The times., 1899-12-26

the water with which he dealt the me-
chanical system was satisfactory. Tbs
was In 1s93'94-
"A little later more extensive enquir-
les were made elsewhere. The water com
pany OF Louisville, KY, employed George
". Fuller to study the question Of rem
dering Ohio River water fit for popular
consumption. Mr.. Fuller made no expert
ments with the sand system, but several
makers Of mechanical filters were invited
TO test their apparatus under his superyis-
ion. Two or three of item did 50. Mr.
Fuller was assisted by { staff of bacteri-
ologists chemists. and engineers, and
made an exhaustive report. His verdict
was that il sedtmentation were resOrted 10
as a preliminary step mechanical Ultra
tion would give the desired result Sedi-
mentaticn IS the settling OF solid matter
carried in suspension by flowing water, and
it is accomplished by the use Of special
basins.
.Pittsburg was the next city to look into
the matter. a commission was appointed
which chose Allen Hazen as its chief en-
gineer. Mr. Hazen. like Mr.. Fuller. had
one. been in charge Of the Massachusetts
station in Lawrence. He tried both sys-
TENS at Pittsburg, and decided that sand
filtration. accompanied by sedimentatiOn,
was preferable for that particular locality.
AFTER the Louisville results had been
published, and while the investigation at
Pittsburg was in progress, Mr. Fuller was
invited by Cincinnati to make an enquiry
similar TO that which he had conducted fol
, Louisville His work was thorough, ana
he tried both systems In this instance. His
opinion was that in respect TO both sanitary
advantages and economy mechanical mira
ton was preferable
rfwrrf Il
ington regarding the water of the Potomac
which is said To he contaminated with sew
age. but the investigation, which is IN
charge OF Lieut. Col. A. NJ Miller. l.
A. has not advanced far enough 10 throw
much light on The problem.
"PhiladeIphia's decision. however, is
available for public instruction. Last
spring she appointed a commission OF en-
gineers. consisting OF Rudolph HerTlng, oi
New York; Samuel NJ Gray OF Providence
and Joseph NJ Wilson, Of Philadelphla.
These men reported in favor of sand fltra-
ton. except at a few points where ii was
impracticable owing 10 lack OF space Tor
filter beds. For these exceptional places
mechanical filtration was recommended.
Gas for the character Of New York's wa
ter supply 1t must be remembered mat the
death rate from typhoid fever both ID the
older New York and in Brooklyn is lower
than tldi or most UlutI la EC -AtA4tA i-s'A
cities This is strong evidence Of the ex-
cellence Of our sources OF supply
1T is a somewhat notable fact, however
that of late years the Brooklyn WaterWOrk
system has been allowed 10 deteriOrate
This and the undue stress laid on the al
legged limitations to the available supply on
Long Island seem to indicate that the back
ers OF the Ramapo scheme have been at
work there. 1t is we'll known that they
made overtures to the Brooklyn authoTi
ties. as we'll as to those of New York, look
ing TO contracts for furnishing water but
at present there is no occasion for dnSte-y
about either an adequate quantity or
suitable quality OF water on Long Island.
The quantity which is already available,
or will soon become so. would suffice tor
many years to come il proper means were
taken TO suppress waste And the same
may be said OF the supply of the whole
of New York city.
From the foregoing statements Of Mr.
Baker it appears that sanitary engineers
differ among themselves TO a certain extent
as 10 the relative merits of the two sys-
tens of filtration. II is to be observed
though. that local considerations have
much 10 do with the decision OF experts.
The question needs TO be studied Tor eacn
city by itself, apparently. And though
there is a prospect that mechanical hltra-
tion viii be tried on small scale over on
Long Island il is known that some OF the
official sanitary experts of the city are
great believers in sand filtration
1t may be added that a sand filtration
plant having a capacity of from l5.go0,0o'
to 20 600 GOO gallons day has just been
constructed for Albany. York Trib-
Une.