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Los A n g e le m s, July 14th, 1923. Mr^ E. E. C a lv in : I have r e c e n t ly gone o v e r th e Las Vegas p ip e lin e and e x ­amined the s p r in g s w ith D iv is io n E n gin eer M i l l e r : In my judgm ent, i t i s im p e ra tiv e th a t som ething be done to im prove the q u a lit y o f the d r in k in g w ater fu r n is h e d to the c i t i z e n s and em ployees a t Las Vegas. The upper s p r in g , which fu r n is h e s a l i t t l e more than o n e - h a lf o f the t o t a l su p p ly , is in good c o n d itio n ^ , and is f a i r l y w e l l p r o te c te d . I c a l l e d Mr. M i l l e r 's a t t e n t io n t o th e c o n d itio n o f the fe n c in g , which needs r e p a ir , and I b e lie v e th a t a h ig h , t ig h t fe n c e sh ould be b u i l t c lo s e around th e s p r in g so as to make i t im p o s s ib le f o r anim als to g e t c lo s e enough to the s p r in g to contam inate i t . T h is w i l l a ls o p re v e n t tou r i s t s and p ic n ic e r s fr o r r g e t t i n g in to con­tam in ate i t . A tre n ch sh ou ld be made so as/to d iv e r t any d ra in a g e show th a t i t i s im p o s s ib le to s a t i s f l y p r o t e c t th is w ater from s u r fa c e co n ta m in a tio n , and from vege g row th s, which a r e v e r y lu x u r ia n t , owing to summer tem peratu . t h is l o c a l i t y . In s p it e o f the f a c t th a t d i v is io n fo r c e s mad r io u s e f f o r t to c le a n th es e sp rin g sb u t a few weeks a g o , th ey ax4 a g a in a f r o g pond, f i l l e d w ith a lg a e , marsh weeds and s lim e s , ana anim al co n ta m in a tio n was found at d i f f e r e n t p o in ts which c o u ld notbe a v o id e d . About a m ile from th ese s p r in g s a la r g e flo w in g w&al has r e c e n t ly been d e ve lo p e d and Dr. B oyle a d v is e s th a t w e ll o f £ he same t y p e , w ith p r a c t i c a l l y the same p re s s u re , and volum e, c\i^/be d e v e lo p e d in the n eigh borh ood o f th e s p r in g s . In t h is judgment I concu r. d is ta n c e below the upper s p rin g s and b u ild a c o n c r e te sta n d p ip e in to which t h is w e ll would flo w , b r in g in g the w ater l e v e l up to th a t o f the upper s p r in g , and c o n n e c tin g the o u t le t o f the stan d p ip e w ith our g r a v it y l i n e . There is a l i t t l e more than 1000 f e e t o f v i t r i f i e d p ip e betw een t h is p o in t and th e end o f the 16" w ood -sta ve p ip e which sh ould be renewed w ith a w ood -sta ve or r e in f o r c e d c o n c r e te . Such a p lan w i l l in c re a s e the head and g iv e b e t t e r p ressu re to th e C ity o f Las V egas, and t h is system w ould fu r n is h about the same amount o f w ater th a t we a re now g e t t in g . In t h is way, the w ater su pply would be a b s o lu t e ly p r o t e c t e d from co n tam in a tion by an e x p e n d itu re o f from $10,000 to $15,000, and th e flo w from th e low er s p r in g s co u ld be d iv e r t e d to th e company's farm , which would g iv e t h is p r o p e r ty a r e n t a l va lu e th a t I b e l i e v e would pay good re tu rn s upon the in v e s t ­ment . the e a r l i e s t p o s s ib le d a te a lo n g t h is l i n e . There have been a t le a s t two ep idem ics in Las Vegas which p h y s ic ia n s w ere in c lin e d to su b s crib e to co n ta m in a tio n o f the w a ter su p p ly. One o f th e s e I f e e l q u it e sure co u ld be a t t r ib u t e d to t h is so u rce . As to the o t h e r , I am v e r y much in dou bt, as I do n ot th in k th a t i t was in any way a w a ter-b o rn d is e a s e . a u t h o r it ie s , and a re l i k e l y to be c a l l e d to account by the S ta te Board o f H e a lth . I t h e r e fo r e b e l i e v e th a t t h is a c t io n should not be d e la y e d . e n te r in g the s p r in g . The low er s p rin g s c o v e r a l a / /ea , and p re v io u s attem pts Mr. M i l l e r prop oses th at we d e v e lo p such a w e ll a sh o rt I would t h e r e fo r e recommend th a t some a c tio n be taken a t However, we a re b e in g c r i t i c i s e d by the l o c a l h e a lth (S g d ) W. M. B arr. c c — Mr. W. H. Comstock