The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1873-12-17
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Bid DRINKING MATER.

Win reXalU 70 the eject ~ impurities y"
our water supplies, the mineral Impurities are
rarely sufficient to be objectionable Lime Or
Emagnesia salts makes the water hard and I'M
Efit for cooking purposes, bat on the other
hand, it makes 1t good for tea, because u pre-
vents the solution Of the bitter and stringent
kqaalitcs. DR.. Letherby, one OF tho most
active writer's on this class Of subjects, has
made out a table of death rates, in which he
compares the death ratc and tho degree Of
hardness in the water caused by the presence
LOT magnesia and lme In towns Of England
Iand Scotland where the hardness of water is
10 grains to the gallon, the death rate Is 81 y
10; where the hardness is 8 grains, the death
rate is "a e-l0 and where it is e-lO, the
death rate is 20 in the 1000, \ requires a
very large quantity Of mineral impurities in
water to make them objectionable. Water
might contain 35 grains of mineral matter to
the gallon and not DO Objectionable and that
lis very rarely reached by any city supply.
With regard to the organic impurities In
water, living plants are rarely objectionable ;
ON the contrary they arc often advantageous.
Certain plants purify the water, for they
llibciatc oxygen-ozonizcd oxygen-which is
of the best kind. II very rarely occurs that
the living animals in water are objectionable.
II is impossible to get sample of river OF
lake water that does not contain living ami
mails, but these are almost in every case
harmless 1t has happened that parasitic
worms have been introduced into the body by
drinking water and it is said that one sixth OF
the deaths in Iceland occurs from this cause.
| Leeches have sometimes got into the stomach
in this way, and in a march of the French
troops in Algeria 400 cases of sickness took
} place from the introduction into the stomach
of minute leeches which were in the water
drank by the soldiers Color in water from
pcaty matter was scarcely Objectionable. Not
long since new reservoir was constructed in
New Bedford, Mass, and the area not being
properly secured, the water was colored for
year or so, but no injury accrued. The or
ganic matter which is dangerous in water is
sewage No matter how clean water may be,
if it contain even filtered sewage it is extreme
by Objectionable. Many diseases of tho most
fatal character are now traced to water faint
cd by sewage. | might give great many in-
stances in which typhoid fever was developed
by this cause. Cholera, although it does not
originate IN polluted water, is most rapidly and
thoroughly communicated by water tainted
j by choleraic excreta. There is ono other
source OF iinpurity, and that is in the pipes
through which the water is conveyed. Water
is liable to be contaminated by leaG, and the
purer the water the greater the danger from
lead contamination. Water which is kept in
lead pipes over night i'll New York will contain
a tenth of grain, and the water which pas
SEES through 200 feet of pipe will give distinct
traces of lead, but this can, OF course, be
obviated by the glass-lned pipe recently intro
duced. In studying the sources of our water
supply we are, therefore, compelled to consi-
der the danger Of contamination of the water
by animal refuse or sewage Mineral or
vegetable impurities are not Objectionable.
Ponds rarely, il ever, receive considerable
quantity of sewage, and, consequently, they
are above suspicion. Wells, on the contrary,
should always be viewed with suspicion.
Every well is liable to DO the source of con-
tamination. An ordinary house has its well
and its cess pool and its privy in tho same
block ana 1t Is haraiy possible III an ordinary
distance from tho cess nool and the nrivv os
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