FROM BUTTES-CHAUMONT TO MÉNILMONTANT…

Today we will still drink carbolic water. The guilty factory owner is being sought

The sending of Marne water is suspended One act of negligence was enough. Finding the decantation costs in industrial premises too high, a factory owner from Neuilly or Champigny threw a fairly large quantity of phenol into the Marne.

Victims of this involuntary misdeed since yesterday morning, the inhabitants of the eastern suburbs and the 19th and 20th arrondissements have not been able to absorb a single drop of water. In this unfortunate region, all the restaurants and all the housewives have had to throw away the best-prepared food with disgust. Throughout the day, their taps have only provided carbolic water, unbearable to the taste, perhaps even dangerous.

The night has passed and, this morning, Marne water consumers were able to see that the disaster continues. A remedy must be quickly provided by the Seine Prefecture and the water must become as drinkable as before.

Mr. Fiancette, who has been very actively involved in the issue, is calling for effective measures to be implemented.
- During the summer months, he told us, we consume 600,000 cubic meters of water, a third of which is supplied by springs and the other two thirds are brought by rivers

Safety measures

We were able to contact Mr. Baratte, head of the water department at the Seine Prefecture, and we asked him what measures had already been taken. Mr. Baratte replied:
We have stopped the service of sending filtered water from the Marne and we now only use Seine water from Ivry or spring water.
"Obviously, a significant amount of carbolic water remained in the water pipes, but its unpleasant taste is gradually diminishing.
"As for the reservoirs, they have been divided into two parts; one contains pure liquid that is sent to the consumer; in the other we bring the carbolic water that we will try to treat with chemicals.
"We remain convinced that a negligent factory owner is responsible for this deplorable affair. But we urge the public not to worry too much. The unbearable taste of the water in the neighborhoods will become imperceptible and even disappear completely."

An investigation has been opened to discover the culprit, which is apparently a listed establishment near Neuilly. Repression is all the more imminent since the region's industrialists throw any product into the river. They are obviously exposed to a fine. But the cost of this fine is much lower than the cost of decanting in industrial premises. The mayors of the threatened municipalities, responsible for local police, are too often reduced to impotence. But the consumer societies, united in unions, and the fishing societies, who see in the presence of chemical products in the waters of the Marne, a danger to their favorite sport, can by mutual agreement, request and obtain compensation for damage.

It is Mr. Dunert, general inspector of the water supply service, who was charged with the investigation. He has already noted that the trace of the incriminated products started from the Joinville sewer.