St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-28
OUR WATER SUPPLY.

The Fairmont News, commenting
says: There can be no progress
made by temperance workers in the
Sanity City until steps are taken to
improve the water; for to drink it is
not only TO invite typhoid and kin
bred ailments, but also to cause
nausea of an aggravated nature.
st. Paul is a city of progress, how
ever, and will not long. allow this
evil to exist" This will do very we'll
as peg on which to hang some
humorous comment on the placardS
exhibited by soda fountains of st.
Paul. But, as it is likely to be
taken seriously by some readers, it
might do injustice and injury to the
city. The facts about our water
supply are generally known, and are
a source of some concern to people
Of this city, but not for the reasons
stated above.
The city water has been unusually
impure this season. There was a
time when our chief pride was the
purity of our water supply, and
when IL offered one great attraction
for persons proposing to reside here.
It's real deterioration first became
generally evident last summer. The
long-continued drouth had reduced
the lakes from which water is drawn
to very low level. This,
combined with excessive heat, pro-
NOTED a rank vegetable growth,
which gave to the water an I'M
pleasant flavor. 1t is improved this
season but little, if any. But the OBJ
jectionable qualities are wholly with
out bearing upon the public health.
Even the greatest stickler for san
itary precautions does not pretend
that the water supply of st. Paul
contains any substance injurious to
persons who drink it. 1t is I'M
pleasant, but not dangerous. The
foreign ingredient is simply vege-
table matter, carried in from shall
low lakes, and can be taken into
the stomach with impunity. Not
only have there been no dangerous
diseases tracea BILE to this source,
but there are no cases of tenn
| porary inconvenience. The mention
! of typhoid fever in the sentence
above quoted is wholly imaginary
! and ineXcusable. There probably
were never fewer cases of typhoid in
st. Paul than today. In fact, we
know of none whatever, and certain
ly the city water is absolutely free
from any germs of that disease.
The water supply is such, however,
that our people should give serious
attention to the possibility of it's
Improvement. ST. Paul is now, we
believe, entering upon another period
of rapid growth in population. We
have no doubt that the next five
y
! in this city scarcely exceeded, if at
all, by the wonderful progress of
the decade following the year 1880.
We should not wait until the emer-
gency is upon US before providing
for the elementary wants of an
| urban population. The first of these
is an adequate supply of pure water.
1t seems to have been practically
demonstrated that the sources upon
which we now rely are insufficient.
They will answer for an average
season for our present population,
but it has been shown that they are
not equal to the demand either of a
period of drouth or of increased de-
mand upon them. Even now they
are eked out to a considerable ex-
tent by water drawn from artesian
wells and pumped into the mains.
The problem of future water sup
| ply is one that should be considered
| now. The G 10 b e does not pre-
tend to decide at the present time
what provision is best for the city.
| It does say that the day has arrived
when we should enter upon an in