New-York tribune., 1900-12-03
FILTRATION OF CITY WATER.

That portion Of the Grand Jury's presentment
which deals with the question Of filtration of the
city's water supply is worthy of most careful
attention, and on receiving such attention will
be found also worthy OF cordial commenda-
ton and practical execution. II is indsputably
true that "other cities have already recognized
the importance of filtration" The half dozen
large cities named in the presentment are only
few of those in this country which have prac-
tcally undertaken the task. In other countries
numerous cities have for years been most sue.
cessfully fltering their water. Some of them
such as Hamburg, far less fayorably situated
than New-York, are compelled TO use polluted
and poisonous harbor water but by filtration
they make it as pure and clear and sparkling as
that of an Alpine spring. And yet the quaint
congeries of incapacity and neglect which con-
trolls the water supply Of this second city of the
world smugly assures US that filtration of the
water supply of a large city does not yet ap-
pear 10 be practicable, and thinks that if we
will only persevere in the use of unclean water
we will in time get so accustomed to it that
we will not mind, but will rather like it's i'm
purity. Just like the horse whose owner trained
him TO eat sawdust instead OF oats, only. lust
as he got so accustomed to the sawdust as to
prefer it TO oats, the perverse brute spoiled the
NAOle experiment By dying!
Now it is all twaddle TO talk about the Croton
water being nothing but the drainage of barn
yards and cesspOOls, anyway. and so unfit for
use, and it therefore being necessary to aban-
don it and TO 60 to Lake George or the North
Woods or TO the virtuous and impeccable pur-
lieus Of Ramapo for a supply This city has
spent vast sums Of money in removing whole
villages from proximity to the Croton and its
affluents so that to-day that water system is
singularly free from danger of pollution. No
one can inspect the courses Of the Croton Cross
and Muscoot without being strongly impressed
by that fact. The actual amount Of or danger
or contamination Of those streams by the prox-
/ unity OF man and his works is probably less
than that OF the other sources Of supply which
have been mentioned. There are however
other kinds of contamination to which practi-
caNy all streams and lakes are subject, and
those, indeed are most subject which are most
solitary and remote from the abodes of men
There are fishes and turtles and other creatures
in the water, which in time die and decomnose
There are otters and muskrats and wild fowl
which contribute their share 10 defIement of
the water. There are fallen leaves and decay
ing trees and shrubs and other vegetation
which greatly swell the aggregate of imnuritv
! The Croton system is more free frou sucb
1 1hlngs than the more remote streams and lakes
OF the mountains, yet it suffers from them and
VIII OF necessity always do So
The natural and obvious remedy is n ba
found in filtration. That is a course prescrihad
by common cleanliness. People OF decent cns-
toms do not eat food without first CLEANSING r.
or the Impurities that may have lodged upon II
They wash or pare fruits and vegetables and
remove all dust and dirt from grain before II is
ground into -four. The same principle of cleanli.
ness requires that water shall similarly he nurI
Fed by filtration, especially the water of rivA-s
and lakes, which is peculiarly exposed 10 nolIu-
ton. The entire practicability of doing Il has
long been well established. The only obsta..le
In the way is the Obstinacy. the stupiditv Or The
dishonesty of Ofticialdom. With proper Ultra
ron system New-York would have a supnlv NJ
water more pure than that which Glasgow gets
from Loch Katrine or Munich from the STONES
OF the Alps. With a system of mains and
plumbing that would prevent leakage. and o,
meters that would deter waste. the present spn-
ply would be ample not only for the present
city, but for the future city that shall be douhla
the size of this. The one great question in the