The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-01-08
TFor the Dispatch1
q r.y,.or BAvef Water

aiss,n with all his chemical knowledge. 70
convince The City Fathers or the public that
Il IA better 10 drink muddy than clear water:
John Randolph. on occasion Of eompiains
against bis hostess at hotel IN fafIh VIZ
Of want sf cleanliness In her cookery, pe e, =
told it was small matter, and THAT :. an y,
,,s had To eat our peck of dirt in ilie'tinle,
renlied GWc,l, madam, 90 not WISH 70
cat al, mine at once" suspect most OF Us
time feel regarding James River water, par
f;cu!arIy as we generally take 1t with our
eyes open. p,,or
rnaceutist or Tuckaboe "rem Gch feHgu.
Does the former mean to assert tbat GEAR
lanes River water will corrodc lead pipes, or
the latter deny its The matter might be set
lied by experiment, by permitting the wafer
when clear, in the summer, TO pass through
lead pipes, then examining the pipes, ano
having the water which has passed tnrough
tested for lead; or, by having, the wafer ana
iyzed to find out whether it Is pure enough
to cause its action upon ieao' Inc actioh
OF river water upon lead pipes must DC rare,
20 rho conditions for such action do not
often occrr-yiz.: sThat the water must
aboupd In carbonic acid, or contain little or
mo saline matter, and with either OF these
conditions there must be free access OF AIR.
fTaylor on Poisons, page 1867
SGIipon examination of five or six works on
nPractice OF Medicine" I do not ind one
of them mentioning the passage OF wafer
through lead pipes as cause OF "lead.poi.
sopinr,n The standing of water in lead
cisterps with access OF air, the use OF clder
in leaden vessels, the manufacturing OF lead,
the use OF il by painters, &C., are enume-
rated rs causes, but not the passage OF water
through lead pipes. Lead-poisoning does
sometimes thus occur, but it must De rare
and there is no danger OF our James hlfer
water ever being made sufficiently pure
and clear to act upon leaden pipes. IN tnls
subject find in 'ETaylor on Poisons," page
1868, the following: "This metal LteaaJ IS
largely used for water.cisterns anu pipes,
and under certain circumstances hydratea
oxide and carbonate lead are apt to be formed
in large quantities and diffused in the water.
- This conversion to carbonate
IS observed to take place chiefly with new
lead or the metal which has bright surface;
but II is remarkab BILE that when lead Is alloyed
with 1.2O0lh part of arsenic it remains unat-
fected by water. Old lead does not easily
produce the oxide or carbonate, the metal
being protected by the crust which is already
formed on it and firmly adheres to it. II Is
important for the medical jurist to bear in
mind that the purer the water, or the less
saline matter it contains, the more it is liable
to acquire the poisonous impregnation but
pure water has no effect whatever ualesS
there be free access of air." After speak
ing OF the kinds of water liable to become
poisoned, already quoted in my article, Tay-
Tor goes on to say: IF this (the saline mat
teri forms less than the fifteen-thousandth
part Of the weight of water it is liable 10 &C
quire an impregnation from lead. The
Thames water contains about the sever-
thousandlh of its weight Of saline matter,
and I have kept in this water for nine years |
a mass of lead, exposing fifty-eight square
inches of surface, without any carbonate De- |
ing produced.
Distilled water treated in like manner du-
ring the same period has produced con.
siderable quantity Of hydrated oxide anu
carbonate lead A mixture OF equal parts
of river and distilled water had no action on
lead, consequently preservatlVe effect eX-
listed where the proportion OF saline matter
could not have been greater than the
l4UOOth part. The Edinburgh water,
about. the 12OO0th Of its weight Of saline
matter, and it had but feeble action on
lead. TO find whether lead will be acted on
by any water the author recommends that
bright, fresh lead he immersed in it, and I" if
the fresh metallic surface remains bright
after some days, or only acquire faint in
crustation Of sulphate, and hydrosulphuret
of ammonia does not give brown tint to
the water, there is but little danger Of its
being poisoned by lead" The same author
further observes that when "sulphate OF
lime" forms the 5000th Of the weight OF
water no carbonate OF lead is produced;
and the sulphate lime dissolved In ibis Or in
larger proportion in distilled wafer will j
confer on it the properties possessed by river
water. suipbate lead Is slowly formed. This
closely invests the metal, and prevents the
formation Of any oxide or loose crystalline
carbonate. With all due Difference, Phar.
maceutist's quotations from chemical author
tiles seem to have little bearing in establish
ing what he so much fears-the danger OF
the action Of clear James River water on lead
pipes. Callers warning on lead-posoning
ia all we'll enough. Dana's "iron-rust" is
not proved to exist in our river water; and,
en- PEASANT, clay contains four or i've
per cent. oxide Of iron (Johnson's Agri.
cultural Chemistry, page 23D; and Isl
not Pharmaceutist afraid that this may
act on lead, and thus counteract
all the advantages he claims for clay? Wei
have no evidence that our river water pos.
sesses less than S006th of salts, the amount
SAID by Dr.. Christison to be necessary to
protect lead pipes. DR.. Lambe or Pharma-
ceutist does not tell US the nature of the
Warwick pump-water, which so soon "ate
the lead away" 1t Is presumable it was en-
tirely different from our James River water.
Pharmaceutist says there is no doubt that
carbonic acid aud the snlphates act on the
lead, and afford some protection with coat
ing that Is generally insoluble." just the
reverse as regards carbonic acid, which
forms with lead the most poisonous Of the
salts of this metal. The water in the Capt..
toll Square (which people may well avoid,
except as dernier resort" for, In my eX.
perience, it is offensive after settling both to
the taste and SMELLY, the fear of production
of calculus by clay, and digestibility of clay,
are side issues, having not much bearing on
the subject. No doubt oxide Of iron and
lime are sometimes appropriated by the
system from clay, and in this sense clay may
be said to be digested. That clay has i'm.
portant disintectant properties is well known.
AT the same time l do not see why it
may not, like white Of egg in coffee, act me-
chemically in part; or, like charcoal, absorb
and retain offensive matter. Clay in our
water consider anything but q blessing
and while fiitering 10000, 600 gallons Of
water daily in the reservoirs would seem
impracticabie, still, If Pharmaceutist's ideas
were to prevail, our Council might decline
to use sedimenration in construction OF our
new water-works by having two or more
reservoirs. Private filtering, from its ex-
pense and slowness, will never be used By