The St. Louis Republic., 1900-11-18

| NATION ot the existing structures. Cottcitiueu
that certain reconstruction work was nsces-
| sary 1T Bissel;s Point. and drafted an ordi-
| nance providing for 4 new machine shop.
hlacksmith shop and storage coal shed: r.; as
well new roof for the boiler-house. The
| City Council. however. concluded that the
! work was unnecessary. and the bill failed
/ 10 pass. In addition To the above We need
a storage reservoir at Baden, so as to con-
| vert constant discharge from the conduit
| into variable supply for the pumps. and
| II Is probable that ere long 1t will be found
| desirable 10 provide for storage In the high
| level district by constructing an elevated
tank OF large capacity.
outlined above, will require additional ap-
| propriatons OF $4,000. as detailed in state
ment attached and will place the works in
a position To supply the demands of the city
until the average consumption for the
month OF maximum consumption has
! rrached iONG0,G0o gallons per day.
! Quantity of Consumption.
| Upon plotting the curves which indicate
| the average annual and monthly consnmp-
ton Of water for past years. and conttnu-
| ing said curves along the most probable
! lines, we find tha: In 1905 we may expect to
! have an average daily consumption of ST.
aGG.e9 gallons during the year, and an ~
| erase daily consumption OF lGoeoJ.O0o gallons
| during the month of maximum consump-
ti0n. Il is probable. therefore. that in 1895
| We will he taxing the works to their full
capacity. unless the system of charging by
f; meter rates. which would reduce the waste
OF water. is introduced more extensively
than heretofore.
improvements.
As early as 1866. the City of st. Louis.
| recognizing the desirability of furnishing
| clear water to its citiZeps. sent James =.
, i<irkwood. an engineer of high repute, 10
! Europe for the purpose Of obtaining In
f. to ormation upon the ''moeS in practice there
f, for the filtration or Qualification on large
| scale Of river water. where these are made
use of for domestic purposes in the supply
| ing of Cities
T'pon his return Kirkwood made
| voluminous report with Illustrations setting
! forth the practice abroad and recommend
! ;ssn for the city of ST. Louis. The people.
| however, seemed 70 prefer the muddy
| water. and Kirkwood's plans for filtration
! We're i:ot adopted. At that time filtration
was looked upon as Il means merely for re-
F.. moving the suspended matter. Since then
E! We have learned that proper filtration
; will do more. II will remove from pol
luted water ss TO S3 per cent of the bac-
terra and render II safe and wholesome for
domestic consumption.
! The final and conclusive test of the po-
table qualities of any water is its effect up
on the people who drink 1t. Tests in the
! laboratory are Instructive. hut when the
/ conclusions drawn from same are at vari-
/ ance with the thousands Of tests made
I daily upon the bodies of those who drink
I the water. one may infer that the labora-
| tory tests have not been properly inter-
! Ireted.
! close connection between the typhofd-fever
| LHtltn rate ana COIiultlo.l u lNe "dtei
! supply. In European cities where filtration
! has been practiced for many years the in
| Production of filters has been followed by
+, marked decrease In the typhoid death rate.
! The Introduction of filters in Hamburg in
p, 1S9S and in Lawrence, Mass, the same
! wear was followed by noticeable decrease
! in the typhoid death rate at both places.
. In Zurich new filters were placed in ?p-
Grafton in 1855, since which time the typhoid
! fever death rate averaged less than 10 per
/ iac.Gp. whereas for six years prior TO lsee
, p., abf IN 1nlgN.
! II will he noticed that the typhoid death
! rate of American cities is very large IN
/ les: the latter have learned their lesson;
! having a; one time had death rates equal
! to or in excess of the present death rates
! in American cities. The introduction cf sew
/ eragc systems and the filtration of their
water supplies. whether taken from rivers.
! impounding reservoirs or large lakes. is
probably responsible for their present COM
parativr freedom from typhoid.
Since 1898. when ST. Louis began to take
r supply from the intake take at the &C. CHAIN Z,
| Louis has been less than that of any OF
| the other American cities. except New
! York, and but very little more than that
| OF New York.
The opening of the Chicago drainage
canal in February, 1900. has naturally
! creased suspicion. An examination of the
! diagram No. T. showing the monthly death
! rates from typhoid fever for the last three
! years. leads one to the conclusion that the
! effect of the sewage and waste from CHI
! cago is much less than many supposed it
| would be. and. in fact. cannot thus far
rate The number of typhoid cases reported
cannot be considered accurate. No proper
| deductions can. therefore. be made by
comparison of the typhoid cases.
Filtration.
| Be that as it may, there can be no ques-
| ton that the city of St. Louis should clari-
! fy the water supplied to its citizens II
/ such ciafifirn 10 nbfafDed h.yy ,f
a proper system of filtration. a material
| publication will result, with probable re-
duction of the typhoid death rate Of 50 per
| cent, and an increased security against epi
| denies of water-borne diseases.
| Habits of cleanliness are contagious Is
| IT too much to hope that clean water will
| lead to clean streets clean sewers and
| clean moral atmosphere? Let us begin with
| clean water. The money is available. F,ltra-
'ion works can be constructed by the city
| out Of the revenue of the Water Depart
, nlent without any increase In the water
/ rates. II the Worlds Fair is to be held in
| st. Louis We must at that time be prepared
to furnish clear. pure water from our Mu-
| Dicip3l Waterworls.
Tie members of the Board of Public I'm
provemen;s have thus far been unanimous
| III their recommendations TO the Municipal
| Assembly In regard to the proper steps to
| take toward establishing filtration plant.
| hut the Municipal Assembly has taken
| different view of the matter and the vari-
| Gus ordinances forwarded by the board have
! been rejected. We hold that an expenditure
! of perhaps S.P1.010 warrants careful con-
| sidecation with such preliminary investga
| t!on ard experiments may be deemed
| necessary before adopting any particular
style or design of filter. On the other hand.
| Individual members. of the Assembly have
assured me that they wanted no expert
mentS. but were ready to establish n filter
| plant Immediately.
| Ii is quite possible that filter plant. sc
| designed to-day upon the basis of such data
AS are now available. might prove to be
the most economical and efficient. Few
| engineers however. would have the temer-
| ity TO assert that the outcome could be pre-
| dicted with absolute certainty without fur
! ther preliminary tests. The exigencies of
| the case so not appear sufficiently urgent to
| warrant the risk involved in constructing
! litter plant without preliminary !nvestiga-
| tions. The slow sand filter has been used
| In Europe for many years. 1t is asserted
| that about twenty millions Of people in Eu-
rope are supplied with filtered water.
! Zurich the suburbs of Paris. Antwerp Rot
| terdaD, Amsterdam. Berlin. Hamburg. Bre-
men and Altoona. All of these use the same
system. To wit-the slow sand filter. which
consists Of large beds of sand supported
upon successive layers Of coarse sand and
gravel. provided with underdrans and IN
rlnsed in large basins of earth and mason
Ty. In general, the water receives no treat
nent prior to filtration. but in some places
such preliminary treatment has been found
! necessary and has been adopted. In several
cities in Holland. such as Scheidam. Gron-
ingan. Leewarden. Gaula, etc. where the
water at times contains considerable sus-
pended matter. alum has been used for
many years in connection with Sedimenta-
ton prior 20 filtration.
\ number of the smaller cities of America
are tltering their water supply. few.
like Poughlteepsie and Albany. n. Y. are
Using ,5 anao the slow sand filter , sometimes called
which has only been in operation since Sep
tember. 1899. is giving excellent results in