The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-05

DANGER OF utl KID Z as q Wsiter supply abAIeam
which has been the rec pient Of sewage mat
ters, and should suffice TO condemn on behalf
OF the public health any plans looking 10 its
intrOduo ion. There is, however, in ire
history # reeeEt epidemics positive evidences
OF the 6seT to from a. t5s SG t1
ph0id cOntagion. The experiences Of Ply
mouth, Pa, are fresh In the memory Of the
sanitarians and medical men OF this country.
II reInains TO be remarked that a Watef
once contaminated by sew &c is always dan
ge GUS, as there is 90 known method save
on The small acale by boiling Of destroying
the cOniaRiOn that may be present. SedI-
mentation and filtration remove Suspended
matters and give clear and seemingls pure
water. Filtration through good soil or
filter bed of ecial materials will destroy
ordinary organic matters, reducing them
to harmless inorganic compounds, and the
same results take place, though
by far less rapidly, in the current
Oftyphoid f YER by the water Of wells and
springs that had been subjected TO the most
efficient natural filtration demonstrates the
inability Of this process u free tho water
from the contagion of that dangerous dis
ease. The ineficacy OF sedims ntatinn IN this
respect is not so clearly defDed, but 1t has
not been shown that sedimented water is
free from danger.
From what has been said tho undesirable
ity of admitting the Mississippi river water
phis supply may readily be gathered.
]. The water of the river as shown by anal
ysis is 60 orally loaded with organic mat
tiers, and seldom 81 free tr N suc1 ma tiers
as TO safety the requiem ents OF tho best
knowledge of sanitary sciences moreover,
tho inflow into the lake takes place only
during the periods when the river water has
ahigh degree Of impurity.
2 And chiefly, the sewage inflow into the
river involvesio 100 much of danger TO the pub
Itah na "a nd knF m ~ ouU m ~ n
concentration other than an earnest protest
against the use of the river water in any
plan looking to the supply of Memphis.
What the character of the water Of the
South Horn lake o ny he when fresh and
free from ths turbld inflow rom the pass,
cannot be determined from the specimens
sent for analysis. 1t is probable that the
waters OF the cutoff, Horn Lake Creek and
the tprings from q g local area of drainage
are much superior in quality 10 that of The
Mississippi river, Compare analyses ten and
eighth and that in he prosres Of time, after
the reclamation of the lands now subject TO
overflow, N excellent water supply might
be obtained from these sources; but il is
feared thbt the extensive changes in the
character of tSe bottom lands that would
attend and follow the attempted reclama.
tien wonld develop. malarial influences
that would pervade the waters Of the like
for continued period and necessl tate a
thorough filtration for their removal The
February 2Sd of this year, in treating of the
South Horn Lake supply does not refer TO
tiltrat on as part OF tho project, the water
being assumed to have clarified itself By
sedimentatlon in the Jake and in the dis
tribulng resery ir. In view, however, Of
malarial possibilities from the immediate
surroundings Of the lake filtration appears
to be a sanitary necessity. No systematic
effort has yet been made to filter surface
water with a view specially to the removal
- h. &c al 81 al dtgaasa L.. q l..
we'll kL ow that only surface water trans
nit toe paroxysmal fevers, and that COM
munities that have been scOurged by these
diseases have been comparatively healthful
ON the substitution OF 3 deep we'll water;
thatis, n water thorlushly filtered by nat
ural processes for that f.Om ponds and
uggish streams fed by the. drainage of
marshes, swamps andjungles.
