DEATH ATTENDED THE WORLD'S FAIR
IN CHICAGO
Nineteen Thirty-three was a great year for Chicago; thousands of visitors from all parts of the country came here to enjoy the Century of Progress, thrill to its Sky Ride and spend a carefree holiday among its colorful exhibits. But Death, uninvited, came too ... and took many of those Chicago visitors back home with him.
Before the Century of Progress closed that fall, 98 persons had died and over 1,400 had become seriously ill in Chicago's tragic epidemic of amebic dysentery. It was not something they ate. They died because, without warning, Chicago's pure drinking water had been polluted by faulty plumbing performed by unqualified and unlicensed persons.
The national and international prominence of the Chicago World's Fair stirred public opinion. A special committee of nationally known health experts was named to conduct an investigation. They found that plumbing cross-connections and back-siphonage in two large hotels had permitted sewage and polluted water to enter the fresh water supply ... and people who drank that water became critically ill or died.
Note those terms ... cross-connection and back-siphonage. Without entering into a technical discussion of plumbing, here is what they mean. Under certain conditions of faulty plumbing, pipes in the plumbing system are inter-connected so that polluted water can flow into the fresh water system. If that situation exists and a partial vacuum is created in the piping under certain conditions, the laws of physics will draw polluted water out of a fixture into the fresh water piping ... and a serious hazard to health is established.
This business of cross-connections and back-siphonage can be easily demonstrated in plumbing clinics. It could happen if a second floor bathtub were half filled with water, a shampoo spray or hose attached to the bathtub inlet spout, the tub faucets left open and the hose submerged in the water. The hose makes a direct connection between the water in the tub and the fresh water inlet. Now suppose that the main water supply valve is closed and the faucets in the basement laundry tubs are opened. In spite of the fact that the house water supply is shut off, water will continue to flow from the laundry tub faucets. It is being drained out of the upstairs bathtub ... by back-siphonage.
Fortunately, this hazard requires a series of unusual conditions; an unsafe fixture filled with contaminated water to a certain level, a closed water supply valve and a vacuum in the supply piping. You may go through an entire lifetime without encountering such a situation or like the victims of the Chicago epidemic, you may be the "one in a million" who suffers from the coincidence. The stage is set for amebic dysentery, typhoid fever, undulant fever, gastroenteritis or poisoning wherever and whenever a faulty plumbing system permits a sewage or other foreign matter to enter the drinking water supply.
Examples of cross-connections are not hard to find; they show up in homes, industrial plants, eating places and even in hospitals. They can be eliminated only by the use of fixtures where the water supply inlet is above the highest flood level of the fixture, by the installation of vacuum-breakers and by constant inspection to see that protective devices are functioning properly.
Constant research, revision of plumbing codes and improvements in fixture design have practically eliminated these hazards. In many older homes and buildings the danger still exists; old-fashioned fixtures with submerged inlets, cross-connections through faulty installation, absence of modern devices to eliminate the perils of back-siphonage. We also warn of another dangerous situation seen quite often on the television screen, that of connecting a cartridge containing fertilizers or bug killers attached to the garden hose. Chemicals of this nature can be swallowed by small children or animals which could be fatal. These faults, all potential killers, can be corrected by modernization of the plumbing system under the supervision of a qualified, licensed Plumbing Contractor.
While we are talking about plumbing and how it protects your health, let's look at a few more hazards. Leakage of soil and waste pipes, connected to the main sewer endangers the water supply and food-handling equipment. Accidents are another plumbing hazard; unprotected hot water heaters can explode, and crossed hot and cold water pipes can result in fatal scalding. To be honest, these are not accidents. They are simply the result of carelessness on the part of the homeowner or maintenance engineer who fails to insist upon competent installation of his fixtures and appliances. If in the light of modern advances in the science of plumbing, the building owner, manager or agent permits health and safety hazards to exist in the plumbing system, he is guilty of gross negligence.
Any member of the Plumbing Contractors Association of Chicago and Cook County will gladly inspect your plumbing system and recommend changes for your protection ... if and when they are necessary.