The Hidden Cost of Tacoma’s Water Crisis
While public officials downplay safety, local physicians warn that Clover Creek is contaminated by sewage and fueling a typhoid outbreak.
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County Physician T. B. Curran has publicly distanced himself from City Health Officer Dr. Schug’s report claiming the city water supply is safe. Curran, who inspected Clover Creek, described seeing numerous outhouses and vaults located within six feet of the creek’s edge, all draining into the water supply. Dr. Curran stated that since his investigation, he has exclusively consumed boiled water. Another local physician, Dr. McGeer, confirmed that typhoid cases in Tacoma appear locally sourced and directly linked to the water. An earlier investigation by a commission of four physicians, kept quiet by city authorities nearly seven years ago, had already identified this contamination risk, yet the city continued to ignore the hazard.
“A large number of outhouses and vaults, some of them within six feet of the edge of Clover creek, and all draining into it. That is what I saw.”
This 1904 controversy highlights how city leaders often prioritized political optics and growth over the basic infrastructure of public health. Tacoma's modern efforts to maintain water quality and manage utility infrastructure remain a direct descendant of these early, fraught battles over public resources.
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