REPORT ON POLLUTION 
OF THE WATERS OF THE STATE 
Rhode Island State Department of Health 
December 23, 1946 REPORT TO 
HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN O. PASTORE 
Governor of Rhode Island 
Ok 
POLLUTION OF THE WATERS OF THE STATE 
Division of Sanitary Engineering, Rhode Island Department of Health, December 23, 1946 December 23, 1946 
Honorable John 0. Pastore 
Governor of Rhode Island 
State House 
Providence, Rhode Island 
Sir: 
I have the honor to present herewith a report on "The Pollution of 
the W aters of the State” which was prepared by the Acting Chief of the 
Division of Sanitary Engineering in accordance with your direction. 
Respectfully yours. 
Edward A. McLaughlin, M. D 
Director of Health TABLE OF CONTENTS 
Page Number 
INTRODUCTION 1 
EXPLANATION OF MAPS 2 
CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO HIGHEST USE .... 2 
BASIS OF PLANNED CONDITION 3 
UPPER NARRAGANSETT BAY, PROVIDENCE RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES . 3 
SOURCES OF POLLUTION 4 
METROPOLITAN SYSTEM 5 
BLACKSTONE VALLEY DISTRICT SEWER SYSTEM 7 
OTHER ESSENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS OF UPPER NARRAGANSETT BAY, 
PROVIDENCE RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES 9 
WOONSOCKET 9 
EAST PROVIDENCE • 10 
PROVIDENCE 10 
PAWTUXET RIVER 11 
OTHER AREAS OF POLLUTION 12 
OIL POLLUTION 12 
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 13 REPORT ON THE POLLUTION 
OF THE 
WATERS OF THE STATE 
INTRODUCTION 
The report which follows was prepared at the direction of His Excellency, 
John O. Pastore, Governor of Rhode Island, to provide him with the recommenda- 
tions of the Division of Sanitary Engineering relative to a pollution control pro- 
gram for Rhode Island which will meet present needs, be adapted to future needs, 
and which can be carried out with a minimum expenditure of public and private 
funds. The writer has reviewed a large volume of information gathered over the 
years since enactment of the pollution control statute in 1920. This information 
includes not only the results of analyses of water and the reports of employees 
of the state concerning the sources of pollution, but numerous reports of firms of 
consulting sanitary engineers, of established reputation, who have investigated 
and made recommendations relative to various phases of the problem. It is with 
this background added to the writer’s long experience in pollution control work 
in Rhode Island that this analysis of the situation and the recommendations 
contained herein are presented. 
No attempt was made to submit a detailed analysis of each of the waters of 
the state. Such information has been published in the annual reports of the Board 
of Purification of Waters and the annual reports of the agencies which succeeded 
the board, the Division of Purification of Waters and the Division of Sanitary 
Engineering. It is also contained in special reports of these agencies and is avail- 
able in large volume in the files of the Division of Sanitary Engineering. The 
purpose of the report is twofold; to show by means of diagrammatic maps the condition of the waters of the state at the present time and a planned condition 
which should result from a program of pollution abatement which is comprehen- 
sive yet realistic; to offer a means of accomplishing the desired improvements in 
the most economical manner. 
EXPLANATION OF MAPS 
Appended to the report are three maps. On Map I the present condition 
and usefulness of the tidal waters of the state are shown. On Map II the planned 
condition and usefulness of the tidal waters of the state are indicated. On each 
of these maps, the water areas are colored to show the classification into which 
they fall. Map III shows the present and planned condition of the inland streams. 
On Map III, present condition is indicated by a ribbon of color on the left bank 
of the stream, and planned condition by a ribbon of color on the right bank of 
the stream. In any instance where the planned condition will remain the same as 
the present condition, the right bank of the stream is left uncolored. This was 
done to make the map easier to read. Outlines of watersheds of streams are 
shown by a heavy black line. 
Classification According to Highest Use 
Class A—Waters shown in green are used or are suitable for use as drinking 
water supply or for the cultivation of market shellfish. 
