Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1903-06-06

GOVERNMENT
INVESTIGATION
Plans Being Arranged for General
Analyses OF Water.

In the examination OF the water
resources of the United States, one
Of the most important features is the
of the character of !
ground and surface waters. The es-
sential characteristics of waters that
are now or that at some time In the
future may be used for domestic sup
ply or in locomotive boilers are little
known, except within limited areas.
In the eastern part of the country,
where the population per square mile
is largest, chemical surveys have
been made that have yielded informa-
ton of great value. Many railroads
in the United States maintain chemi-
cal laboratories, and the results of
the analyses of water found along the
various rights of way furnished a
clear conception of the character of
the available waters along these mar
row lines. The work involved in |
chemical survey, however, as it has
been carried on in the past, is neces-
sarily expensive an d exceedingly
slow. and there has been great need
of rapid and practical field methods,
whereby large number OF analysis
can be made at small cost. The
work of making all the determine
tions that are usually considered nee
essary in chemical analysis would, in
the wide area covered by the United
States, be so expensive as to be well
nigh inpracticable, but it is reasonable
to believe that, out of the many de-
Examinations usually made in such
ANALYSIS, few important ones can
be selected which shall bear such a
relation to the whole that they will
give a clear insight into the charac-
ter of the waters tested. The United
States geological survey is now con-
sidering these points with especial
reference to the possibility of devising
methods of determination which can
be carried on in the field and which
shall be sufficiently accurate for most
purposes. The experience of the
survey thus far is that large num-
Der of determinations of approximate
accuracy, are, In the aggregate. far
more useful than a few determina-
tioons made according to refined
methods. Acting along these lines,
the survey has endeavored to inter
est the attention of various chem
lists in the country in this matter,
and a widespread discussion has been
carried on concerning the most use
determination and the most advanta-
geous means by which rapid and ap-
proximately accurate results can be
reached. The opinions of these
chemists are being collected, and
from them there is in progress oi
construction a scheme by which
large areas can be chemically sur
veyed. These inquiries cover the or
panic as well as the inorganic deter
limitations. and therefore the scope
of the work will be such as to meet
the needs of those interested in do
mestic water supply as well as OF
those who are seeking information
concerning the best waters for use
in boilers. A number of methods fol
field analysis have already been pro-
posed and are being practically
tested, and there is reason tc
believe that within short time this
work will have advanced to a point
at which it can be placed before the
various chemical authorities in the
country as practical system. and a
widespread chemical survey of almost
incalculable value will have been sci
, on foot.
w. D. Nelligan has the best com
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