The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-08-07
capacity, they should be protected from

ueht OF the Poughkeepeie Water Works
says; "The climatic difficulties are quit,
serious. In winter nave been Obliged /,
take on 800 tons Of ice ION an area cover
ing slightly over one-ha aore) before
could reach my beds; frequently have
naa my beds freeze while l was clean.
ing them, so that the sand would
nave 10 be picked up and thrown out,
no. only costing q considerable amount
uu' also endangering the safety OF the bed
i'seii. Again. In the summer time, nv
experience was that when the tempera.
tare OF the filter bed reached 70 deg, r.,
the fungus growth, or the growth OF aIg d
!" tne ped, would give what Is called BY
engineers the "pond taste" to the
water The water would be brown
color; that coloring matter we
could not take out. When the aIge ap-
pear-d, II the water was pumped into our
distributing reservoir, it would affect the
en're supply, the entire Il, ,0OO, 900 gallons.
in the iaii, again the first frost would
give US woody taste in our water; then
,n running the beds, it was never possible
70 'eii when the bed was going to fail.
we cleaned once month regularly but
nave seen times when the bed would be
worAihs Gil right one day, and In the
morning would get telephone dispatch
from Ine engine house that they could not
so' u drop oil water through. We were
"ashlng all the time, but we cleaned ONLY
once month. In 1855 it was necessary To
remove the entire body OF sand from the
Deds, because the sediment had permeated
the entire mass. I found from analvsis
given me by Professor Nichols. that I
returned to my bed 30 per cent.
OF the organic matter and the other
matter which the sand took from the
water; In other words, we were not able
TO 30 thoroughly wash that sand. but
that we would return again thirty
per cent. OF the impurities that we had
taken out. During the process OF clean.
ing IL the men walked upon the beds they
would compact the sand at that point, the
same being the case II their barrels were
allowed to run upon the beds, and there
was liability of an air blow near where
the sand compacted when they let the |
water on"
Mr.. Charles e. Fowler says in a report
oil the filter beds of Poughkeepsie, "Little |
or no effect Is produced on the color of
tne water at any time by filtration"
Inc following Is an extract from re-
port OF Mr.. William f. Codd, superin-
tendent Nantucket Water Works, Nam
,ucxet' massachusetts,, where nat
ural flter bed established ec-
cording to the principles of the Massa-
chnsetts State board OF health. was
erected in 1898: "The first analysis of
water by the State board of health. An
gust IA, 1898, showed the number of ana
bena in pond water to be 2l6Oo0
per 100 C. c., and in filtered water.
$500 or over ninety-eight per cent.
We were satisfied with the
operation OF our filter; but after IL davs,
use complaints of odor appeared in the
iowa, the filtered water being stiIl clear.
Two days later, the surface of the sand
became crusted over, and almost
topped the flow OF water; but it
vas raked over and broken up, and
lid not clog again. After 22 days'
Use, the odor being so strong, we ceased
lsing the hitter, drew down the water. and
craped the surface, removing about n |
laif inch In depth, taking of as litt q as
'ossible. Most OF the Impurities were i'm
ne top quarter inch, though the sand
vas stained deeper, in some places as ,
nuch IS eight or ten inches. We found
hat the air used I'm aeration. in
assing through the sand, had seemed to 9
ather In places and formed little craters
here it came up through the sand, in
cad OF coming up evenly all over the r
ed. Probably water would find its wav
own these air passages without much q
ltering. We used the filter again, Sent q
several days, but had to give it up' as
ie odor was so strong. Our tank would 4
better covered" y
Facts About the Lawrence Bed. n
recent letter concerning the Iawrencs
ter bed, is as follows:
" III Is not found practicable to pump n
xteen and drain and clean eight hours. =
40 hitter should have been made i'm Mt q.
sst two parts, separated from one an oo
her oy an impermeable wall, so that one ~
n De cleaned without reference to the =.
her. This would involve the construc- =,
'n OF larger bed, as each part must be o.
inciently capacious for the whole sun -.
Inc ice gave much trouble last winter -,
III Is the intention next to keep the -,
Ter ABOUT twenty-four inches above the -.
OF the litter. This means that the ~
ermittent plan will be abandoned. as IL -.
uld be impracticable to draw off all s1'
water, and IL will be djficuit | -
clean, and nitrifcation will no '' .n'
arded or prevented. If nitrif,ca- W.
and intermittent filtration are. ss has ~, ~.
m stated, essential for the purification. W,
n the filter bed should be covered az. so
ich would add much to the expense III III
to be feared, Think, in the absence of sn, s''
lngements for cleaning the whole bed no'
anic matter will accumulate below tbs "'
lace, obstruction the rated flow. and %.
nishing material for obiectionabIe -,
wths. gu
Not only will the expense of cleaning sui s1n
whole depth of bed be very great. but us us,
sss the bed is made larger 1t may at
time DO found insufficient, and the =,
er department compelled to draw di- tho
ly from the river, while the sand 4. 49,
'g renewed. Some rivers produce ;a",
sludge than others, and think the scr.
rimac River water Is unusually good se.,
natural filtration. In other rivers dar
d moro cleaning would be required, ~,
The dissolved coloring matter Of the IT, ~
'r at Lawrence does not appear to be ne,
tiy lessened by filtration, and I no. r.,
L- .AI