Class B—Waters shown in blue are used or are suitable for bathing 
Class C—Waters shown in yellow are used or are suitable for use for recrea- 
tional boating, fishing, culture of seed oysters, or industrial supply after treat- 
ment. 
Class D—Waters shown in red are used or are suitable for use primarily 
for commercial navigation or transportation of wastes without nuisance. 
Class E—Waters shown in red violet are grossly polluted and cause a nui- 
sance. This class has no place in a planned condition. 
2 Basis of Planned Condition 
In planning the future condition of the waters of the state, ideal conditions 
must in some cases give way to conditions which are less ideal but which are 
practically obtainable in a state such as- Rhode Island which is highly indus- 
trialized, densely populated, and enjoys considerable sea commerce. Present 
day essential uses will not permit the return of all the waters of the state to the 
condition they were in when Rhode Island was an undeveloped area. The planned 
condition of the waters of the state indicated on the accompanying maps are the 
highest classifications compatible with the conditions found in Rhode Island. 
The availability of water for dilution, the fact that some of the sewer systems in 
use are of the combined type (carry both storm water and sanitary sewage), and 
the limitations of accepted methods of sewage and industrial waste treatment 
have been taken into consideration. In no case does the planned condition of the 
waters of the state admit of offensive conditions. 
UPPER NARRAGANSETT BAY, 
PROVIDENCE RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES 
It is the considered view of the writer that the most vital and pressing pollu- 
tion problem facing the state today is that involving the waters of Upper Narra- 
gansett Bay, the Providence River, and the rivers which empty into these waters. 
The tributaries of the Providence River which pass through the center of the 
City of Providence, the Moshassuck, Woonasquatucket, and the Seekonk Rivers, 
are badly polluted and cause a serious nuisance in the city. They empty into the 
already polluted Providence River which transports its own pollution and the 
added pollution into Upper Narragansett Bay. Nowhere in the state is the damage 
done by pollution so extensive as in these waters. Riparian owners suffer losses 
in property value, the shellfish industry must abandon the most favorable grow- 
ing areas, and large numbers of people are deprived of recreational opportunities. 
3 It is only logical then that in any pollution abatement program the improve- 
ment of Upper Narragansett Bay and its tributeries should receive prior con- 
sideration. 
SOURCES OF POLLUTION-UPPER NARRAGANSETT BAY, 
PROVIDENCE RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES 
The sources of this pollution of Upper Narragansett Bay, Providence River 
and tributaries are principally as follows: the inadequately treated sewage of the 
City of Providence and the Town of East Providence emptied into the Providence 
River; partially treated industrial wastes from Saylesville, untreated industrial 
wastes from Pawtucket and poorly treated sewage from the westerly part of the 
City of Central Falls all emptied into the Moshassuck River; untreated industrial 
wastes emptied into the Seekonk River from the Phillipsdale section of East 
Providence; raw sewage from about two-thirds of Pawtucket and one-half of 
Central Falls, also large volumes of untreated industrial wastes from these cities 
emptied into the Blackstone River; untreated industrial wastes in the City of 
Woonsocket emptied into the Blackstone River; untreated and partly treated 
industrial wastes emptied into the lower part of the Woonasquatucket River; 
poorly treated sewage from the state institutions at Howard and from the City 
of Cranston sewage treatment works emptied into the Pawtuxet River. Examina- 
tions of the Blackstone River made over a long period of years indicate that the 
pollution that river receives in passing through the State of Massachusetts has 
largely disappeared when the river reaches Rhode Island. Its condition on reach- 
ing Rhode Island is not such that it prevents a solution of the problem within 
the state. 
