The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-01 00:00:00

WANTED-PURE WATER,

(Irons the Building .A'ezcs)
Our sanitary authorities have unanimously accepted pure
water as a main feature in the requirements of man. Their
effort to secure to the public the necessary element, bears
testimony to the difficulties that ever arise in a eiviliied and
highly populated country, in obtaining water in its, states
etnhes
puiwaelaarinimiggh extentr, of purity. Pure water has been the cry that has lowered
the water company,As
d to
bl an e in
therefrom.
Still, when we realise the fact, so well established as to
be beyond all doubt, that the purer the water that inters
our leaden conduits, the more poisonous it may be made
theshareho shareholders.
addition
ternl eiv to
e
ect
considerable
before it reaches the consumer, we have to ask. most
seriously whether or not that great depreciation of stock.is
not lost, so far as the public advantage that might
accrue from it, by the want of a proper knowledge,
of the medium through which the water is oonieyed.
A circular was issued, or a general notice promulgated, by
the several water companies, when the reservoirs were•
covered in and the various additions and improvements
made in compliance with the new set of Parliament relat-
ing thereto, requesting the consumers to clear out their
cfsterns, that' they might receive the full benefit of thec
purer supply. Still it left an equally important require-
ment untouched and almost unknown. In some districts,
public attention has been aroused to the knowledge of the.
requirement of which we speak, through the sudden death
by poisoning of several members of a family, with the nar-
row escape of the remainder. The cause has been traced.
to the leaden pipes through which the water used by the
family has been conveyed. We aro not about to frighten
our readers with a prognostication of sudden death to the
consumers of water that has passed through leaden pipes,
but ask their attention to a few facts relative to the charac-
teristics of the medium through which they receive this
universal element.
Firstly, we are informed by the highest chemical autho-
rities, that pure water so rapidly acts upon lead, that in a
very short space of time it becomes impregnated with this
metal in a soluble form. Nor are we to escape by the com-
forting assurance that the water is impure. Water that
contains carbonic acid (and what water does not in a grea,ter
or less degree ?) equally appropriates to itself a portion Of
the metallic medium through which it passes ; these are
facts from which we have no appeal. It is true that water
may contain certain constituents that will act on the lead
in a manner more favourable to a hygienic state of things ;
but do wo take the trouble to ascertain if such a quality
exists in our water? We think not. The result is, there-
fore, that in the case of all new lead pipes, colic, next to
poisoning, is the result upon all who use it; and in all
cases, unless specially protected, poison, in the form of salts
of lead, is administered, whether in homoeopathic doses or
after the more liberal allopathic system, and a deleter.ious
effect is produced on the system and health of all who par-
take of the liquid. The effect of sulphuric acid as a co."-
rective, in the exceptional cases of which we have already.
spoken, is caused by the internal surface of the lead being'
changed from the metallic state into a sulphide of the metal
which is insoluble in water. This reaction may be artificially
produced by a simple yet scientific process, the discovery of
Dr. Schwarz, of Breslau. This savant proposes the passing
through lead pipes of a solution of sulphide of potassium,
at a temperature of 212 degrees, which changes the metallic
lead into a sulphide of lead, and, thus transmuted, the
water passing through it is perfectly free from the risk of
contamination by any poisonous salt from the load. It re-
mains for the public themselves to decide from our state-
ments of facts, whether or not they will continue to tolerate
even the skeleton of an evil that may be so easily exercised.