The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-01-18
however. viii purify themselves by
oxidation IN short time.

however,, WILL purify Ln6mseIfeS UG
oxidation IN short time.
The quality is often of more import
ance than the quantity of the impurity.,
Five or six grains of lime or magnesia
will render water unfit for the cooking
of some vegetables, while such impurity;
win be of great advantage when the,
water is used for making tea or coffee.
Soft waters are generally better for cook
ing and for washing purposes, and hard
water for tea or coffee. 1t is on account
Of this that certain wells have a reputa-
ton as tea wells. In years gone by there
were two or three such wells In New
York City and boy was employed by
the corporation to pump water for the
benefit of the inhabitants.
The reason why hard water Is better
for making tea or coffee is because the.
lime salts prevent the water from dis
solving the astringent matter contained
IN the tea or coffee, but'it does not pre-
vent the extraction OF theines
Larger quantities of these above-men-
toned impurities make water injurious
to health. If it is known that water has
a high degree of permanent hardness,
the chances are that it is bad weter.
It viii probably contain the sulphate of
lime, chloride of calcium, and perhaps
salts of magnesium. Magnesium salts
are especially Objectionable to water, and
water containing even small amount of
these salts should be rejected. Water
containing these salts causes diarrhea
when drank They are also said to cause
dyspepsia 1t is supposed to be the pres
ence of these salts In water that produces
g,oitre "a swelling of the glands of the
neck Cretinism, which is q certain
kind of idiotic insanity, is also referred
TO the same impurities in large oaanti-
ties. Among the inorganic impurities
of water, lead and copper are often
found, and especially is lead found. A.
water which acts freely upon lead is not
suitable for the supply of town, as our
service pipes are made of lead Almost
| any water win act upon lead if left in
contact with it long enough. For this
reason we should always empty the house
pipes of water which has stood in then
over night, before drawing any for cook
ing purposes Lead is cumulative.
poison, and q very small quantity taken
into the system each day viii finally;
produce lead-poisoning,
1 The products of the decomposition of
animal matter in water are the most OBJ
jectionable impurities. These are high
ly dangerous even when in minute guam
titles. They are the more dangerous be-
cause waters containing such poison, in
stead of being disagreeable to the taste,
are frequently of very fine flavor and
much sought after. Many cases of dis
ease have been traced to the use of water
contaminated by drainage from sewers,
cesspools, etc.
The old saying There was health in
the old houses; while there is death in:
the new' is easily explained. New vil-
lages are generally supplied with water
from springs, and as the number of in
habitants increases wells are used for
greater convenience. Wells often re-
/ ceiye contamination from sewage and
cesspools, while spring water IS free from
such contamination The famous Broad
4 Street pump In London in 1S46 killed 500
] persons in q single week by dissemina-:
ting cholera In 1866 many deaths oc-
CURED from the use of water from fa-:
nous pump IN Brooklyn. All trouble
was brought to an end when the Health
/ Officers removed the pump handle.
There are substances dissolved in water
sometimes, which are themselves harm
less, and yet they should cause the water
/ to be looked upon with great suspicion.
! The first is sodium chloride or common
salt. This substance may get into the
water by infiltration from the sea or
| from strata containing common salt. But
another source of chlorides in water is
/ pollution by sewage.
/ Although the presence of chlorides in
/ water does not show positively that the
water is contaminated, yet when found
in any quantity the water must be con-
demned until the source of the sodium
chloride has been ascertained.
Nitrates and nitrites are sometimes
i found in water, and they may be there
as the products of the decomposition of
organic matter. Allowing that they are
not injurious in themselves, yet they at
once make you suspect that the water
containing them has at some time or
other been contaminated with organic
matters to large extent.
/ Impurities from factories and chemical
works must sometimes be looked for. But
such impurities are not to be feared in
this country while our factories are SO
scattered as now. The waste products
of our most important industries are
quite harmless when diluted with much
water.
1t frequently happens that whole
communities are thrown into q state of
excitement if the water supply happens
to be little off-color, as it frequently is
after heavy storm. They get an idea
that the water is poisoned, and no
amount of reassuring win prove the re-
verse. Such cases occurred in New
York City once or twice during the late
war with the South, and they amounted
to almost panic. In New York they
supposed the Croton water, which sup
plies the city, to have been poisoned by
Southerners. The absurdity lies in the
fact am about to state.
One-sixteenth grain of strychnine is
necessary to poison q person. That
each person might get that amount the
water of Croton Lake would have to re-
ceive three and one-hah tons of strych-
nine. There is not so much in the
world, and it would take about three
years to procure it.
If arsenic were used, they must have
two grains for each person, and that
would require ia tons-a canal boat
load.
Before closing wish to call your at
tention to the following figures, which
show the amount of water used per head,
in some large cities:
Poos 81 ssis
| Edlnpurgh--..-- -.-...-------. ~ gaiions
GLASGOW ------.. --.--..---------. % ga,,iions
Lonoou. ~ ga,,ons
new 1ork. lU 8dtions
Imperial Rome. -SOO gallons
If the amount of water used has any
thing to do with the health Of q nation,
we are far behind Rome in the days of
the Caesars. Imperial Rome then sup
piled her citizens three times as much
water as is now used per capita by the
citizens of our largest citv-Herberf O.