Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-01
THE WATER WE DRINK.
The Supply From the River Not. the
Worst- A Doctors Opinion OF Allegheny

riitrauou WONT hemose 1ts lmpurtuoe-
The Supply From the River Not. the
worst- A Doctors Opinion OF Allegheny
Wells.
Ladies strain their tea. What fors To re-
move the grounds. But does not straining
affect the tear No, it neither affects its flavor
nor taste. If the tea is sweetened before being
strained the sweetness is not removed The
extract of tea with its fine flavor is In solution,
and solutions are not affected by straining.
Only the mechanical properties of tea, the
leaves and stems, are caught in the strainer,
because these are not dissolved. The most
delicate perfumes pass through the still-the
flowers remain behind.
A strainer is filter Filters. are often used
to purity water. This il nonsense. Filtration
cannot purify water. Webster defines filtra-
tion as 1.-THE mechanical separation of liquid
from the undissolved particles floating in it"
Filtration does not affect what is in solution,
but merely removes the insoluble substances,
like pebbles, small pieces of wood, weeds, tea
grounds, mud, etc. These remain in the filter.
All water passing through the filter must pass
through these heterogeneous accumulations of
mud and filth until removed from the filter.
Of course some accumulation is always in the
filter, and all water passing through must come
in contact with these impurities, because the
moment the filter is cleaned another accumu-
lation begins. That is what the filter is for-to
separate. The slower the process the more
perfect the filtration. Therefore, the larger
the volume of water the greater is the chance
of hurried filtration.
Filters are spoken of by Hippocrates four
centuries before the Christian era Galen, in
the second century, wrote that filters were
probably of Egyptian origin. The ancient
Arab uhv wi in ad
vised the admixture of wine, vinegar, etc., to
the filter; and dwelt on the use Of alum in fl
tering muddy water. The use of alum, tried
and discarded centuries ago, is, in the repeti-
tion of history, again brought forward as an
improvement to one of the filter plants now
proposed for Allegheny. For several years
battle royal has been waged with baking pow
ders containing alum. Physicians declare that
alum added to baking powders is harmful to
the system-produces dyspepsia and other dis
eases. Deleterious in baking powder, it is in
furious in water. As a matter of fact, in some
of the small filters in use in Allegheny the i'll
tered water is SO hard that it curdles, and
borax must be added to it, to fit it for laundry
use. Alum tea have never drunk and of its
virtues cannot speak. Chemicals should never
be used in filters, for they poison the water.
AS means of purifying water, filtration is q
failure. Ancient philosophers saw the imper-
fection of the method. With keen observation
they recommended boiling in addition to hl-
tration. And boiling has withstood the test of
time.
The common source of water supply for
cities is from rivers. These are often muddy,
from suspended mechanical bodies, which are
usually innocuous, and consequently the
water is not in need of filtration.
DR. Daniel Drake in his work on stPrincinaI
Disease of the Interior Valley of North
America" states that sin the case of the turbid
water of the Missouri river, and the Mississippi
below the point of its influx it is regarded by
many persons as being, to a certain extent.
medicinal, and that its saiubrity cannot be re-
garded as an open question" This testimony
of the eminent Drake is supported by Bennett
Dowler, in an article on Psychological and
Hygienic Observations and Reflections ms on
rivers" DR.. Joseph X. Barnes, Surgeon Gen.
eral, United States Army. and DIR. ]. ].
Woodward, Surgeon U. s. A., indorse the
same opinion, stating that 'the testimony
of Drake, based upon the laborious inquiries of
that faithful observer, Is pot contradcted by
any statistical facts with which they are ac-
quainted." "The injurious effects of suspended
inorganic matters in drinking water have been
grossly exaggerated, if, indeed, they are not
altogether imaginary barnes and Wood
ward.
DR.. F. w. Pavy, F. R. s., London, in his work
on FOOD and Dietetics," sa Us: by filtration,
suspended matters both mineral and organic,
are hereby removed, and dissolved mineral
matter may be, to some extent, diminished, but
dissolved organic matter fails to undergo any
material alteration, and such filtration must
not be viewed as rend ering water safe for use
when contaminated with noxious excreta."
sss
Animal and vegetable matters infused in
water soft en- and disintegrate, and soon the
water swarms with countless myriads Of in
fusorial ami malcul8, too small to be seen by
the naked eye, and many of which are so mi
mute that the most powerful microscopes can
not determine their forms. These are the
creatures that do the harm in water. They
breed disease and spread foul contagious from
house to house. The good that filters do is lit
tie in comparison to what they cannot do. And
what they cannot do is of the greatest concern
to every citizen. What they may do when
germs of disease get into them, breeding with
amazing rapidity amid their abominable accu-
mulations-a most albuminoid and fertile soil
lin times of an epidemic spreading wide and
fast the plague, a startled community may
some day tell.
The Davis Island dam is a sufficient obstruc-
tion to our water course, in a sanitary view. A
public filter would be another.
Filters are unsanitary. And If Councilmen
make such an error of judgment as to purchase
one for Allegheny, they will see the rate of
mortality increased.
Sewage, the common carrier of solvent and
decomposing organic matter, is the ordinary
source of contamination of our water supply
In his report to the Royal Commission on
Water Supply, London, 1862 Frankland main
tanned that Sewage once introduced into
water is decomposed with extreme slowness, so
that it is very doubtful when it is got rid Of if
ever" And later, before the select committee
on the metropolis water bill, No. 2. he declared
that sewage once introduced is not got rid of
in the Thames, or in any river in England, and
that 16S miles run would not get rid OF above a
third of it." This strong testimony conflicts
with the popular fallacy that running water
purifes itself.
Cholera and typhoid fever are the two cpl
demic diseases most to be feared in, and well
known to be spread by, water. Cholera not
prevailing cannot be feared just now. But
typhoid fever does prevail in Allegheny, and
exclusively among people, 1 understand, who
have been drinking water taken from springs
filtered surface water.
Clear water is often the most dangerous.
Tasteless, odorless and perfectly clear are the
solutions of arsenic, and as deadly after filtra-
tion as before. Strychnine solutions are clear
as crystal, but will kill as rapidly after filtra-
ton as before. The same is true of nearly the
whole class of poisonous alkaloids and stronger
acids. Purifcation by filtration is impossible.