The Washington times., 1906-02-21
CITY WATER PURE,
SAYS SUPT. HARDY
Tells Engineers Filter Plant
Does Good Work.
NO DANGER FROM BACTERIA
Lieutenant Dent Shows That Consump-
tion Must Be Decreased or New
Aqueduct Built.

+. ]. Hardy, superintendent of the
Washington filtration plant. stated be
fore the Washington Society of Engi-
neers at Hubbard Memorial Han last
night that the filter plant is doing sat
isfactoTy work. and any rumor that ii
has not been fltering the water or
that there is now, or liable to be in the
future. any contamination of the
filtered water is false.
Mr.. Hardy said. in part:
ON October the raw water was
shut off. and none but filtered water
has been let into the mains since Per-
nit me 10 say positively that any dis
trust or lurking suspicion that the
water supplied at your taps is danger
Gus or UnwholesOme is entirely un-
founded.
Mud in Water.
During the first two months after
the filters were started the turbidity
of the raw water was low. and that Of
the filtered water practically zero. One
could draw a bath tub full of water
and actually see clear down through il
TO the bottom OF the tub. During the
latter part of December, however, there
was decided increase in the turbidity
Of the raw water. At Great Falls it
went up TO 1900 in one day. which
NtAkA AAiEdAA DtlNEEu three ana zOuT
hundred tons Of mud in one days
A good deal of this mud was de-
posted In the several reservoirs, but
snoush Of it remained to overtax the
HtteIs, SO th3t the efHUent water looked
tloudy still al this time the baC-
terra efficiency remained high. and the
water was safe and wholesorne"
To a Times reporter he explained
later that the pollution of the raw
Water was not ordinarily high, and that
percentage Of the bacteria was of q
harmless water variety.
Capacity Of Plant.
There seems to be some question re-
garding the capacity OF the plant" he
said 1t was designed to filter 1900
GOO gallons a day, which II will do very
easily. In view Of all the facts he
concluded 1T would probably be the
most sensible conclusion TO assume
that t0.0OO.000 to S0.00O,O00 gallons a
day can safely be depended upon. and
WHeh a larger amount is required a
new conduit should be built"
Lieut.. h. J. Dent, of the United
States Engineer Corps. said that 'hith-
ertO criticisms of the per caDita con
sumption Of water in the District have
been met by intimations that most of
the surplus goes into Federal buildings
or our OF pubic fountains on Federal
reservations.
The quantity of water used by the
United States Government NAV now he
closely estimated at 100000 gallons
pei day, based on actual meterings BY
District authorities. Excluding this
10000 OU0 from the total consurnption
anu IdklIlg the population Of 1905 from
the police census, a per capita con-
sumption Of 10 gallons result
InexcusabIe Wastes.
1T is well known that about one-half
OF this is uneXcusable waste. and this
conclusion IS supported not only bv
statistics of consumption in other cit
les. but also from internal records Of
the supply in this city When an in
creased supply of $4,000 600 is suddenly
demanded during an unusually cold
spell in winter, IL Is impossible to avoid
the conclusion that this quantity is de-
Eberately wasted through fixtures left
10 avoid freezing; and when a similar
though smaller jump is coincident with
a hot. dry spell in summer. the abuse
Of the hose privilege is the only rational
explanation.
The filtration plant has A maximum
capacity of 15,o0G0O gallons per diem
his capacity cannot be exceeded dur
ing prolonged cold weather without a
serious dimInutIon Of the purity of the
effiutnt."
Lieutenant Dent explained the con
structior and present condition of the
aqueduct and conduit and concluded by
saying that without a radical reduc-
JiOu in the consumption q new adue-
duct cannot he built too quickly
F. + LOngley, assistant superintend-
ent Of the plant, read a paper on the
purity of water supplies, and gave a
comparison between mechanical and
slow fltratious-
Wireless TelegTaphy' win be the
subject discussed at the next meet
ing OF the engineers
1anu-rn rnn-Hr- ~