Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1903-12-16
THE WATER QUESTION.

Considerable complaint has come to
the Journal Miner Office in reference
to the quality of the water supplied
citizens of Prescott and Whipple, and
in the interest of the public an inves-
tigation has been made and the re-
suits so far as obtainable are here
with given.
Among the complaints, one was that
the we'll north of town was being used
as the base of the water supply and
that it abounded in disease germs and
other impurities. The first part of
this complaint was found to be true,
that is water was obtained from that
we'll during the time that the Del Rio
pipe line was undergoing repairs. 1t
was an emergency case which could
not be avoided. The safety of the
town depends upon its water supply
in case of an outbreak of fire, and as
water could not be pumped from Del
Rio while the pipes we're undergoing
repairs, the city was compelled to
utilize the we'll north of town dur
ing that brief period.
1t has also been charged that the
practice of pumping water from this
we'll, has been continued and is still
being continued, and that the water
from Del Rio is pumped into the city
well and thence pumped into the city
reservoir. This is the result of ignor-
ance, on the part of the person max
ing it no doubt, as the pump at the
city we'll is used at times in connect
ion with the Del Rio pump in forcing
the water into the reservoir, and a
visitor to the plant seeing this pump
in operation would naturally conclude
that was raising the water from the
we'll.
The water however from Del Rio
does not enter the we'll, except
through pipes. There is a cut off
valve in the pipe in the we'll, above
water line, which is closed while
pumping water from Del Rio, and the
pump there while in operation, only
acts upon the water in the pipes, re-
lieving the Del Rio pump of the pres
sure to the reservoir. The Del Rio wa
ter neither enters into the we'll, while
this operation is in progress, nor does
the water from the we'll pass through
the pipes.
Now as to the danger to health,
from this water, were it pumped into
the reservoir. Superintendent Glass
recently procured a sample Of the
water, from the we'll north of town,
and in jug sterilized by Health Off
Ger Day sent it to the university at
Tucson for analysis.
The result of this analysis has just
been returned to him and be has turn
ed it over to Health Officer Day. The
report states that it would require six
teen times the amount of impurities
found in the water to remove it from
the first class, the water being practi
caIly free from impurities.
The water was found to contain
some magnesia and lime, and is what
is termed hard water, but no disease
germs were found, and instead of be-
ing considered unhealthy lit was pro-
nounced to contain just enough mag
nesia and lime to make it healthy
article and nothing of an unsanitary
nature was found in it.
A sample of this water was also sent
to Washington, the report from
there being about the same. A
sample of water from the Del Rio and
Prescott wells. each, was sent to Wash
ington and Tucson and from the uni
versity comes the report that for
drinking and domestic purposes, the
water from the we'll north of town is
superior to that from Del Rio. The
latter water is soft and contains no
lime or magnesia, and the government
report from Washington pronounces
it better for sanitary purposes than it
would be for irrigation.
With the result of these analyses, even
if the city council should decide to
cut down the exepnse of the water
works, by pumping from the city
we'll, it can readily be seen that there
would be no menace to the public
health result from it, as has been so
frequently alleged.