Closed System Use of Industrial
Water
C. J.  LEWIS
National Gypsum Company
Freeport, Pennsylvania
Water Pollution Abatement
All of us here have interests or responsibilities pertaining to clean
water. The water pollution problem in this nation is very serious and
it's getting worse. In my opinion, the structure we are attempting to
erect in the interest of clean streams and water pollution abatement
is being built from the top down, rather from the bottom up. This is
not good construction. The story of three stone breakers is worth
repeating:
Three men, each breaking a pile of rocks, were asked by a passerby, "What are you doing?" The first man, without stopping, replied, "I am breaking stones;" the second man, without looking up,
said, "I am earning $6.00 a day;" but the third man paused to look
up and say, "We are building a cathedral."
The salvaging of our surface waters, and the attainment of clean
surface waters may be likened to the building of a cathedral. The project
requires an appreciation of the goal and a positive desire for better
things, rather than the urge of necessity. Physical cleanliness, like cleanliness of the mind, is a way of life. A nation can be no cleaner than
its citizens. The desire for clean water is not being properly built into
the living habits of the coming generation. I recall the high incidence
of forest fires when I was a small boy. I recall the drive for forest fire
prevention which was launched in Pennsylvania some thirty years ago.
We wrote childish essays on the subject in seventh and eighth grades.
We were awarded little prizes for the best posters on forest fire prevention. The subject was debated in high school. As we matured we were
subjected to a variety of posters in street cars, buses and on billboards
pertaining to forest fire prevention. Today this drive continues with
posters of Smoky, the Bear and continuing educational programs on
forest fire prevention are seen on television, in movie shorts and heard
on the radio. This campaign, launched many years ago, has paid off.
It was built from the bottom up.  We now have a generation of indus-
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