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HISTORICAL NOTE
Pages 1-8

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From page 1...
... The cloth bag that he recommended for straining became known in later times as "Hippocrates' sleeve." Public water supplies, already developed in- ancient times, assumed added importance with the progressive increase in urbanization. But though they were clearly beneficial in distributing water of uniform quality, large numbers of people ran the risk of suffering adverse effects when the water was unsafe to drink.
From page 2...
... During this same period, the germ theory of disease became firmly established as a result of research by Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, and others, and in 1884 Koch isolated the causal agent of cholera, Vibrio cholera. Importance of Water Filtration In 1892, a study of cholera by Koch in the German cities of Hamburg and Altona provided some of the best evidence of the importance of water filtration for protection against this disease (Koch, 18941.
From page 3...
... Experiments on water filtration were carried out in the United States during the late 1880's and early 1890's, notably by the Massachusetts State Board of Health experiment station established in 1887 at the city of Lawrence. At this station the treatment of water as well as sewage was considered by an interdisciplinary group that included engineers, chemists, and biologists.
From page 4...
... It was a cheap chemical, and hence readily adaptable to use on the large scale necessary for drinking water. The first practical demonstration in the United States of its use in water supply was at the filter plant of the Chicago Stock Yards, where it was introduced by Johnson in the fall of 1908 (Johnson, 1913~.
From page 5...
... ... ~ ~ ~ - 1-, ~.-1 _~ ~ ~ ~ {llilAN extended with unprecedented raplulty, until al Ine present slyly' ills greater part of the water supplied in cities in the United States is treated in this way or by some substitute and equivalent method." Interestingly from the point of view of the present report, the introduction of chlorination also changed markedly the established ideas about water-quality standards: "The use of methods of disinfection has changed these standards radically.
From page 6...
... Since that time there have been many refinements made at an engieering level, but no changes in the basic concepts. It is clear that the prime motivation for the development and introduction of purification methods has been to protect the public health, with special concern for controlling the spread of typhoid fever.
From page 7...
... At present, the incidence of typhoid fever in the United States is so low that no useful information on the electiveness of recent changes in water-purification practices can be obtained from an examination of the statistics. During the years 1946-1970, there were 53 outbreaks of waterborne infectious disease due to typhoid, but there were 297 outbreaks due to other bacterial or viral agents, including 178 outbreaks of gastroenteritis of undetermined etiology (Craun and McCabe, 1973~.
From page 8...
... Finally, only "outbreaks" find their way into public health statistics, whereas sporadic, random cases of gastroenter~tis generally go unreported. The epidem~ological significance of the present microbiological standards warrants continuing investigation to bring about further refinements in meeting the goal of maximum protection of public health.


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