Evening journal., 1903-08-03

tested. There will be two small filters
in which the requisite amount of sand
as offered for sale. will be placed and
the results obtained with these sands
studied. 1t is to be remembered that
grades of sand which proved efficient
i'm altering some other water may prove
worthless when used in connection with
the Brandywine water II may be
either too coarse or too fine for our
water.
"(2) 1t is advisable to test the eff
cheney Of TIE special methods of con-
struction devised by the United States
Filtration Company long before the
completed work is finally accepted 1t
is 10 be remembered that a filter is not
a piece Of machinery. II is a mechani-
cal construction fo- a definite aim, and
that aim is the publication of the wa
ter. No matter how ingenious the
construction is from a mechanical
standpoint or how elaborate 1t is, if
the water is not purified the construc-
tion itself becomes utterly worthless.
As an instance / will mention the old
Sellars filter which was quite ingenious
from a mechanical standpoint but
proved failure in so far as the re-
moval OF bacteria is concerned. We do
not care whether the United States
sand Filtration Company uses tile as
an underdrain or anything else, wheth-
er one process of construction is used
or another. What we are after are the
results. Mr.. Davis, the engineer for
the United States Filtration Company.
claims that by the specific methods of
construction which he had devised the
results obtained are exceptionally good,
namely, that at a rate OF four million
gallons per acre i'm twenty-four hours
the filter will remove all but forty bac-
terra per cubic centmeter. l must ad-
NIT that such results far suroass any
on record, forty bacteria per cubic CEN
timeter being far below the acceptable
German standard which is one hundred.
But the United States Filtration Com
pany offers a bond of S125,000 as a
guarantee that these remarkable re-
suits will be obtained. 1t is this guar
antee that disposed our Water Com
mission i'm favor of this particular pro-
cess of construction and not the patents
which intrinsically as mere mechanical
devices have no value. The Water Com
mission was after the results, and the
results guaranteed by the filtration
are Of exceptional nature.
This being the case how are we tOl
know that these results will he OBJ
tanned with the Brandywine water
which is, perhaps. unlike any other wa
ter? Maybe our water contains GER
tain algae which may necessitate the
covering of the filter beds o. perhaps
Other changes may have to be made to
meet LEGAL conditions. According to
the contract entered into with the Uni
tod states Filtration Company and TO
which the successful bidder win have
to Subscribe any changes that may be
found necessary to obtain the guaran-
teed results win be made free of
charge. and it is certainly desirable
that IN .se changes, if found necessary.
should be made before the plant is fully
constructed. There is, of course. a time
limit to bond, and therefore the longer
we will study this particular method
ef filtration before the bond is returned
the better for the interests of the city.
Bond is Sufficient.
The question W i 10 doubt be asked
whether the S125,000 will be sufficient
to cover any changes that may be found
necessary by reason of the failure Of
tl,e special process of construction to
accomplish the results. This question
caa be- answered in the affirmative. 1t
n' to lie remembered that the supposed
cost uf a million dollars does not apply
entirely to the filtration plant. The
bulk of this sum will be expended on
mains. pumping station and covering
OF the clear water reservoirs, all these
being necessary no matter what system
of puriication would have been adopt
cd. The actual cost Of the filter beds
will probably not exceed S150,000.
In conclusion let IRE say that know
Of no other city in this country or
abroad that is as fully protected in the
matter of water publication as this city
is. and this is thanks to the Water
Commission that is so much abused"