The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903-11-17
Valuable Report on Subject
by Geological Survey
SANITARY ANALYSES
Health Menaced Not Only by Impuri
ties in the Water, but by Those
Coming From Ice.

| With the growth OF population ir
this country the pollution Of oul
water supplies is a subject of in
| creasing interest The typhoid germ
! is at home now in almost every stream
| Death may Turk in any fountain. Nc
| festal wine cup is more full Of posi-
BILE horrors than charity's cup OF cold
water. Year after year zymotic
scourages have claimed their quota OF
victims from metropolitan areas where
the living are SO many that the dead
are scarcely missed. 1t seems to fe-
uuire epidemics like those OF last year
at Ithaca, N. Y, and Palo Alto, Cal,
to rouse the public to a definite rea-
death and infection from contaminat-
ed water resources. The spectacle of
a special class of people like the stu
dents of Cornell and Stanford univer-
sities-picked men, whose lives are OF
high value-stricken by such an I'M
seen foe, moves the world to pity and
to a sense of it's spOnsibilities. 1t IS
as if the old myth of the Mlnotaur
had been revived-the creature that
would be satisfied with no lesser trlb-
ute than the yearly sacrifice OF state S
strongest youths and fairest maldens.
Especially timely. then, will 1t seem
to many to learn that the United states
GEOLOGICAL survey has recently estab-
Of
hydroeconomic section for the purpose
Of conducting systematic investigation
Of the quality Of surface and ground
waters in the United States Whlle
it is not purposed that this section
shall enter the field OF hygienic inves-
tigation, the economic phase or the
work is correlated with sanitation,
and hygienic data collected in the pro-
gress of the work will be available on
demand of those interested. Mr.. Mar
shall O. Leighton, photographer, has
been employed to devote his time and
energies to this subject.
Mr. Leightons plans are we'll ma
tured and have already been extensive
ly tried. The fundamental features OF
the work is the collection Of all analy-
teal data and it's arrangement and
classification for ready reference and
use One class Of analyses includes
principally the inorganic determina-
tons made for the purpose of showing
the proportion of various harmful salts
in any given water supply. These de-
Of
pecial Importance to all interests, in
vOlving the use of steam boilers. Nor
NAL water has certain action upon
metals, iron being one of those most
easily affected. The use of water
which contains ingredients that in
tensify this action upon iron or that
are deposited in the form of sediments
within the boiler of course unduly
shOrtenS the period Of usefulness of
the boiler Water which held in So
luton a large quantity of sulphate OF
lime and magnesia was once used on
the Nebraska division of the Union
Pacific railroad and the consequent
deposits of sulphates on the inside of
the boilers brought the expense of
| cleaning and repairing them up to
$3.50 in two years, sum equal to s
cents per mile of the distance run. In
addition to this the total mileage of
each engine was reduced one-half,
This same class of determinations is
| of benefit to manufacturers who are
| obliged to select waters which Will not
l., 70.
| uctS that are the result of finely bal
anced chemical processes, for foreign
| substances in the water may prevent
| the necessary dissolution of ingredl-
| ents or may hasten it undesirably.
The ordinary sanitary analyses con-
| stitute an important part of the ana
| Iytical work. These determine not only
such features as color, turbidity and
| hardness, but the amount of organic
matter in the water and its state OF
oxidation. These analyses may be
made of enormous practical benefit to
municipalities and to institutions seek
| ing domestic water supplies. Not only
may they assist in establishing stand
| ards for drinking water that are more
precise than those prescribed in any
other branch OF water utilization, but
they may aid in the solution Of other
problems. Health is menaced not
| merely by impurities in the water
we drink, but by those included in the
| ice dissolved in the water. Even the
water used for irrigating the gardens
| where our vegetables are grown may
| be q source Of disease, and the air we
breathe may be vitiated by polluted
| waters. Too often the establishment
| OF parks that might be breathing
places for dust-stif1ed city-folk is made
| impossible by the foulnees OF the water
flowing Dast available sites or standing