Telegram-herald., 1889-09-26

Az. r. r. - tsy-Llc1 94L ~ -itE Lf-tA
res. .s1sr general tLAL II tie netFo99l-
al D9gul4Eo1 suppled b. S4ter taken
from lae river az XIV only xnt died
E. 1000. slle u those ,lppilea -
a4mnrrsmtI II died ef In0ss "a Bel
grave. Chelsea and ~ westminster Cs.ug
Aater I4kel below lae-ss4 hospital,
l8rty-seVen died 4nd a district, Irza-
* thelf supplies betaeen II lug 2
ford AAd Wzt1r.oo brl lges. wlere the
FFtF a4s I'D al exceedingly bal con-
asa9u, Tie dealn, sere l53 g. 1000
.lnkbltalts- IA ls34 lhe southwark
company .ti drew 10 supplies from
baEger-ea. close u one Of tae sewers.
ant t4e death rate was greater than
before. la iamoeta tne death rae
feA from / i6is ID 5o8 Inruuga benz
parlly supplied 0y The LamoeIu com
paly, $40 had moved IN the nLerIIl
thelr ntake o. ieddlngt0n .oey0n tae
clce II Ine rate be the same street De-
rxuge tae London sewerage. the dllter-
llg forty per 1000 supplied by lAe
lambeth. aad l3J per 10000 supplied
IS the o0utnWArk company THIS q
-lluc CRUCIAL experiment, performed
On half million OF people, cOnclu-
sFcly proved, As pointed Out by Mr..
John simon, f. K. ;. the cause OF the
great mortality"
The following proves eonclusiyely
tnat The Thames water, even after nj
tratlOn, l. a very dangerous liquid:
surgeon Major A. &. g.. Renzy gives
an instructive account of thc extinction
OF typhoid fever n the Mlllbank prison,
by t1e disuse OF the Thames water in
the Lancet OF January 5, lS72. The
prison opened IA 1916, and had a bad
reputation Tor unhealthlness; the
cholera eDidemlcs OF 1898, lS47 and
ls05-5 We're very fatal. and phthisiS
and typhoid were ever present up 10
August, lo54. On the 10th OF that
month the water supply was changed
from the Thames, a. II hOws past the
institution. purified by filtration, 10 the
arteslan We'll IN Trafalgar square. SIX
>lx days after. cholera, which was the
ep.tsmic IA the prison, ceased, and the
typhoid death rates, from 1915 TO 1854.
OF 81 per thousand, was reduced 10
three deaths from typhoid between 1850
and 1872, all OF which were contracted
before the patients were imprisoned.
Practically typhoid disappeared with
the dlsuse OF Thames water, all other
sanitary conditions remaining the
same"
Again, in addition to the precautions
which are taken 10 protect the Thames
from sewerage contamination, the
water which is delivered To the inhabl-
tants of London is subjected TO an eff
cient system of subsldence and tiltra-
ton by which the organic matter is re-
uced about one-half. (9).
Of kr Il Of
subsldence reservoirs and filter beds
can be formed from the description of
those of the East London Company. In
1884 that company pumped 2O,000,000
gallons daily. the water was stored in
reservoirs holding 600 900, 900 gallons,
and after long subsldence was allowed
TO How upon nineteen acres OF filter
beds.
have before me the reports of series
of analyses of the London water which
were made during the time intervening
between June and November, 1877, for
the society of medical health officers
tlO); and comparing the average results
gwen there with the average results |
have obtained from a series of analyses
OF the Grand river water, made during
the past year, | find that Grand river
contains about four times as much or
ganlc matter as the London water, and
that while the London water is reported
as being nearly colOrless, and usually
clear, though sometimes slightly turbld
| have found the water of Grand river
10 be uniformly tinged with yellow,
and TO vary from being slightly turbld
TO being extremely dirty, as / do not
hesitate TO call sample of water which
| collected from the east room of the
city pump works on March 4, of this
year. 1t was very turbld; brewer type
could not be distinguished through a
column more than one and a fourth
inches high, and after remaining at rest
for two hours a heavy brownish-gray
sediment subsidized, which, examined
mIcrOscOplcally, contained among other
substances, fragments of sand, woody
fibre, decOmpOslng vegetable matter,
linen and Gotten fibres (the cotton fibre
was colored dark blue).
The longest of the tibres examined
was II inch IN length and .Oj of an
inch IN diameter. One fragment OF
woody fibre was .02 inches long and .O3
IN width. When the cOarser particles
mad subsidized, the suDernatent LIQUID
was still quite turbid. the tuburdltv
being caused by finely divided particles
OF hight gray color, which remained
m suspension for a considerable time.
After four days subsistence the water
was still somewhat cloudy. After
twelve days the clOudlness had dlsap-
peared almost entirely and the water
had a decided yellowish t.nge. The
above sample had passed through the
tiltering crib 20x20 feet and must state
that It was the most uroid specimen of
Grand river water | nave examined.
SuppOsng a disturbance of the filter
might have been the cause. | qucs-
toned the engineer but he could give
me no explanation.
In spite OF all the facts which I have
gwen IN favor of the London water,
still there is continually much dissatis-
faction IN regard 70 the character of
their drinking water. expressed by the
inhabitants Of London. and plans have
been proposed to Parliament looking
toward the abandonment OF the Thames
As a source of domestic water supply,
and advocating other methods for Ob-
tanning their water. llll.
From the above statement of facts It
Is evident,
l. That the quality Of the Thames
water "a not satisfactory TO a large pro-
portion of toe inhabitants of London.
? That the Thames water IS nearly
cOl0rless while that Of the Grand IA de-
cidedly Coiored.
3. That the sediment in the Thames
a very much smaller than IN the Grand
river.
4. That the Thames is under Official
supervision and that sewage pollution
: prohibited by acts Of parliament
5. That al the Thames water stored
and efficiently filtered.
3 That the filtration of the Thames
49, 3, r-.-r,- --. - ees.-,, s+.---. 49,