METROPOLITAN SYSTEM 
The Metropolitan Sewer Commission Report of December 1933 recom- 
mended the creation of a metropolitan sewer district, served by a single sewage 
4 treatment plant, to deal with pollution in the metropolitan area. The project 
recommended by the commission provided for the collection of all the sewage 
and industrial wastes in the Blackstone Valley as far north as Woonsocket, with 
the exception of that treated by the sewage disposal plant of the City of Woon- 
socket, all the sewage and industrial wastes in the Moshassuck Valley, the Woon- 
asquatucket Valley and the Pawtuxet Valley, and the sewage of the City of 
Providence and the conveyance of the collected sewage and industrial wastes by 
means of trunk sewers and pumping stations to a treatment plant at Prudence 
Island. The treated sewage would be discharged into deep water off Prudence 
Island. The construction of a trunk sewer on the east side of the bay to collect 
the sewage of East Providence, Barrington, Warren and Bristol would be de- 
ferred to a later date. In the meantime, a small treatment plant would be built 
to serve the Town of Bristol and improvement would be made in the Warren 
plant. 
The proposed scheme was immoderately expensive at the time the report 
was made. It was estimated in 1933 that it would cost $14,850,000 exclusive of 
the lateral sewers which would have to be installed at an estimated cost of 
$4,800,000. Even these high costs did not take into consideration damages which 
would be incurred through water diversion and if experience in other places is 
taken into consideration, the estimated costs would be greatly exceeded. Present 
day sewerage construction costs are said to be 111.6% above what they were in 
1933 when the estimate was made. 
In addition to high costs, there are fundamental objections to the elaborate 
project proposed by the commission. While emptying the sewage of the district 
off Prudence Island in deep water has the advantage of the availability of a large 
volume of clean water for dilution, such a proposal is a threat to the purity of 
waters which are now Class A. Imperfect treatment or lapses in treatment (both 
5 of these are normal occurrences) would contaminate clean waters and restrict 
their use for the cultivation of market shellfish. A program for pollution abate- 
ment should not transfer pollution from one area to another. Any scheme to 
transport sewage from the northern part of the state to a point as far down Narra- 
gansett Bay as Prudence Island involves some forty miles of main trunk sewer, 
several huge pumping stations and many miles of sub-main sewer construction. 
The millions of dollars invested in such construction accomplish no purification 
of the sewage, but only its transfer from one location to another. In fact, sewage 
which has traveled long distances confined in a sewer becomes septic and is much 
more difficult to treat than fresh sewage. Of the utmost importance is the fact 
that by collecting sewage in a pipe and conveying it forty miles, no advantage is 
taken of the enormous natural purification that occurs in a stream in traveling 
such a distance. The absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere and from plant 
life, the sedimentation of suspended matter, the action of bacteria and other 
organisms work profound changes in polluting material which has been dumped 
into a stream. In the course of one day’s flow, a large stream of average velocity 
will absorb from the atmosphere up to 50% of any oxygen deficiency prevailing 
at the start of the day’s flow. Flow over dams or rapids increases greatly the 
amount of oxygen absorbed. 
The carrying out now of a metropolitan sewerage project as proposed in 
1933 would not only cause the abandonment of certain municipal sewage treat- 
ment facilities constructed before 1933 at considerable expense, but also facilities 
constructed since. The latter include over a million dollars worth of improve- 
ments at the Providence plant, the Cranston treatment works constructed at a 
cost of $600,000 and the West Warwick treatment plant built at a cost of $170,000. 
Because of all the foregoing reasons, it is not recommended that the proposal 
made by the Metropolitan Sewer Commission be adopted. 
6 BLACKSTONE VALLEY DISTRICT SEWER SYSTEM 
In general, economy and efficiency of operation are gained by the construc- 
tion of a single sewage treatment plant to serve several communities rather than 
by the construction of several treatment plants, provided the sewage of the 
several communities originates in the same or adjoining watersheds and does not 
have to be carried long distances to reach a central point for treatment and dis- 
charge. An opportunity to obtain such advantages presents itself in the Black- 
stone Valley. A sewer district established to include the communities and in- 
dustries in the lower Blackstone and Moshassuck Valleys, and served by a treat- 
ment plant located in the northern part of the Town of East Providence on the 
east bank of the Seekonk River, is undoubtedly the soundest method of dealing 
with this area. 
In the immediate future a trunk sewer should be laid along the Blackstone 
River, extending from the northerly part of the City of Central Falls, southerly 
to the district treatment plant located in the northerly part of East Providence. 
