Evening star., 1901-02-09
FILTERING POTOMAC WATER
THE DANGER OF A CONTAMINATED
SUPPLY AND THE REMEDY.
Suggestions From the Experiences of
German BacteriOlOgists and
Special Investigators.

Special Investigators.
To the Editor of The Evening Star:
Will you permit a physician who has had
a somewhat wide and varied practical ex-
pt rience in urban sanitation, to submit
through your columns few observauons
and suggestions on the important question
Of water publication, which at this time Is
apparently exciting more than ordinary In
terest among the thoughtful people of this
District?
No greater work has been accomplished
In the direction of sanitary improvements
than that of providing an abundant supply
of fresh water to our towns and cl1es'
Unquestionably it is better to obtain pure
water at it's source; but what 1t Will cost
is always the precedent inquiry. 1t may pe
we'll to consider, first. what the great citles
of remote ages accomplished In TINS dlrec-
ton; and, secondly, to inquire whether the
more or less contaminated water OF our
rivers can be purified, so as to De mace
really palatable. The Investigations OF
numerous scientific authorities prove IN
contestabiy that the waters OF rivers.
streams and lakes whose impurity had until
recently rendered their utilization 1mpussl-
BILE are now rendered available as sources
of potable supply.
r.,
sally regarded as the first necessity OF liv-
ing beings. The skill and taste OF the
ancients In architecture, and their KNOW
edge of the classics, are matters OF wonder
to many of the present age; but the means
which they adopted to furnish, irrespective
of COST copious supplies of wholesome wa
ter for the purposes Of d1etetlcs, health anu
cleanliness, exerts less Of surprise than II
does of admiration for their wisdom and
sagacity in this respect. Pure water IN
abundance was regarded by them not only
as one of the greatest luxuries, but as IN
dispensable to health and life. In the mag
nitude of it's water supply Rome seems 10
have surpassed all other ancient cities.
During the reign of Nerva the aggregate
flow of water into the city was estimated 10
be not less than three hundred and fifty
city, to have contained at that period one
million inhabitants, the supply equaled
| three hundred and fifty gallons per indi-
vidual per day.
The aqueducts through which the waters
were conveyed to the city from various
sources were Of the most magnificent and
-"''~r ard s""h has been
their durability that a portion Of them.
vived the destroying hand of time. The
Aqua Claudia, begun by Nero and finished
by Claudius, alone conveyed to the city
siXty-four millions Of gallons each day.
This aqueduct formed a stream Of thirty
miles in length, and was supported on ar
cadeS through the extent Of seven miles,
and such was the solidity of its construc-
tiOn that it continues to supply the city at
this time with water.
In most English towns the water supply
is calculated at about thirty-f1ve to forty
five gallons for each person daily. In the
United States. wherever public water works
exist, the consumption is much greater the
average American citizen using or vast
ing more than twice as much as his Lon
don cousin. Marseillas, the only city Of
France with a proper water supply. has
tod, 1far rGc
pable Of supplying about 150 gallons per
day per person. Paris, with population Of
2 SOC, 900, had. until within the last decade
only $1,000 cubic meters of water, or about
To- gallons, per day per person, inclusive
of water used for flushing sewers and all
other purposes. In 1880 the supply was In
creased over 100 cubic meters. In New
York city the daily consumption Of water
is on an average of about eighty-hve gal
Ions per person per day; Philadelphia
lightweight gallons: Boston, ninety gal
Ions; Baltimore, about eighty-three gallons.
The latter city, however, has maximum
dany supply of over 800 gallons which can
be utilized and which is probably the larg-
est supply Of any city except the city Of
Rome, which has maximum supply of 500
| gallons per person per day. estimating the
present population at 100000 inhabitants.
Pollution Of Water Courses.
Aggregations of population are generally
| found near some river or other body Of
| water, which serves a double purpose: L.
| To supply the population grouped upon it
! with water for domestic and public uses.
2 To carry away the town filth, especially
| sewage matters 1t Is with the pollution Of
| water supplies as with disease-"an ounce
| of prevention is better than pound of
| cure" Many of the customs of mankind,
| however strongly they may be recommend
| ed on the score Of convenience, are open
| to objection with regard to their influence
upon health, and the common sense of the
| age has at last arrived at the conclusion
| that the practice of recklessly polluting
| water courses should be abandoned on ac-
count Of the injury which may ensue to the
public.
| as In many other things Is to carry re-
| strictions further than necessary. Many
| manufacturing industries yield large gu IN
titles of refuse liquid which is injurious by
reason Of matters dissolved or held in sus-
pension, but, as a matter of fact, the sus-
pended matters Of most manufacturing in
| dustries soon fall to the bottom of the
stream and the dissolved matters become
| oxidized or changed into harmless com
| pounds, and therefore the English law. so
| far as Its manufacturing wastes are con-
| cerned, is limited to fragrant cases or to
preventing the discharge Of refuse into riv-
| ers In situations where a definite mischief
| would be wrought before any natural pro-
| cess Of publication could be completed.
The influence Of the cultivation of farm
| lands in polluting streams running through
| them has been the subject Of some investi-
cations, and experiments bearing on the
| question have been made in England
| France, Germany, Belgium, Austria and
other European countries. The In teresting
| point with reference to the pollution OF
water courses from this source Is the small
amount Of rainfall which actually passes
through the soil, especially during the
summer months. at which season it has
been found that there Is almost an entire
absence of pollution from this source. Bu
the line must be drawn between non-pu
trescent organic matter and that which is
putrescent. Impregnations from household
or domestic sewage form the most dreaded
COMMUNICATIONS, and yield waters which
though clear and sparkling, are yet mos
unwholesome and deadly.
Brouardel, in a report made to the Acad
emy of Sciences Of Paris a few years ago
demonstrated the fact that the bacilli OF
typhoid fever will live during many month.
in the earth, and are finally carried by
| rains into water Supplies q cnnSidara bill