A special means for aeratiOn is mentioned
in the committee's report in connection with
tho supply from South Horn Lake. The
GRAFTON of a water certainly tends to purity
II from. readily oxidiEsblo organic sub
stances, but there isnO experiment nor oh
servation to indicate that his malarial poi-
son, which is manifestly the chief source
Of danger in the supply from this source, is
in any way affected by exposure to air. On
the contrary, the natural history of the ms
larial poison shows the persistence of its
pernicious influence. even whom fully ex-
posed, by dissemination or diffusion to the
Four samples Of the water from Wolf river
were received for examination, all taken
from the stream at the crossing Of the Louis
vile md Nashville railway. 0ne was COL
lected November Is, 1885, and permitted to
stand uncorked in thu original botLe for
nine months, or until August 70, 1886, when
it was carefully decanted for exsmi alton
from the precipitate of clay and fecculent
matter which formed layer about q quarter
OF an inch in depth at the bottom. sec
all a.rn 90
through common stone filter and imme-
diately transmitte for examination. The
third and touItn specimens we're collected
Septemhe l6. 1886, and forwarded to New
York, where one Of them was filtered by the
Hyatt pro- ess: 9th we're shortly afierward
cent to Nash ngt for examination
The value of tae filtration though the
common some Il ter does not appear on an
alysis, rs he re ults differ but little, practi-
ca y, from the IN, formerly obtained by the
writer from wolf river water which had un-
dergoue no publication. Compare analysis
IL with q and A.l
The water store for nine months and sub
sequently deoantsd gave as satisfactory an
analy tical record as the average of pure
spring waters. See analysis IL.
The water sent for comparison with the re-
suits ofthe HYATT filtration process gave ON
first examination much better record than
is generally Obtained from the turbid waters
Of Wolf riverwater, oil # organic ammonia
alykos 26, "a and % respectively. This,:how-
ever, was due to an unusual accidental cir
cumstance, the absence of any notable
fakes OF organic matter in tbs clay and
other mineral part Giles of the quantity used
in the laboratory experiments, for examins-
ton on, the following day gave
the ordinary results. (See analysts
A.) Waters which contain much suspended
mineral matters, with comparativ ely few
particles OF organic matter, will rarely give
he Nnn IA aknA akt
as similarity ofresult depends upon the pres
ence Of precisely similar quantities OF or
COMIC matter disseminated in the equal
measures of water used in the experiments,
q condition that can seldom be established
in practice; there is, however, rarely such
difference in the results as that accidentally
obtained in this instance. The quantity of
solid matter in this natural water amounted
10 146 parts, of which 9 were destroyed by ig-
milton, IN 10000 parts OF the water as COM
cd, in the filtered specimen. There was re-
moved, therefore, from every gallon of tn
sample OF the Wolf river water by the pro-
cess Of filtration 6S grains Of sus-
pended matters, of which 10 consist
mineral substances, and of vegetable de-
TITUS washed from the water shed of the
stream, To clear this water the Hyatt filter
would hsy aye to remove the enormous guam
tity Of 2I5O pounds Of filter chokipg clay
daily work OF one OF the thirty feet cylin-
ders This Specimen, however, probably
exaggerRtol the turbi dity Of the stream, for
in November, 1879, when its waters were red
aud densely opaque after heavy aims, the
total solids Amounted only 10 "A parts per
100000 and the suspended matters, deduct
ing IA per O,O0J for saline and other mat
terain solution to only 30 parts, equa ing
II 5grsins per gallon, or $3.50 pounds for the
daily work OF the cylinder.
The water filtered by the Hyatt process
gave satisfactory results as far as concerns
the organic ammonia although II did mot
equal in purity that which had been stored
eioc November oftast ysar; but there was
present an amount Of free ammonia that
would have thrown suspicion on the quality
of the water had its history been unknown.
This free ammonia was probably taken up
from the hlteriug materials! On a former
occasion the writer met with an instance in
which water known to contain no free am
monia had its character wholly changed by
Its passago through filter containing char
coat A continuance of he altering process
would, OF course, have speedily washed out
this ammonia and gwen. a. water without
Suspicion in this respect. -
g From these examinations 1t appsarslthat
the water of Wolf river, though extremely
unsightly and repulsive in its turbid state, is
an excellent water when its suspended mat
tiers have. been removed. 1t contains only
about eight grains Of dissolved saline SUBJ
stances per Gallon, and tao organic ann
monia distilled from II falls within the erbi
trary limits OF whoes0meness adopted by
most sanitary authvritiesa The removal Of
suspended masters may be Effected by sedi