This trunk sewer would intercept the sewage and industrial wastes from the 
Cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls now emptied raw into the Blackstone 
River. It should be of sufficient capacity to take the sewage of the villages of 
Valley Falls and Lonsdale in the Town of Cumberland and sewage and industrial 
wastes from that part of the village of Lonsdale located in the Town of Lincoln. 
It would also be advisable to provide the relatively small extra capacity to permit 
further extension up the Blackstone River to serve the more northerly villages 
as far as Manville some time in the future. Until the villages of Valley Falls and 
Lonsdale and the more northerly ones install sewer systems the northerly ter- 
mination of the trunk sewer would be in the City of Central Falls. The consulting 
engineers engaged to advise the Town of Cumberland stated in their 1925 report 
that the plan of sewerage recommended to the town was such that the sewage 
7 could be expected to drain by gravity into a Blackstone Valley trunk sewer. 
The district system would take the domestic sewage and industrial wastes 
discharged into the Seekonk River from the Phillipsdale section of the Town of 
East Providence. Any plan which fails to provide treatment for the large volumes 
of industrial wastes of a high pollutional value which are emptied into the Seekonk 
River at Phillipsdale will not succeed in accomplishing the desired reduction of 
the pollution load in that river. 
The sanitary sewage and industrial wastes of the cities of Pawtucket and 
Central Falls which have their origin within the watershed of the Moshassuck 
River would be pumped over the ridge to the Blackstone River watershed and be 
taken into the district system. This would divert from the Providence system the 
sewage discharged into that system by Pawtucket. It would also bring about the 
abandonment of the Central Falls-Moshassuck Valley treatment plant which is 
of too small capacity for present sewage flow; this plant is in an advanced state of 
disrepair and has only a negligible salvage value. The industrial wastes of the 
Sayles Finishing Company would not be taken into the system but would be 
treated by facilities developed by the Sayles Company. Existing treatment 
facilities at the Sayles plant must be greatly expanded and improved, however, 
to provide the degree of treatment necessary to maintain the Moshassuck River 
to an inoffensive condition. It appears advisable to exclude the Sayles waste 
from the district system because the entire flow of the Moshassuck River is used 
in industrial processing by the Sayles plant during the summer months, and 
returned to the river as waste of high pollution value. If this waste were to be 
taken into a sewer system, the Moshassuck River would be practically dried up 
for some distance below the plant and the diversion of water involved might 
entail serious damage to riparian owners downstream. 
It is impossible to give a reliable estimate of the cost of carrying out the 
8 construction of a Blackstone Valley district sewer system and treatment plant as 
outlined for immediate construction until a more detailed engineering study has 
been made. However, on the basis of estimates made in the past by engineers on 
the cost of a treatment plant, trunk sewers and pumping stations serving such an 
area, and applying an additional 111% to these estimates to provide for current 
high construction costs, it is estimated that the project would cost approximately 
$4,000,000. 
OTHER ESSENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS OF UPPER NARRAGANSETT 
BAY, PROVIDENCE RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES 
Woonsocket 
Large volumes of industrial wastes now enter the Blackstone River in Woon- 
socket without treatment. These wastes must be treated to reduce the pollution 
load now imposed on the river at and below Woonsocket. Unless the wastes in 
question damage the sewer system, they should be taken into it. If they are such 
that they damage the system, they should receive preliminary treatment at the 
industrial plant where they originate and then be taken into the sewer system. 
This program will require the expansion of the Woonsocket treatment plant and 
possibly a modification of the treatment method. 
East Providence 
The existing treatment plant which serves the sewered portion of East 
Providence requires expansion, improvement, and the addition of secondary 
treatment facilities to provide a higher degree of treatment. While it may be 
argued that the volume of sewage discharged from this plant is small (about 
.5 m.g.d.) when compared with other communities, the waters into which the 
effluent is discharged require a high degree of purification for all wastes they 
receive. 
