Evening star., 1896-07-25

ed worldwide attentt6h The municipalf-
ty. since 1t inauguratSHlh Them. has been in
receipt OF letters frOmitall parts of this
country and from Bi1HcPean cities The
unique nature OF the systsm Of publication,
combined. l presume, with the added nov
elty OF whisky center taking 80 much
ton is about three and ma half% % miles North
east OF Lexington, on che Hire of the Louis
Sliie and Nashville railroad, and on the
banks OF the Ohio river, 1whence the water
Is obtained. The reservoirs are two miles
from the station and about the same
distance from the city itself. The pumps
nave been recently eaectsd and in all my
more powerful plant.i2The daily consump-
tlon of the city is about 24.OOO, 600 gallons.
ihe experiments in which 1 have been
assisting dealt with publication of 10000
gallonc. Mr.. Harris. who is my chief, has
been working on the problem of water
publication by electricity for many years.
ihls Is the first time that he has put his
lheories into effect on large scale. The
experiments SO far have been entirely sat
is1actory, apart from a mechanical diff
Guilty connected with the imperfect insula-
ton OF the publication tanks through which
the water had to pass. This is a defect
which can be easily overcome, and which
IN TO way initiates against the system as
a whole.
The principle involved Is this: BY SUBJ
jecting the water to a sufficiently power
ing the resolving OF portion of the water
into its elements. hydrogen and oxygen. A
portion of this freed oxygen assumes that
molecular form which is commonly known
as ozone Now, ozone is one of the most
powerful disinfectants known to science.
1t exercises its beneficent powers by COM
bining with harmful substances, thus oxi-
dizing them and rendering them powerless
for evil. Nine-tenths of the popular disn-
fectants owe their powers for good to this
'oxidizng' process. which is dependent on
the presence of free oxygen. The nitro
genous substances found in drinking water
and which are in the main responsible for
disease and sickness are tackled by this
ozone and instantly rendered harmless.
Animal refuse. decaying vegetable mat
ter. sewage, the exuviae of sick persons
and the like, all come under the head of
nitrogenous substances in this connection.
The passage of the electric current also
iiberates a quantity of free oxygen, which
is absorbed by the water and which rem
ders the fluid sparkling and heaIthful
Dead water from which free oxygen
has been expelled. not only cannot support
such life as is found i'll water, but, in addi-
ton, is not fit for human consumption. 1t
is for this reason that water that has been
boiled and from which the oxygen has been
expelled Is fiat and tasteless Physicians
are pretty well agreed that most forms of
microbes and bacilli can be destroyed by
a sufficiently powerful electric current.
Analysis of the treated water shows that
practically no microbes pass through the
ordeal.
The apparatus in brief is this: The water
flows through feed pipe into a porcelain
lined receiving tank three feet square.
Poles from Ruhmkorf coil enter this
t: nix from opposite ends. There are ninety
seven miles Of wire on the COIL. enter this
with the aid of a sufficiently powerful dy-
1amo 10,o00 volts Of electricity are inter-
mittentiy dicharged through this water.
The water, through the medium of a dis
charge pipe, then enters second vat,
uyki, 10 n Ia hy
feet in depth. This last chamber is made
of iron. lined with india rubber and is pear
shaped. The lower end connects with
waste pipe, by means of which the refuse
ard other matter precipitated during the
process may be drawn off. At the top of
II is chamber, AMI also at its lower section,
are e. series of wires connected with an
other dynamo. which supplies continuous
salvanic current this giving the secondary
eie ctrolysis. i=..r
On the top of the chamber is large
electro-magnet. surrounded by series of
smaller ones. The water, by pressure, is
+, reed past these maSr cts into a second
vat chamber, similar. to the one first
PANIED. and again delcends into another
pear-shaped vat The process Is repeated
in third case, 50 that the water has to
run the gauntlet Of three preliminary cham
bers and pear vats. IN all therefore, it
receives the discharge from three Ruhm-
kogf coiis-3o,Gf1 volts-to say nothing of
the treatment to which It is subjected in
the secondary vats.' An analysis of the
water when it finally issues from its Or
deal shows that IT is practically chemi-
cally pure. 1t is crystalline in appearance
sparkles with free oxygen and is abso-
lutely free from odor OF taste"
Nr. Dean asserts that the process has
Eeen proved to be about one-thrd cheaper
than any other purifying method now
known The only thing necessary to sue
cess is to that the dynamss are kept
in good running order ard that the waste
pipes are turned at stated intervals.