from the sewage by means of a settling basin of moderate dimensions, and, as it contains much more nitrogen than ordinary sewage, could probably be readily disposed of.
For the present, at least, the sparsely settled districts adjoining the meadows do not appear to be in pressing need of extended sys- tems of sewerage ; but the time will come when the same provision which is here recommended for the factory refuse should be made for the collection and purification of domestic sewage. There appcar to be in the valley areas of land suited to intermittent filtration, and sufficient in quantity for the needs of the district.
Portions of the banks of the stream in the town of Hyde Park are at present in an unsanitary condition ; but legislation subsequent to that authorizing this inquiry by the Board has provided a sufficient means for the relief of this state of things, through the construction of a sewer system having an outlet into the metropolitan system of sewerage.
ix
NEPONSET MEADOWS.
The measures which we recommend for the remedy of the con- ditions injurious to health now existing in the Neponset valley are these : -
First. - Such additional legislation as will prevent the entrance into this stream of sewage and manufacturing wastes which have not been satisfactorily purified.
Second. - The permanent removal of the flashboards of the dam of the Mattapan Mills, the enlargement of the cross-section of the river at points indicated on Plan No. 3, together with a deepening and reconstruction of the channel at such places as may be found necessary for making a channel of such width and grade as will prevent the flooding of the meadows during the times of high flows in late spring and summer.
A conservative estimate of the cost of making this improvement, irrespective of land and water damages, is, in 'round numbers, $125,000. The engineer also presents some figures to show the inereasc in the value of meadow lands reclaimed, and to this sum should also be added the enhanced value of the now neglected building sites immediately adjoining the meadows. It can thus be demonstrated, we think, that the work of improvement would be justifiable from a money stand-point alone. We have not consid- ered it within our province to present the agricultural advantages of a drainage of this expanse of meadows. Land so well adapted, as this would be when drained, to the purposes of market gardening must always have a value near a great market far in advance of any price now paid for land in this district.
When we limit ourselves, however, to considerations of health, it scarecly seems necessary, now that a considerable portion of the State has acquired a knowledge of the depressing and disabling effects of malarial diseases, to insist upon the economical value of a freedom from the conditions that favor their prevalence. We do not hesitate, therefore, to recommend the improvement of this district, the healthfulness of which is vital to the immediate residents therein, as well as to the occupants, present and future, of the lands lying about it.
It will be remembered that, in accordance with the recommenda- tions of the Massachusetts Drainage Commission, legislation was had now embodied in chapter 375 of the Acts of 1888. Under the pro- visions of this aet the State Board of Health has the general over- sight and care of all inland waters. The commission which suggested
1
x
NEPONSET MEADOWS.
the legislation above referred to used these words in their report to the Legislature of 1886 : -
Let these guardians of inland waters be charged to acquaint themselves with the actual condition of all waters within the State as respects their pollution or purity, and to inform themselves particularly as to the relation which that condition bears to the health and well-being of any part of the people of the Commonwealth. Let them do away, as far as possible, with all remediable pollution, and use every means in their power to prevent further vitiation. They shall put themselves at the disposal of manufact- urers and others using rivers, streams or ponds, or in any way misusing them, to suggest the best means of minimizing the amount of dirt in their effluent, and to experiment upon methods of reducing or avoiding pollution. They shall warn the persistent violater of all reasonable regulation in the management of water of the consequences of his acts. In a word, it shall be their especial function to guard the public interest and the public health in its relation with water, whether pure or defiled, with the ultimate hope, which must never be abandoned, that sooner or later ways may be found to redeem and preserve all the waters of the State.
The suggestions contained in these sentences have governed the action of this Board during the ten years which have passed since the State Board of Health was made the official guardian of the inland waters of the Commonwealth. It is our opinion that all reasonable efforts have been exhausted in the attempt to do away with the remediable pollution of these waters, and that the time has come when the State must take more effective measures for the preven- tion of the pollution of the streams not now used as sources of domestic water supply, but still capable of injurious effect upon the public health.
H. P. WALCOTT.
H. F. MILLS.
F. W. DRAPER.
G. C. TOBEY.
J. W. HULL.
C. H. PORTER. J. A. MEAD.
PLATE 11
.J.4
THE HELIOTYPE PRINTING CO., BOSTON
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
/
Appropriation, . .
. $3,000 00 Expenditures : -
Salaries of engineers, chemists and assistants, $2.308 93
Travelling expenses,
269 70
Cost of experimental filter tanks, including labor and materials, .
268 12
Surveying instruments and repairs, .
4 00
Drawing materials, .
34 31
Maps and map mounting, .
3 25
Photographs and photographic materials,
10 75
Stationery, .
12 81
Expressage,
13 35
Telephone and telegraph messages,
1 10
Rent of office,
21 50
Gauge readings,
16 25
Rent of boat,
12 50
Miscellaneous incidentals,
17 69
$2,994 26
Balance, .
0
$5 74
ENGINEER'S REPORT.
OFFICE OF STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, Oct. 1, 1896.
To H. F. MILLS, A.M., C.E., Chairman of Committee on Water Supply and, Sewerage of the State Board of Health.
SIR : - By direction of your committee, I present herewith a re- port of investigations with reference to the condition of the Neponset River and meadows. The State Board of Health was directed to make these investigations by chapter 83 of the Resolves of 1895, which is as follows : -
Resolved, That the state board of health be directed to investigate the sanitary condition of the meadows on the Neponset river and the beds, shores and waters of said river in the towns of Canton, Sharon, Norwood, Dedham, Milton and Hyde Park, and report whether their condition is dangerous or injurious to the public health by reason of stagnant water or refuse from manufactories, or other causes. If said board shall find that the condition of the meadows or of the beds, shores or waters is dangerous or injurious to the public health, they shall recommend some plan for im- proving their sanitary condition and for the removal of any nuisance there- from, and report the same to the next general court. The board may expend a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars in carrying out the pro- visions of this resolve.
GENERAL CONDITIONS.
The location of the great meadows in the Neponset River basin and their situation with respect to the metropolitan district is shown upon Plan No. 1. From this plan it will be seen that the meadows occupy approximately the middle portion of the basin and that the lower portions are within ten miles of the State House.
2
NEPONSET MEADOWS.
The main river rises in the Neponset reservoir in Foxborough and flows in a generally north-easterly direction to Dorchester Bay. It has two principal tributaries : the East Branch, also known as the Canton River, which rises in Sharon and Stoughton, and, flowing through Canton, joins the main river in the great meadows near their upper end ; and Mother Brook, which flows from Charles River through East Dedham and Hyde Park, and joins the main river about a mile and a half below the great meadows.
Mother Brook is legally entitled to receive one-third of the flow of Charles River, which, at the point where the brook begins, drains an area of 198.6 square miles. Mother Brook may therefore be eon- sidered as having, besides its own water-shed, an additional water- shed of 66.2 square miles.
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