The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-03-08
THE MUDDY JAMES.
SOME GRIEVANCES FOR orr
GALS OF THE CITY.

relieve the people. The muddy condition
N Richmond water during these rainy
SMELLS has been commented upon frequently
nv visitors here from other large cities,
where this feature has been remedled at
oomuarati,ely little municipal cost.
m IL the i!fnressiOn Of some that Juckahoe
roud. commonly called Tuckahoe fretN; "
stream On HcnricO county, nine hilie7 "n"
half above the city, and l"hich eill.ie 3D.,
th. river. Is fbe main cause oi 5"''7 '''e
water this muddy color. ,,.io,.,a
I6o pasi year was almost unpieceuehleu
f,r IN. continuous periods u sans ana nv
no time was the river perfectly Clear nuIi
january ist 20 october ISL, ..,.....,,,.
There were short intervals when me water
was 0palescent. ,., ~, ,.o-,.
muddy wator was from May l-ih to Angus,
flIh. eighty-iye days. The water lufnisheu
during this time IRON the Old Reservoir es-
paciallr was exceedingly uninfitng ~ ap-
naarance. this for the reason that at this
reseryoir tho water Is puinped in at The sur-
face and supplied from tie bottom. Nn the
other hand. al the New Reservoir the water
: pumped an at the bottom ana delivered al
the surface. and owing 10 the capacity Oh
the New Reservoir. 10 is nearly four days pe-
,ofa ~ enters the pipes for delivery after IL
h delivered into the Reservoir. Conse-
ouenfiv. the citizens who get their water
from the Old Reservoir are subjected 20
worse service than those that are supplied
from the Sew Reservoir.
SUPERINTENDENT BOILING.
Mr.. Charles =. Boiling. superintendent
of the City Water Works, who has been
.crf active I'm periectiug the facilities OF
the water supply of the city, was seen by
TIMES reporter at BIS 0iilce yesterday on
the subject of muddy water.
What do YOU think is the real cause OF
fine continued seasons of muddy water M
the city at timess was asked.
OF course DO D. rain. There are seNcial
streams. branches of the James, the prlncl-
pal one of them is the Riyanna, which JOINS
! ine James about fifty miles above hich-
mOnd. The alluva brought down is OF go
Hsfle gravity that it does not readily settle
and produce. stain or discOlOration; It Us
entirely removable only by the Use Of "a coae-
ulaut such as alum. which should DEE useu
ina limited quantity. ret, II the water DIS
allowed 20 settle, the serious inpuiiue7
are removed, and the water Is only ODE
iecti0nabie in appearance.
What about iucfahOe creek 10 is re-
noried that the muddy watci is rne 80 tins
| tributary Of the James river.
This is untrue. IuckahOo creek hoWs
/ into the feeder from James river an the nine
mile lock. I'm its average condition. lhe
nrOnOrti0n Of its supply IS about one sew
/ antiefh of ihe flow In the i0reDay at me
/ Pump House. and from the ANALYSIS OF the
water made in 1879. 10y DR.. Taylor tle
water I'm ihe f0rehay at the Pump House
I was really better than that OF the river
which IMPROVEMENT B. Attributable 20 set
ding and aeraii0n tasiag place between
I MINI. milo lock aud fnTDIuV.'
What do YOU think would De proper
remedy for muddy water i'm the city. ]
have already recommended several i'm my
annual reports. what / considered the prop
or remedy. namely. tO construct large
! lata or storage basin above the new pump
house fiI if with clear water ana Dl
means OF "a suction pine, pump clear wafer
such "a site for lake Pr ciisi1ie aD9nl
mile above the pump house. and think the
entire plant could be- constructed for aiO1..
600. This would furnish about
twenty deya supply of clear water the n.y.
craze ueriOd Ol muddy water. or about MI
teen days continued. Che basin on lake
would De filled with muddy water and ini'
rouid Doe allowed 90 settle, spread over am
area of about 90 acres. Water then drawn
I fr0m the surface would De nearly clear ana
with fle additional settlement Do Wpult tet
|u the reservoir We would always nave
I |IfH' .IiiI. N|NiNN NNI N'A'l NiNA f'NtA'f
reason for such "a plan. Wo would DE SUD-
in ted DO nO loss iu the wafer pumped Tor
cleaning nter-bed5 or tanks ana lAeit
..oud be- DO c01gulant used. So long ar
fho enormous Wasic continues 10 would DO
"A heavy burden and .aE t0 filter the entire
.unnlv for Richmond. one-hali ~ which ls
wasted. In conclusion ] can say tial
from chemical examination, though me
water maY Doe frequently onlecton1pie in
appearance and color inat furnished Us as
nufe and free from amy serious co0tamina-
ton as the water furnished To- any city.
An EMINENT CHEMISTS VIEW.
Professor Hardin, the eminent New York
chemist. some time ago made "a thorough
anaiysis of the James river water. boin in
its muddy and sediment state. I'm the SUM
mny of bis report he says
ni "The organic matters found in the
samples OF water anaizei are pfnclpaiil'
ia no. entirely. OF vegetable origin The ME-
froren0us substances occur in very mi-
mute quantities, and appear incapable OF
rendering the water unWhOlesome
On 1.-The 0paesccnt or nearly clear SAM
pies are in AN respects good.
Cl "The turbd samples though contain
inc nothing seriously Objectionable in sam
ifarv point 0fyiew. are unsightly, and 80
FAR. af least undesirable.
gl "The muddy specimen, collected AFTER
"a freshet. had, when received a very 10Y
bidding appearance. and was so loaded win
suspended impurities as To- De uhhl TOT no.
nestle use.
f5l iii Is important that tine water with
which the city is supplied should bee freed,
as Ear rs possible, from suspended impufi-
ties. Much can bee done i'm this direction by
sedimentati0n. and also by the ordinary
methods of filtration. IT, however, remains
to be seen whether any rapid, economlcal
and unObioctiOnabie process can DE devised
for rendering the water perfectly clear on "a
large scale. As far as experiments nave
gone. the settling process appears 10 nave
the advantage over all others.
f61 .Of all the chemical processes hither-
40 proposed for purifying drinking water,
the one employed on the small scale by
many persons in Richmond answers best
for these samples of water. Not more than
about five grains of alum % the gallon
should be- used.'
From repeated trials 10 has been shown
that James river water is not Affected IN
iuriou-ly By being stored, but Is greatly
improved. the suspended impurities having
had time 10 settle. Continuing Mr. BOIL
ing said: "ln my annual report for 'eo
had the following. which 1 still adhere TO:
The water OF the James at no time was
perfectly clear from January lst 90 October
list. There were short PERIODS when the
water was Opalescent. but on the whole it
was muddy. The longest continuous mud
dy period was from July2 10 October ith.
Then we had clear water for thirty days.
A sample OF Che water was at that time
analyzed by a chemist in New ork. who
pronounced 10 free from any Objectionable
matter and the color equal 10 that Of dis
titled water. ] have given some eXamina-
ton 20 various devices for mechanical iil-
tratlon. and cannot yet advise the
adoption of any one Nearly all Of
them employ coagulants Of some
kind. and. In their use, l do not
believe could bo kept within a safe liuit
when called upon % filter IN such large
quantities rs our daily demand and the
water in its mudde-t condition. Again.
the cost of such "a filtering plant would be-
very great and the annual maintenance eX-
ponsiyo ! sceno better plan Of furnishing
our city with good water tran the one have
already adyi-ed-nameiy. the construction
of large settling basin along the canal,
above the new pump-h0use. snch site Is
unW eligible within mile Oi TIE pump