The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-05
Dr. kmart'a Report.
owAsmSOyOs, p G.. October b 20, 1886

Gen. Cotton Greene, Memphis, Tenn:
GENERAL Il have the honor to report that
during the past summer have made a te
res OF analyses OF water, transmitted from
water from the Mississippi river above
Memphis, from the. Same river near the
mouth Of Horn Lake pass, from the pass
mentioned from South Horn Lake, and from
and Nashville raj road.
The Mississippi water was forwarded with
the view Of determining Whether the sew
age of Memphis influenced the quality Of
the river water at a point twenty-six miles
below. following, the sinuosities Of the
stream, whore It communicates with the
basin of the South Horn Lake. The daily
outflow Of sewage from q city like Memphis
consists of volume OF liquid fOulness capa-
BILE, one would suppose, OF conveying an aP-
preciablc CONTAMINATION 70 astream az large
even as the tsissippi. But the outflow is
gradual into the onward flow of the river,
and tho consequent dilution, when dlffu ion
has taken place, is more than homeopathic
In its immonsity. If the river contained an
organically pure water prior 70 the introduce
ter, within certain limits Of dilutiOn, would
be an easy matter; but the Mississippi at
Mem phis is generally loaded with organic
matter washed down from its exten-
sive water he'd and IN this the
the city imm, diatsly becomes lost. The
most careful and delicate observations in the
water above and below the point of inflow
would be required TO show that the one had
q greater or a less imPurity than the other:
Moreover, for the detection Of sewag the
experiment must be conducted on the freshly
collected water. Sewage is evanescsnt; its
nitrORenized matters speedily revert to the
inorganic condition, leaving but litsle trace
Of their origin. Hence. when waters from
mouth Of Horn Lake Pass were forwarded
for analysis II was impossible to determine
on their arrival in Washington whether
either Of them contained undecom sed sew
age ut the time oil its 0, lice lion.
-Four samples of the Mississippi water we're
examined--two taken on May 4, one from
above the city and the other twenty-six
miles below, aud two taken from above the
city on July 81, one ut depth Of ten feet
and the other at twenty feet below the sur
face, the United States gauge at the city
reading IL feet.
All these waters we're unfit for potable use,
not alone from their turb dity, but from the
large amour q OF heterogeneous organic matter
which they contained. The results of the
analyses Q srrespg in general terms with
those of the came water by the writer at
Memphis In 1879, aud with series of analy-
ees Of the river water from New Orleans, La. +,
made in 1880 aud 1881.
RIVER waters vary IN quality according to
the hight ofthe stream When tue water is
low there is usuallva tendency to the depo-
pition of suspended matter; whom high the
surface washings Of the water shed are swept
into the current, the increased How Of which
prevents heir depe itiOn and the consequent
publication OF the water. High water,
there ore, eorrespsnds with the period Of
maximum impuIity. At such times tho MIS-.
sissippi water is loaded with fine particles Of
sand clay and vegetable detrituE, In addition
to the dissolved organic matters which are
usually present 10 sur ace waters. Sedi-
msntation for few days readily clears the
water ofits suspended matters, AVID the pro-
cessos Of its oxida ion and nitrifcation that
are going on during this period DESTROYS
much OF the dissolved organic matter. The
Mississippi water may therefore be easily OBJ
tanned on the small scale. clear. colorless
and comparatively free from organic mat
ters, so tar as chemical analysis Is compe-
tent to detect their presence. Sedimented
for three days, the turbid water Of the M s.
sissippt at Memphis gave as good laboratory
results astIe Croton water supply of New
York, tho Washington supply from the Poto-
mac, or tho Richmond supply from the
The engineering and financial d difficulties
Memphis direct from the Mississippi are so
great as TO put any scheme of this kind out
of consideration. But as the water of this
river by its inhow through Horn Lake Pass,
whom the Memphis gauge lie over thirteen
feet, contributed 20 TIE supply Of South Horn
Lake, = consideration Of tho quality OF the
Mississippi water is ueedful In connection
with tho proposed use Of the lake as q water
Two points, both all sady incidentally re-
ferred to, require notice as bearing on this
subject; and both lend their weight against
the advisahility Of admitting the Mississippi
water into the suggestod supply; l, the gem
orally impure characteI Of the water aud.
2, Is special contamination BY sewage.
AnalyBes have shl .yn that the tprbidity Of
the river isprop0ru0nod to its turbidity and
the latter manifesty depends on the hight
Of the stream and the rapidity ofite aow. In
fact, as already stated, the sea-
son Of high water IN river AZ that Of Y.
period that the greatest INF dow into Sou til Horn
Lake would take place were the river water
not excluded from the basin. OF course in
the pass andlAke deposition would so on,
would tend 70 improve the quality Of. the
water; moreover, the inhowing water from
the river would DO diluted with the better
water contained In the basin, for IL the lat.
tor do NOT eontain q bctter quality o. water
than the river N iE hiEh stages, y nnnt
onthe auAlity q the river and lakS supplied,
three samples were eKAminod-one rom the
river near the mouth IL Horn Lake pass, one
from the pass and one from, ihs center Of the
january and the Others Ia February, were
not transmitted nntil April. They Do not,
therefore, represent the NatAra a. they
would be diStTihuted for. use fresh lFem
their s6aft but as altered " itdrags
for " 90 or throe months under condi-
tionS which chemical 'anWlysee have
shawn 20 be not 6nlayorable 70 the natural
pfoceSsss consoraod in tho reduction Of or
EAniO matter to the inOrsHutUvtate. Never
theloss as tho three waters rpmained under
slmilar conditions fotahout the ame length
sfiime, a comparison Of their relative pHrlty
on analysis promised TO throw light on their
relative purity at the time Of their cOllec-
tion. Tho water from the river At the mouth
4 Of the mass mo 3 on the tabular statement
append ed In this report) showed TO advantage
compared with river samples that had been
examined without M dergoing the process Of
storage, although the steam was high rtthe
time It's collection. The organic ammo
mia was reduced 70 .o2A, aud the oxygen re'
quired for rho d struction Of Its organic
matter to .225 par To- 90; but tho amount Of
free ammon "a. .gO, WITH the trace o.
nitrites, Indicated that the natural puri.
iyinE processO were still in operation.
Tho wa,vr. irsm the pass (analysn 9
was Infinitely superior 10 that from
the river, for though the same
amount Of oxygen was required the free aud