Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1907-04-03
PURE WATER.
Every Home Can Have 1t With Little
Trouble and Expense.

A good filter Is an expensive thing,
and almost any filter, unless it is kept
clean, is more destructive of life and
health than the water it filters. The
care of the filter can never be given
over to the care of irresponsible serv-
ants. 1t soon begins to smell foul,
and it is ultimately given up with
disgust, as costing more than it
comes to.
1t Is within the power of every house.
keeper to provide the family with
pure and sparkling water at the ex-
pense of but a few cents a year and
the smallest amount of attention every
day.
In France the purifying of water in
this way is carried on to a considera-
BILE extent and with elaborate and ex-
pensive machinery But with no ma
chinery at all the housewife can pro-
duce practically the sams result.
Take any vessel you lvly chance to
have handy. l have found stone pot,
which you can buy any place for 10
cents, one that slopes down the sides
to a small base at the bottom, about
the best OF anything. Be sure that
your vessel is clean. Fill it nearly full
with water from the faucet.
The rule for mixing the precipitating
purifier which you are about to use Is
l to 5000. 1t is more than likely that
you will have no way to ascertain
these exact proportions, but do not let
thai discourage you. A little expert
ence is worth good deal in this world,
whether the work be done Is compli-
Gated or simple. A few days of trial in
using the separator will serve to guide
you all right.
For starter, say that to pitcher
holding quart of water you take a
small amount of pulverized alum,
about what would go on the rounded
point of the blade of pocketknife,
toss 1t into the water and mix 1t thor
oughly. This you can do with a spoon,
an egg beater or whip cream churn.
The only thing is to see that the alum
Is thoroughly mixed with the water,
and 1t takes considerable stirring to do
this.
If you notice little moss islands in
the water, which same little islands do
not seem to want to go to the bottom
with their companions, you will know
that you have not properly mixed the
alum with the water. AS water costs
nothing and the alum but the merest
trifle, you can throw the water away
and ''set" some more. But you need
not do this. All you have to do is to
stir 1t all up good again.
When the work Is properly done the
water is crystal clear and has a live
taste. One thing that makes distilled
water so unpalatable is the absolutely
dead taste it has.
Another great advantage of water
thus prepared is that it Is not subject
to auto-infection or self contamination,
which Is such great enemy to most
I5lhssea pnre EVEN HaiGtl iAgHel 'all vI
open vessels for thirty-six hours.
Although so small an amount of alum
would not hurt you If you were to
drink every particle of it, be not
alarmed. You do not get any of the
alum when you drink, for the water
upon analysis Is found to be chemically
free from alum. The alum has settled
to the bottom in an insoluble COM
pound with the filth and impurities it
has carried with it.
In half an hour or less you will see
a deposit ON the sides and bottom of
your pan or pot in which you have
"set" your water. If you will shake
the vessel bit you will see this de-
posit go to the bottom. If you can
spare the time the water should stand
for about six hours before it is de-
canted. Then place in clean bottles
on the ice.
In this way you drink a pure, cold,
sparkling water without the contami-
nation that is bound to come from
putting ice in the drinking water un-
less the ice has been manufactured
from filtered water.-Ruth Everett in
New York World.