The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-01-06

The force Of men employed by the
Washington Aqueduct is slowly dwiudIiny
away There is no money TO pay them,
discharges are frequent and the experts
which have been gathered IN Washington
by slow process for years are leaving TO
seek more desirable situations elsewhere.
One OF the experts has recently gone TO
England, where. he declares his services
will be better appreciated.
The engineers are becoming discour-
aged at the attitude Of Congress. They
say that it will be impossible TO secure
so efficient a force as they have recently
had, in the future and the Iabors OF the
past seem TO have been expended for
nothing.
Meanwhile. they are doing what they
can. and improving the quality OF tho
drinking water so Far as is possible
Gomez Color Merely Innrtissic.
Eminent Government scientists declare
that the water supplied to Washington
from the Potomac River is the rurest
and most wholesome Of any in the couu-
try, and that the coffee color which un-
told quantities Of mud now lend TO it is
Objectionable only upon artistic grounds
The new mammoth filtration plant
which Congress has been asked to pro
vide, and whose plans have already been
prepared, viii make the drinking water
Of the Capital more beautiful and will
OF course improve the quality by remov-
Ing the silt and %, a"s brit VIII not have
the effect Of rIalung the water much
more wholesome than 10 is now. This is
the opinion Of DR.. II. ". Wiley Chief OF
the Bureau Of Chemistry Of the Agricul-
tural Department
Dr. Wiley. who knows perhaps more
about chemical analysis Of water and Of
subjects connect.t with il tnan any man
IN the country. holds a very good opinion
OF Potomac water, the same which comes
TO the average citizen dark and forbiddinE
from the nickel nozzle. Perhaps = has
been suggested, DR.. Wiley drinks only the
filtered water himself. and consequently
does not quite appreciate the many OBJ
noxicus points OF the chocolate coIorad
fluid but as he has made thousands of ex-
aminatiOus OF the water, this view can
not be regarded as fitting the case.
Best system Known.
The new filtration plant through which
the water for the District is TO be strain
ed if Congress can be persuaded to grant
the necessary amount Of money to pay the
bills. has interested the Government sci
entists. and all concur in the belief thar
the system which has been decided upon
is the best in existence.
The first cost Of the plant will be
greater than that Of other systems bIlt
II viii be cheaper in the long run. and is
In addition, the means Of obtaining water
FOR drinking and domestic purposes as
pure as is possible under present cOudI-
lions Of crowded civilizati ton.
There are two purposes IN view IN Ill
tration, said Dr. Wiley discussing the
Washington water supply question The
hrst IS filtration for the purpose Of re-
moving the silt. The second is 10 remove
germs. Considerable silt. which is finely
divided clay. exists in the water Of the
Potomac River vel Tic water is good. !
may say that II is the best water supplied
TO any city I'm the country under the same
System. Various cities have better and
purer supplies Of water. but they possess
filtration plants.
Potomac a Clear River
The Potomac, as other Southern
streams. is bounded by banks Of clay.
and IT is this which gives the water
the dark and unpleasant appearance whi1h
II possesses, especially al this time Of the
year The river itself. however. IS clean.
I mean / y clean that It's upper banks are
HUI hAiaNhl1 LUlILldAEA- WINE inc DffE j.
rocky, and the water is thus purified be-
fore it reaches the point from which &c is
taken fer the use OF the city.
This silt, or G2e- clay. IS removed by
various processes. the best Of which I
believe 10 be the slow sand hitter. such
as mas been decided upon for Washington.
One process, a very slow one is that by
which the water f. filtered By sc1ll ug.
This takes long tine, weeks and months
and Is, therefore. Objectionable.
FILTRATION by the chemical process. in
which alum is added 20 The water, r. an
excellent one. The alum coagulates with
the silt which is precipitated. Sometimes
too much alum h. used. but this can be
avoided with proper care. Water is also
filtered through sand and coke. in tanks
under pressure, or altered through sand
BY gravity.
In this climate there IS NJ objection
20 open air sand filters such as the one
which win be built here II present plans
are carried out 10 northern countries
however. an such States as Minnesota aud
the New England State=, this STYLE OF
filter is impossible owing 10 the fact that
tie water is Liable 10 freeze during the
winter months. Here the water will not
freeze. or II al all, only AZ the top and
not 20 the bottom
Germs Absolutely Harmless.
"Most Of tie germs in the Potomac
water added DR.. whey. ARE absolutely
harmless. They cannot injuTe a person
drinking the water. Only those disease
breeding germs, OF which there are com
paratftcly few. are al all injurious FIJI
tTLtion does q gree. work in removing
germs, just as Il does in removing silt
Cat o. a quantity Of water containing say.
100 germs, filtration viii remove an but
eigt- or ten, and VIII often leave even
less than that number.
The silt or mud IN he Potomac water
can be drunk with impUnity Ia az great
quantities as desired. Il cannot do any
body any harm. The clay which gives
such az unpleasant end naVse0us appear
Ence 20 the drinking water is innocent IN
that it, not dangerous to drink Il. II IS
mistaken : es that muddy water con
tanning silt such as the Potomac water
IS detrimental % health"
The engineers in charge OF the Wash
ington water supply are perhapssthe peo-
pie most Interested in occurring a good
supply Of clear drinking fluid for citizens
OF the District. and they are making every
encrt 20 secure the enactment By Con
greEs q bill authorizing the building Of
filtration plant.
Engineers Have Lost Hope.
They have given up hope. and now ali Of
the experts which the engineers have
been able 20 gather about them are seek
Ing other Gclds. and are leaving the city.
The force O. men is now pitably small.
while each ..,r qCrrrov. .z-.-.-1t-a TT