9 Providence 
The sewage treatment plant located at Fields Point serves, in addition to 
the City of Providence, the Town of North Providence and about one-third of 
the City of Pawtucket. This plant was converted in 1936 from a chemical precip- 
itation plant into an activated sludge plant. Unfortunately, the purification 
accomplished by the new process, is not what was expected. Ten analyses of the 
sewage made by the state department of health during the year 1946 show that, 
on the average, treatment reduces the bio-chemical oxygen demand of the sewage 
only 43%, producing an effluent which has the relatively high bio-chemical 
oxygen demand of 110 parts per million. Normally, the activated sludge treat- 
ment process is expected to remove from 85% to 95% of the bio-chemical oxygen 
demand. During the same period, the removal of suspended solids was 52.5% 
as against an expected removal of 85% to 95%. The sewage effluent shows a 
high concentration of coliform bacteria ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000 per 
10 ml. It should be kept in mind that (on the average) 46 million gallons per day, 
the sewage of a population of approximately 275,000 representing about 60% of 
the sewered population of the state, is emptied into the Providence River at 
Fields Point. From these facts it is concluded that despite the sewage treatment 
facilities in operation at Providence, that city is a major contributor of pollution 
to the Providence River and Upper Narragansett Bay. Purification of the city’s 
sewage must be greatly improved, and disinfection of the effluent from the treat- 
ment plant practiced if pollution of the Providence River and Upper Narragan- 
sett Bay is to be stopped. 
Pawtuxet River 
The polluted condition of the Pawtuxet River as it flows into the Providence 
River is of importance also in considering the elimination of pollution in Upper 
Narragansett Bay. At the present time there are three major potential sources 
of pollution of this river. 
10 The sewage of the Town of West Warwick is emptied into it after treatment 
in the activated sludge plant operated by the town. On the whole, this treatment 
works is producing a satisfactory effluent although disinfection of the sewage 
should be carried on the year round instead of on a seasonal basis. 
The sewage from most of the state institutions at Howard is emptied into 
the Pawtuxet River with little or no treatment. A treatment plant which was 
partly constructed before the war has not been completed. The flow of sewage 
from those institutions which are connected to the main sewer system is estimated 
to be nearly 500,000 gallons per day. This is a considerable volume of sewage 
and contributes substantially to the pollution of the Pawtuxet River. 
The City of Cranston Sewage Treatment Works is not producing a satis- 
factory effluent due to interference of industrial wastes with the sewage treat- 
ment process. The city has engaged a firm of consulting engineers to recommend 
means of overcoming the difficulties encountered and awaits their report. Un- 
til a satisfactory effluent is produced at this plant, the lower reaches of the Paw- 
tuxet River will continue to be polluted and contribute pollution to the Provi- 
dence River. 
OTHER AREAS OF POLLUTION 
This report has dealt largely with pollution of the waters of the Providence 
River and Upper Narragansett Bay and the tributaries of these waters because 
it is felt that the most critical pollution problem exists there, and because abate- 
ment of this pollution requires joint action on a drainage district basis as well as 
individual action by municipalities and industries. There exist in a number of 
other localities throughout the state isolated areas of pollution which demand 
remedial action. Such pollution has no influence on the Providence River-Upper 
Narragansett Bay situation. An examination of the maps attached to this report 
will show where these polluted areas are located. Some of the more important 
11 ones are; the Branch River, the Pawcatuck River in Westerly, Newport Harbor 
and Mount Hope Bay. Mount Hope Bay is polluted exclusively by sewage from 
the State of Massachusetts. Its improvement must await action by that state. 
It is felt that with the exception of Mount Hope Bay, the existing pollution law 
can be applied with satisfactory results to these local areas of pollution. 
OIL POLLUTION 
Opportunities for the escape of oil into the waters of the state are ever 
present in a port such as Providence where enormous volumes of oil are trans- 
ferred daily from ship to shore and again handled at installations near the shore. 
The escape of heavy oil is particularly damaging to shore property, yachts and 
wildlife. 
The escape of oil into the waters of the state may be caused either by 
mechanical failure or by human failure. In the first case, preventive measures 
should be directed toward the elimination or alteration of oil handling equip 
ment which is likely to fail and to establish other safeguards in case of failure. 
