Page 429 - Fundamentals of Water Treatment Unit Processes : Physical, Chemical, and Biological

384 Fundamentals of Water Treatment Unit Processes: Physical, Chemical, and Biological

It is rather curious that a ten year long attempt to give the A major point in the above rebuttal by Fuller was that he did
citizens of New York a drinking water supply of a quality such not feel secure that state-of-the-art of rapid filtration practice
as is elsewhere demanded should have finally proven abortive. was sufficiently advanced in 1907 to warrant recommending
And even more curious that the same officials who had voted it, whereas he did feel comfortable with the practice of the
to give New York a proper drinking water should later with technology by 1912.
the same information before them reverse themselves, that a
Board of Alderman, who but a short time before were con- Regarding the quality of the Croton water, Fuller’s paper
contained both tables of water quality data and descriptions,
sidering a vote of censure on the executive department for
their slowness in providing filtered water should a few months for example, (Fuller, 1914, p. 169),
later repeal their ordinance and condemn the project; that the
newspapers which had just stopped printing attacks on the city
As at present delivered to the consumer, the Croton water
officers for their negligence in furnishing bad water, should
would be characterized by the water analyst as noticeably
write to oppose the so-called steal when they were about to
colored and slightly turbid, at times quite turbid; at other
receive their demands.
times containing numbers of microscopic organisms with an
odor persistently vegetable and occasionally aromatic, grassy
Fuller’s paper provoked a great deal of discussion. Mr. Alex- or even fishy; reasonably soft; a good boiler water and gener-
ander Potter, took issue with Fuller in a discussion (Fuller, ally satisfactory for industrial purposes; ordinarily safe but at
1914, pp. 456–463) noting that Fuller had reversed his pos- times sufficiently polluted to indicate the possible danger of
ition in method of filtration as he recommended slow sand in infection from water borne diseases.
his 1907 report and then mechanical filtration in his 1912
report. Also, he quoted extensive expert witness testimony The story of the New York water supply does not end with
by both Fuller and George A. Johnson in which they sup- Fuller. In a 1988 paper, Abel Wolman reviewed the status of
ported the practice of treatment with hypochlorite as sufficient the filtration versus protected watershed debate (Wolman,
for Jersey City. Mr. Potter also pointed out several other 1988). At that time, systems that did not filter included New
contradictions in Fuller’s position. York, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, and Roche-
Fuller’s response was that more was known at the present ster; Los Angeles had started to filter its Owens River supply
about hypochlorite than when the Jersey City testimony was in the early 1980s. He recounted his tenure on a 1951 panel
given and, in his words (Fuller, 1914, p. 464), that produced a report, ‘‘Future Water Sources of the City of
New York.’’ The panel recommended,
When the time comes, as it will in the course of years, that the
Croton water is again largely polluted and contains much
Regardless of considerations as to additional water supply . . .
organic content and possibly greater turbidity, the effect of
the matter of improving the protection of all supplies through
the hypochlorite treatment will be far less, and if it should
the construction of and operation of a modern filtration plant
happen that at that time the Croton water be polluted by
be given immediate consideration and that preliminary plans
typhoid bacilli, it is quite within the bounds of probability
and estimates of cost of such a project be provided within the
that a typhoid epidemic, perhaps of small and perhaps of large
next few years.
extent, may result. Such a danger is sufficient to warrant the
expenditure of 25 cents per capita per year to avoid.
That further consideration was given to filtering the Croton
water supply is seen in a report by Fulton and Hazen (1979) in
Concerning the change in his position on slow sand versus
which they reported to their clients on the outcome of pilot
mechanical filtration between 1907 and 1912, Fuller stated
testing at the Jerome Park Reservoir in order to recommend a
(Fuller, 1914, p. 464),
treatment train. Pilot testing of diatomaceous earth filtration
was recommended and in the late 1980s a large pilot plant
Mr. Potter raises the question of the change in the type of
(1 mgd) was constructed. This was in anticipation of a 100
filters recommended between the years 1907 and 1914. The
reasons are to be found in the development of the art of mgd full scale diatomite plant. Later, in the early 1990s, the
mechanical filtration during these seven years. The writer idea of a full-scale diatomite plant was apparently abandoned.
feels in no danger of being accused of having been a foe to In 1993, an ‘‘Expert Panel’’ (Okun, 1993) published a
mechanical filtration. At the time of the early investigations report sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency
into the Croton water two fair-sized mechanical filters of regarding the risks associated with the New York water sup-
modern type had been built, namely, the Little Falls plant ply. The issue was in compliance with the Surface Water
and the Hackensack plant. While these plants had been Treatment Rule (FR, June 29, 1989). Although the Croton
entirely successful, the writer did not feel that the art had
water was to be filtered the report states, about 30 years will
attained sufficient standing at the time of his 1907 report to
be needed to bring the filtration system on line. The Panel
warrant the adoption of mechanical filtration for this particular
concluded ‘‘that New York should not be granted an avoid-
water. In the interval since 1907 modern mechanical filtration
has reached such position that the writer feels no hesitation in ance from filtration.’’ They stated further ‘‘that New York
recommending it for any water whatever where the desired City should be obligated to adopt a firm time schedule for
results could be obtained by this method at a less total annual pilot plant studies, preliminary design, site studies, environ-
cost that with sand filters. mental impact assessments, final design, and the letting of a