The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-09-07
DISINFECTION WITH OZONE.

An experiment is soon to be tried in Philadelphia
which may be of value to communities that are IN
need of purer water supplies than they now ENJOY,
saws the New York Tribune private corporation
in that city is erecting plant on the banks OF the
Schuylkill for the purpose of showing, If possible
the superiority of dsinfection with ozone over the
system of sand filtration adopted by the municipality
and already in service along the Delaware. The
method about to be tried has been introduced on,
small scale in two three foreign cities, but Is
practically unknown in America. 1t differs from
that employed by Albert E. Wolf, of this city, 10
or u years ago. and by NJ Hermite in France. Those
men treated salt water with electricity, and thus
liberated both ozone and chlorine The new process
produces only the former, and obtains it from the
air BY means of suitable electrical apparatus the
oxygen is separated from the other gases with which
il is associated and is so modified to acquire power
contaminated water if the ozone is permitted to
bubble up through the fluid and at the same time
the later is clarified and deodorized.
Up to the present time filtration has done more for
the purifeation of water in which the bacteria of
typhoid fever and other diseases are present than
any other mode of treatment. Its benefits are not
uniform Through mistakes of administration it oc-
easionaly fails to yield the expected results AT best
1t only reduces the number.of microbes 1t does not
completely eliminate them. Still, it has materially
lowered the death rate in many localities which for
merly suffered heavy mortality. TO convince dis
interested sanitary engineers that the use of ozone
will prove more satisfactory in the long run will
be by no means easy. A system which works admir-
ably in the laboratory does not always behave equally
well on large SCALE 1t is easy to believe that if
gl0bule of ozone comes in contact with mischevous
bacillus the latter will be instantly killed Whether
sufficiently thorough commingling of the gas with
the water be insured to reach all the germs in the
fluid is another question. second essential to eff
cheney is continuity of operation. If the machinery
gets out OF order there must be interruption either
of the water supply or of the disinfection and in
stances of the latter kind appear to have occurred at
Wiesbaden. 1t is to be hoped that the apparatus
which is about to be installed in Philadelphia will
have an endurance test to clear up uncertainty on
this point If the men under whose auspices the
venture is made can also demonstrate the economy
OF the process, they will overcome doubts which have
been entertained by experts who apparently have
none regarding its excellence
Cities which cannot supervise and control the ter
Ritory from which their water supply comes are ex
posed to peculiar danger. Practically all of the
typhoid epidemics which occur in this country andl
Europe result from such inability to prevent contain
nation The only left in cases of that kind
to purify the water before it is distributed for con-
sumption. The number of communities which have
neglected to adopt one safeguard or another is as
tonishingly large In the near future the scope of
their choice may be considerably widened In a
dozen or more places the copper suphate system is
undergoing trial this year, and before many more
months have elapsed correct Judgment of its value
should be possible If the regeneration of water
from the filthy and poisonous SchuylkilI should prove
effective and cheap, an additional instrument for
much needed sanitation will be available
H
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