The San Francisco call., 1896-02-14
The Spring Valley Supply Said
to Be Generally of Good
Quality.
MADE A RIGID INVESTIGATION.
The Statements Favorable to the
Company-Lake Honda May
Be Condemned.

San Franc1sco's water supply is, in the
main. as good if not better than that o1
any city of large size in the United States
| Such is the consensus of opinion of the
chemists who were recently furnished by
the Board of Health with samples of water
| for the purpose of analysis.
| Some months ago Mayor Sutro conceived
the idea that the fluid supplied by the
| drinking purposes and he demanded that
| the board condemn number of the COM
panys reservoirs, notably Lake Honda
and Laguna de la Merced.
The board did not believe the water
should be declared unfit for use unless a
careful investigation proved that such was
the case. In order to put the matter to
the most tn orough test possible the board,
in company with the Mayor and a number
of noted chemists and bacteriologists, vis-
tied Laguna de la Merced, Lake Pilarcitos,
Lake San. .Andreas, Crystal Spring Lake,
the pumping station at Belmont, where
water is received from the eastern side of
the bay; the reservoirs at College Hill,
University Mound. Russian Hill, and, in
fact, every storage place whence water is
supplied to the San Francisco public.
w
lowered into the depths and at a certain
distance, where the best average results
could be obtained, the corks were pulled
and the receptacles allowed to fill. These
bottles were then carefully sealed and as
carefully marked for identification.
Half dozen or more samples were taken
from each reservoir so that number of
chemists might undertake simultaneously
the work OF making analyses. Those se-
lected by the board were Professor w. B.
Rising, the State analyst; Professor w.
f. Wenzel, the analytical chemist; Pro-
fessor E. w. Hilgard of the State Univers-
ity, and DR.. ]. c. Spencer, the City bac-
teriologist.
Mayor Sutro also had Thomas Price Jr.
and DR.. Freund given samples to furnish
analyses for his own information.
In order that all suspicion of collusion
between the chemists might be avoided,
the samples were sent to them simply
labeled with numbers, a record of the
matter being carefully preserved in the
Health Office. Each chemist received a
sample of water from each of the reser-
voirs with instructions to give the matter
his most careful attention and report to
| the board at his earliest convenience.
| Those reports are now securely locked
| in the new steel safe at the office of the
board in the new City Hall and will prob
ably be opened at a special meeting of
| the board that taxes place this morning.
| Except in the case of one lake the de-
ductions of the chemists resulting from
| their investigations will probably not be
very satisfactory to the Mayor, who is GER
| tain in his own mind that the water is i'm
pure. A very large majority of the
| samples that were examined chemically
and microscopically for impurities of all
kinds were found to be of very fair quality
and as free from disease producing ma
| terials as the water of any. city the analy-
sis of which is known to the local chem
| lists.
| Water which was confidently asserted to
be full of microbes and bacilli was found
to be of excellent quality, and one medico
stated that he would be satisfied, with the
! exception of the contents of one bottle, to
| drink such water all his life and feel sure
! of escaping any serious consequences.
| The reports OF the other chemists tailed
| with the one mentioned, each finding one
sample that contained matter which made
1 it much less desirable than the rest.
1t is believed that these samples came
| from Lake Honda, the little reservoir near
the Almshouse. In case the reports
clearly state sufficient grounds for be-
:. lief that the water Is not fit for drinking
purposes the lake will probably be con-
| demned by the Board of Health and the
company compelled to stop pumping
water from it.
| It is expected that the corporation will
| be represented at the meeting, and that
any attempt on the part of the board to
| condemn reservoirs will be fought to the
! last limit.