Since no mechanical apparatus is foolproof, it can be hoped only to reduce 
mechanical failures to a minimum. In the case of human failure, only constant 
vigilance on the part of those handling oil and frequent policing by the state to 
insure this vigilance can be expected to minimize this expectancy. To pursue 
both of these aims thoroughly will require more personnel than is now engaged 
in this work. The strengthening of the pollution law to permit the immediate 
arrest and prosecution of any individual who through negligence is found causing 
oil to be discharged into the waters of the state is needed. Present authority 
providing for a hearing after thirty days notice before prosecution is attempted 
cannot be practically applied to personnel of ships which are in this port for only 
a day or two. 
12 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
1. The latest studies of the waters of the state made by the Division of 
Sanitary Engineering, Rhode Island Department of Health, indicate that with 
population growth and increased industrial activity, pollution has reached farther 
down Narragansett Bay than ever, causing extensive damage to natural resources. 
2. The war years prevented the taking of remedial measures because of 
governmental restrictions on the use of scarce materials for such work. This has 
magnified the problem to a degree which makes immediate action to abate 
pollution an urgent necessity. 
3. A program of pollution control is outlined in this report, one of the main 
features of which is the creation of a Blackstone Valley District Sewer Commis- 
sion to provide for the treatment, in a single plant, of the sewage and industrial 
wastes which originate in several communities and industries located in that 
valley and the Moshassuck Valley and which is now discharged into the waters 
of the state either without treatment or with negligible treatment. Legislation 
should be enacted creating such a state commission with authority to do the 
following: 
a. Borrow money backed by the credit of the state to finance the planning 
and construction of the work. 
b. Engage consulting engineers to prepare detailed plans of trunk sewers, 
pumping stations and a sewage disposal plant consisting of primary treat- 
ment and disinfection (secondary treatment to await the results of ex- 
perimental treatment studies of the mixed sewage and waste) to serve 
the areas described in this report under f Blackstone Valley Sewer Dis- 
trict.” 
c. Condemn and take property needed for such sewerage purposes. 
d. Operate the constructed project. 
13 e. Make the project self-liquidating by assessing equitable service charges 
annually on each of the municipalities whose sewer system is connected 
and also on any industry which has a separate connection. 
f. Make connection to the district system of each municipality or industry 
within the district, as described, mandatory. 
4. A law should be enacted permitting any municipality to assess annual 
sewer service charges on all properties connected to its sewer system, to meet 
the costs of sewage treatment. Such a charge in use elsewhere varies from ten 
to fifteen dollars per property connected. 
5. Where pollution exists which may be successfully and economically 
abated without the creation of a sewerage district including more than one munic- 
ipality, Chapter 634 of the General Laws of 1938 should be enforced. Specific 
exemptions granted to Newport, Jamestown and New Shoreham under the law 
should be removed. 
6. Chapter 634 of the General Laws of 1938 should be strengthened to 
provide for better control of oil pollution. 
7. The State of Rhode Island should join with the other New England 
states in compacts to control pollution of interstate waters and thus control 
pollution coming from without the state. 
Respectfully submitted, 
Walter J. Shea, Acting Chief 
Division of Sanitary Engineering 
Rhode Island Department of Health 
14 Rhode Island Department of Health 
Division of Sanitary Engineering 
SANITARY CLASSIFICATION OF TIDAL WATERS 
Present Condition and Usefulness 
December 1946 
LEGEND 
Class A 
Class B 
Class C 
Class D 
Class E Rhode Island Department of Health 
Division of Sanitary Engineering 
SANITARY CLASSIFICATION OF TIDAL WATERS 
Planned Condition and Usefulness 
December 1946 
LEGEND 
Class A 
Class B 
Class C 
Class D 
Class E Map 111 
Rhode Island Department of Health 
Division of Sanitary Engineering 
SANITARY CLASSIFICATION OF STREAMS 
Present Condition and Usefulness - Left Bank 
Planned Condition and Usefulness - Right Bank 
December 1946 
LEGEND 
Class A 
Class B 
Class C 
Class D 
Class E