Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-29


a Scientific View Of the water Qaeation.
Although it has been suggested 70 nae
TO address you communication upon inc
purity Of pump water, should refrain
from troubling yourself and the public,
hut for my desire to claim COMPROMISING
with what seems the minority upon the
subiect. am also prompted to do by
the hone that the question may be calmly
and thoroughly examined, before any
bastv and ill.advised steps are taken 10
close the pumps, as l hear has been done
in Augusta. 1t is much easier 10 destroy
than to create; to curtail than to increase
the water supply, so Indispensable 10 the
health of the population.
FOrty-four years ago learned by actual
experience for the first time the excellent
quality of Savannah river water for use
at sea, after, however, the great quantity
Of sedimentary matters were removed OE
settling. The Captain of the snip then
told mo. what. ! have frequently heard
since, that. az anV known water WIS
preferred by ocean navigators. Although
the river receives. ut single point ny
sewage the filth ard eXcremenutl0us
matters OF a port of the population OF
CITY of 80. 900 inhabitants, have no doubt
Of the possibility of rendering IFS water
pure by tiitratiOu.
Without occupying too much Of your
space in discussing the financial or practi-
cal feasibility Of iiiterIng j,OOO,OoO gallons
Of water daily, or that of boring expensive
artesian wells, viii proceed to my sub
ipct. Before doing SO, | must say, how
ever. that these wells are by no means
sure of supplying palatable water. Thus
that Of the axtesian well in wentworth
street, Charleston. go feet deep, has
temperature OF 81 degrees and contains AZ
per cent. of chloride of sodium, or COM
mon salt. 90 grains to the gallon, decid-
ed brackish taste and a mild medicinal
quality. The use of such water TO any
extent during the prevalence OF cholera
might be disastrous to a community.
The water Of the well on Citadel Green,
1 1870 feet deep, has temperature OF 81
degrees, I7per cent. of salt, or ii grams
to the gallon. 1t is one degree warmer
than blood. Messrs. Hawgood & Gage
and the KnickerbOcker Ice Company
would probably take stock in such an in
stitutiOn.
While eOntendng that favOrably To-
Gated and we'll constructed city pumps
will supply wholesome, palatable water,
do not deny that, when badly built, and
with no regard to adjacent masses OF pu-
trefying organic matter, they may become
contaminated and the sources OF disease.
The level of saturatiOn 10 which well
must be sunk to supply water, averages
in the higher lying parts of the city about
20 feet from the surface, and OVerlles an
imperviOus stratum of clay.
The sinks or priVy vaults are about b
feet deep. Between their bottom levels
and hydrOstatic water lies therefore
altering mass of sand IA feet thick. When
putrefactiOn OF organic matter rich IN
albuminOids and other heterogeneous prin-
ciples occurs in the soil, the final results
are:
1. Carbon uniting with oxygen to car
bOnic acid escapes into the air. In case
of insufficient oxygen, when submerged
in water, marsh gas and carb0nlc oxide
are formed instead.
>. HYDROGEN combines mainly with
oxygen as water. Some Of it remains in
humus.
3. Nitrogen unites to a great extent with
HYDROGEN. forming ammonia, which es-
capes rs gaseous carbonate. In the pres
ence of an excess Of oxygen, some escapes
in free state. Nitric acid is not formed
in rapid putrefactiOn.
4. The sulphur and phosphorus form
respectively with the hydrogen during the
rapid stages OF decay, the sinking gases
sulphureted and phOsphOreted hydro
gen. In the later stages sulphurlc and
phOsphoric acid, the sulphates and phos-
pilates.
The Creator, in His wise plan of nature,
permits no losses to occur. These results
OF putrefaction are the valuable elements
Of plant food, and have, therefore, ten
dencv uDlrdrds, to come within reach of
the roots of vegetation. IL they cOntaml-
nate anything it will be the air. If the
carcass of an elephant, or any other large
mass of putrefying matter, were to be
buried in the subsoil, the everything sur
face soil alone would show evidences
r. ,ffa Ian NIL
surrounding the remains had reverted to
its original pure state of sterility, eXclu-
sive of the small amount of phOsphOric
acid deTivable from the slowly decaying
bones.
The two most valuable elements of
plant food are ammonia and phOsphOric
acid. The former may be washed down
TO a certain depth by rains from fertile
field, and pass off in surface drain water.
In the case of the latter this does not
obtain. IL cannot be leached out, with
such tight grip does the soil hold it. a
constant change for equilibrium goes on
i'm the case of ammonia. Every rain
brings and washes it into the soil, and
every sunshine draws it up with the
evapOrating water. An acre not recently
MANFRED may contain thousands of
pounds IN its upper six inches. a field
may be freshly and bOuntifully manfred
with sewerage, nightsoil, decaying fish or
fash. etc. with any or all, and yet it is
an established fact that at depth of
beyond feet not q truce Of ammonia could
be round. Were the Creator to annul
or only temporarily to suspend
this wise and benetcent law
of nature, and sustain the reasoning
of our opponents in this controversy, it
is self-eYIdent that every green thing upon
the face of the earth would disappear and
every animal would perish of starvation;
for all the elements OF fertility would be
placed beyond the reach Of the plants of
the farmer.
| will only occupy your space to men
ton a single proof of the l0OpderfUt alb
sOrptive power of the soil: Van den
Brock filtered pure distilled water ICON
tanning no carbonic acid through a mass
of freshly MANFRED garden soil, 20 inches
deep and inches in diameter, con-
tanning free carbOnic acid in its inter-
stices. 10 ran through lgjthOut taking up
any Of the gas. Again, water containing
its own volume of carbOnic acid was FL
tered through similar body of the same
earth. This ICGteF gaze UD all its edr6ORtc
acid, iChile In contact lCith the soil.
In accordance with the above state
ments, properly constructed wells and
deep drains should not contain ammonia,
the nItrates nor other organic matter, yet
their presence is not an evidence of sur
face contamination. Upon comparing, in
the table below, the contents of ammonia
(deriyable from organic natter in the
waters Of some of the surface wells of
Charleston with those of several artesian
wells i'm and about that city, it will be
seen that the water of the we'll at the Gro
ner of Charlotte and Elizabeth streets is
freer of it than any Of them, although 1t is |