The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-11-08
Disagreeable Odor Supposed to
Come From Decayed
Vegetation.
BOARD OF HEALTH MAY ACT
Patrons of the Bar Reject Spring Valley
and Call for Settler With
Their Whisky.

There may be mo fog at the Mission, :"
but there is bad taste in the water sup
piled to that section of the City. So many
complaints came to THE CALL office that
investigation followed, and MANY persons
were found who insisted that the water
was not only disagreeable to the taste, but
that an unpleasant odor was emitted
from 1t.
At kenning Brothers corner grocery, at
Folsom and Twenty-first streets, the water
is SO bad that Kenning's customers insist
on having settler served with their whisky.
"They won't drink the water" said Ken
ming, ''because it tastes bad and smells bad
l set out the water, but they won't have it
that way. The water is clear enough and
looks all right, but the taste sometimes is
sickening.'
A lady living on Treat avenue, near
Twenty first street. happened to be in the
store buying some articles when the con-
versation concerning the water took place.
She at once remarked: THE water at my
house. on Treat avenue, is not fit to use.
1t does no good to boil it. When it is boil
ing it smells horribly.
Does it come from tank p was asked.
No." she replied, sit comes directly
from the street pipe to the house. 1t
tastes bad, and produces a disagreeable
odor."
1.-The men at engine-house 25 in the
same locality said that they had not
noticed anything particularly bad with the
water there, but one of them remarked
that out on the Nilsson road there was
much complaint.
Henry Schlichtman, who keeps
grocery-store at the corner Of Shotwell and
Twentieth streets, declares that the water
30 @t~.,A l.
customers complain of it. He said: "No
good comes from making complaint TO the
water company. Complaints have been
made frequently, but no one comes
around to see about the quality or the
water
Henry F. Wynne. the druggist at the
corner OF Folsom and Twenty-second
streets, was interviewed by the reporter.
Mr.. Wynne is quite we'll known TO his
neighbors as the oracle of the Mission
road, so it was deemed essential that he
should be consulted. Inquiry brought out
the fact that Mr.. Wynne does not use
Spring Valley water. His premises are
supplied from deep and ever-ho sing
well, and the water therefrom is SO cele-
brated FOR its purity and sweetness that
many of the people dwelling at the Mission
go to his store to quench their thirst. AS
they drink they exclaim: This is the
only place to get good drink OF water"
Mr.. Wynne was so much engrosSed in a
bicycle race on Folsom street that he did
not enter with great freedom into the dis
cussion of pure water.
At Howe's drugstore, corner of Mission
and Twentieth streets, foul-smelling water
had been the topic OF conversation. Mr..
Howe said the water was so bad at his own
home, 639 Valencia street, that he had the
strainers carefully inspected fearing that
they had been neglected. He ascertaned
hn M, ho1
cleansed every day, yet the water was dis
tasteful and gave out an unpleasant odor.
Several residents of the Mission were in
the drugstore when the inquiries on behalf
of THE CALL were addressed to the propri-
etor. They participated in the general
conversation and agreed that it was COM
mon talk in that neighborhood that the
water was not pure. They noticed the bad
taste, and one of them had more than
once remarked that the fluid had a pecu-
liar Odor.
Several complaints have been made to
the office of the Spring Valley Water
Works. Charles Webb Howard, the presi-
dent, says that the water supplied to the
Mission comes from Crystal Springs Lake
and is distributed through University
Mound reservoir He ascribes the bad
taste to the animal decay of vegetable sub
stances in the lake. Water can be supplied
to University Mound reservoir from Ala
media Creek, but at the present time the
company is not pumping from the Ala
media source OF supply, hence all the water
supplied by the company to customers at
the Mission comes from the lake.
Mr.. Howard insists that while the water
may taste bad and give out disagreeable
odor 1t is a perfectly harmless taste and
odor
Recently some bottles of water COM
planned of by the proprietor of the Wilson
CtlIr d.
the company's office. The president could
not detect anything unpleasant in the
taste. but Engineer Schussler, whose taste,
perhaps, has not been perverted by excess
sive use of the water, did detect something
wrong and began an investigation. He
found that the pipe passed through the
pantry In such manner that 1t became
heated. More direct connection with the
main was made, with the result that no
further complaint was registered.
Mr.. Howard is confident the bad taste in
the water will not continue longer than
few more days.
DR.. Williamson of the Board of Health
was seen at his office last evening. He
said 1T was within the province OF the
water supplied to the people, and have
analysis made to determine the nature of
impurities in the water.
He was not sure that water which gave
taste of vegetation was injurious, but if
it was SO impregnated with decayed vege
table matter that foul odor was emitted,
then the water was impure and not health
full. He said that if an investigation was
made it would in all probability be con-
Quoted by DR.. Spencer, the bacteriologist
of the board, who was now engaged in the
examination of milk.
The Board of Health will hold a session
to-day and the subject of pure water for
the public may be one of the leading
topics.