The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-06-02

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is the Only Practical Method and
II II Efficient
Before entering upon the subject oI
filtration, let us consider for moment
what had been accomplished By Com
missioner Smith and his eflcient in
spector' Mr.. Butterworth, These great
water .pp..s 81 the s.rssaii asSsiii,sy .se' forth sas
IN City Dooument No. rs Of tho Series OF
1888. This document ID printed In paral-
lei columns. One column gives the con-
uition as Mr.: Butterworth found IL in the
the condition as he found It In the autump
of 1892, precisely one year. In q short
time n radical change had taken
place In the sentiment of the Valley. From
spirit OF determined opposition to the
fication, these Valley residents turned to
be OF the greatest assistance to Mr.. Butter
worth. Instead OF an enemy he was every
where received as . friend, and every
assistance given him. Every mil owner
whose stacks OF privies had for years as .
man sxcrsts directly into the
stream. at once removed them,
or closed ell the vaults so that
today not particle of human faces goes
from any mill into the stream. All this
has been accomplished through healthy
sSA~ss A~~AASo@1y cAPASeoou AZ
Besides all this every family vault save
one has been removed, or every possible
outlet closed. Thisgain has been OF incal-
cuiable benefit, and It should encourage
us to renewed efforts, for IL must NOT be
forgotten that those pollutions described
as numbcry 4, z Sc, 10, III and II, and
the report by Prof. Appleton, declaring
their dangerous character, which were
mentioned in yesterdays News, are
still flowing into the stream, and in
samples OF water taken by the State Board
OF Health, three came from the river near
the Interlaken Dye Works, a
ahode Island corporation, now owned by
Englishmen, but chartered by the Gem
the city had taken the water. Two
chemists neither knowing of the work
OF the other in 1891, declared the
water taken from the stream near the DYE
Works, TO be of such character sias
ought not to be added TO q water supply
TO be used for drinking, !" or aB the other
chemist said, call are unfit for drinking
purposes"
Hitherto IL has been impossible to In
woke legal action against the polIuters OF
the water, notwithstanding the appar-
emily clear legal obligation which rests
Under such conditions we must drink
We must have IL altered. Which viii you
haveY OF course you viii have
Filtration.
From the very moment when it was de-
termined to take the city's. water supply
from the Pawtuxet, filtration had formed
en- essential principle in the scheme.
gagged the attention of the
water commissioners were the pump
Ing question. land the filtration ques-
ton. (City doc. No. %, series 1890 1891 J
Such thing as mechanical filtration
was unknown to them, and hence no
In their report "Arc Alter beds neces-
sary?' was the question which they asked
themselves, and which received the most
earnest consideration of the Board; differ |
Ing widely at the outset, the commission
ers discussed the subject almost daily for |
weeks together"
There was ono element of knowledge.
sufficiently familiar to us now, but which |
Ut that lime (186S) was quite unknown 10 |
them, to wit: the element of the germ |
diseases, like diphtberia, cholera, ty-
phoid, and other kindred fatal human dis
eases, which 1t II now weil-kpown may be
propageted by microbes, or bacteria. or
baciili In running waters. In the light OF |
this darkness, tho -Commissioners
wrote as follows: Shall the water
te filtered before being admitted into the
pipes for distribution? the on hand an
swer will undoubtedly be scertainly by ali
means" and there Is no doubt that the first
impulse acting toward increased purity sis
IN the right direction Nevert heless these
important facts" present themselves:
there In not . city in the United States
supplied with filtered water, and there is
nos city IN the United States of much
size, supplied with water 40 pure as the
water OF the Pawtuxet river.
AT that moment the human excre- |
ment from 10000 mill hands was be-
irg dumped daily into it. But one
taot OF paramount importance, en-
known, was the fact of bacteria. No
blame can attach TO the water commis-
sioners, for they acted up to the light
within them. But let US do the same.
Old Theories and Conclusions.
In discussing the question the commis-
gioners admit that for some cities (but
these are European) filtration seems to
be absolutely necessary, in order to fit the
waller for domestic uses. Certain cases are
cited and the "effect OF filtration there is
very marked, so that filter
beds could not safely bo dispensed with"
But with us the case il very diff
ferent, or they think 1t would be, for "the
Water OF the Pawtuxet from Its great
purity and the exquisite fineness of the
coloring matter is so superior, and SO
|ittle is removed that the visible effect
very slight"
just think how these gentlemen were
Rieled IN reasoning. IL was Just this
ssEesle" bacteria which needed removing,
Ind IL was the "invisible,v not the "visi-
ble," effect which was dangerous.
The commissioners then proceed to de-
'cribe filter beds, such as would be re-
required. They should cover an area
rom three to five acres in extent.
Dc constructed "of depth OF [
lbout fourteen feet, with perforated pipes
'r drains, covering the bottom, and these
lgain covered with broken stones.
'ebbles, coarse gravel, fine gravel, q
coarse sand, fine sand, in the order I
,amed." Tnis might be called an artificial q
natural hitter bed. Misled by the mis- ,
eading chemical analysis, the COM {
nissioners evidently thought filtra- g
ion unnecessary and they raised the |
,ug bear OF cost--a hundred thousand dol {
ars-and the annual expenses for care, {
ONE three thousand dollars. But. they T,
ay, "the commissioners have by no means ,