Human settlement of the Caribbean represents the only example in the Americas of peoples colonizing islands that were not visible from surrounding mainland areas or other islands. Unfortunately, many interpretive models have relied on radiocarbon determinations that do not meet standard criteria for reporting because they lack critical information or sufficient provenience, often leading to specious interpretations. We have collated 2484 radiocarbon determinations, assigned them to classes based on chronometric hygiene criteria, and constructed Bayesian colonization models of the acceptable determinations to examine patterns of initial settlement. Colonization estimates for 26 islands indicate that (i) the region was settled in two major population dispersals that likely originated from South America; (ii) colonists reached islands in the northern Antilles before the southern islands; and (iii) the results support the southward route hypothesis and refute the “stepping-stone model.”

The removal of arsenic from drinking water at water‐treatment plants is shown here to be affected by pH and doses of suitable coagulants.

That water quality changes are related primarily to the oxidation of iron metal was indicated by results of an experiment with a simulated pipe loop system using tap water. A variety of aquatic microorganisms was observed and identified in the pipe loop system, among them the organisms that constitute the microbiotic cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and iron transformation. With microbial growth, cast iron test specimens exhibited localized corrosion.

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Globaline and halazone have been used as disinfectants since the second World War. Currently, both are undergoing re-evaluation to find a disinfectant tablet that can dissolve fast and still pass the tests of storage and time.