Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-05-23
DR.. haines' Analysis.

&c. w. Harris, Nj. D., Marshalltown
Icwa-Dear Sir: The spe cimens of wa
ter secured by one of us (Dr. LeCounD
en- the 18th of April have been sub
mitted to a ARCHAEOLOGICAL examination
and the following results were OBJ
tanned:
No. 1. Water from the gravel beds
Number of bacteria per cubic centimeter
twenty-five; no colon bacilli.
No. 2. Water from the man hole
across the river. Number of bacteria
per cubic centimeter, 2l7; no colon
bacilli.
No. g. Water from the tap at the
pumping station. Number of bacteria
per cubic centimeter, 23S; no colon
bacilli.
NO. 4. Water from tie river. Mum
Der Of bacteria per cubic centimeter
1,S41; two colon bacilli per cubic CEN
rimeter.
From the above results, and also
from an inspection OF the various
sources of the water, we draw the fol-
lowing conclusions: Specimen No. 1 is
|of excellent quality; specimen NO. Z
appears to be of fair quality. altho we
Judge that contamination of this sup
ply with the river water is possible.
specimen No. 3. which should be, we
understand, mixture OF No. l and No.
u, we infer is at least slightly contami-
mated with outside water. II it We're
purely a mixture of l and the num-
Der of bacteria should be not far from
the average of the number found in
these two samples, but as a, matter of
fact the number is greater than that
found in No. 2. We are inclined to be-
!ieve, therefore, that this water is some
what impure and as long as such
presumable mixing with outside sources
continues we should scarcely consider
it an entirely safe supply.
The river water, No. 4, as would be
expected from It's origin, is unfit for
drinking purposes and should not be
used either by itself or mixed with 9TH
el supplies. The Iowa Aver, draining
as it does q considerable area of we'll
settled country. receiving the washings
from many farms and sewage from nu-
merous towns and villages, is scarcely
more than an open sewer and It's water,
therefore, is clearly unsafe as a source
OF drinking supply TIL" history of Il
large number of cities getting their wa
ter from rivers of more or less SINH
lar character, such for instance as Law
renee, Mass, in former years, and
Philadelphia and Ithaca today, shows
conclusively the danger of using such a
supply. Publication by efficient filtra-
ton alone can make such water safe
for public use.
1T should be clearly understood that
the above results represent the condi-
uon OF the water only at the time the
snacmens were collected. In order to
SC perfectly fair picture, specimens
81 ould be obtained and examined once
month or oftener for a considerable
period of time, so that variations pro-
duced by changes in season and wealth
er and by other factors might be
studied.
SIN conclusion we would recommend
that your city be supplied with water
from the gravel beds only. For this
purpose it would be necessary to con-
struct reservoirs for holding a reserve
supply of this water to &c used in case
of fire and for flushing the mains. I'm
filtered water from the river by itself
alone or mixed with other supply should
be vigorously excluded and should not
be used even for flushing the mains or
in case of fire, as more or less pollution
OF necessity is likely to occur at such
times. Yours very truly,
(Signed) "WALTHR s. HAINES,
"E. r. LECOUNT."