The morning times., 1895-07-04
HEALTH IN HPOTOHAC MUD
Strange Though 1t Seems, the
Water Is Perfectly Good.
NO DANGER IN DRINKING IT
Causes of Its Turbid Condition Now
andinw Receiving Reservoirs
Now in Course of Construction VIII
Remedy the Trouble-Quarrying
for the Great Falls Dam.

There are two seasons of the year when
mud and Potomac water become pretty
much mingled, aud when the water We
drink, from its appearance alone, is cal
culated to inspire the consumer with
dread These are in the latter part OF win
ter, when the heavy rains falling on the
watershed of the Potomac and its trib-
utaries, find the ground loosened up by
alternate thawiug and freezing, and
at the present time, when the fields bor-
dering on the neighboring rivers are rem
dered washable by recent contact with
the plow of the farmer. 1t is during these
seasons that the many-legged and forked-
tongued bacillus, that pet of science,
dallies with our dreams, and the fear OF
typhus haunts our waking moments.
As a matter of fact, however, although
the water from our Potomac River is
often so offensive 10 the eye, there is
little to be feared from the consumption
of it, even at such times.
AS GOOD AS ANY RIVER.
Dr. Wales, recently in charge OF the
Museum of Hygiene at the Navy Depart
ment at which daily analyses Of the
water have been made for some years,
stated to the Washington acqueduct Of
flee, as result of chemical examination
of the water when it was IN a turbid con
dition, that, although five forms of micro
organisms were found in the water, they
were all inuocuous, and are generally pres
ent in all rivers. He said that after a care
full study for three years, he regarded the
Potomac S good as any river in the world.
The fact that the water reaches the
| consumer in a turbid condition is due TO the
| insufficient storage capacity of the Teser-
yoirs They are not large enough 70
| allow the water to settle before 1t goes
| from them into the city mains. There
| is no way to remedy this now, and until
| the works of improvement required for
| restoring to use the Dalecarlia receiving
reservoir are completed, the public will
still be occasionally annoyed, after high
water and freshets, by being compelled
! 10 use for domestic purposes, water very
much resembling clay in color
When that reservoir is in operation, how
ever, the time during which the water may be
settled before it is sent into the city from
the distributing reservoir viii be doubled,
| and its condition as to color will be very
much improved.
GOOD TIME COMING.
When the proposed new reservoir, neal
| the Howard University, with a capacity
| of 500, 900 900 gallons of water shall have
been finished. there will be but little left
| to be desired in the quality of the city'S
water supply.
In the last report of Col. George H
| Elliot, then in charge of the Washington
| aqueduct, he says that under present Condi
| tions there appears to be no cause fol
| apprehension respecting the healthfulnesS
| of Potomac water as delivered by the
river into the intake OF the aGueduct al
| Great Falls. 1t appears that without the
| use of alum, or even with this use, if the
| alum be used in quantities not prejudicia
| to health, the color OF the water as II
| exists after freshets can only be partially
| removed by filtration.
At present over 200 gallons of water
| per capita per diem are consumed and
| wasted in the city of Washington, and 1t
| is probable that not more than fifty
| gallons per capita, or one quarter Of
| the supply, is used for strictly domestic
| purposes.
| UNNECESSARY FILTERING.
| Thus, if a filtration plant were put II
at great expense the water for domestic