Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-27
CHEMIST MILLER
FINDS WATER GOOD
CALLS 1T SUPERIOR TO THE
PRESENT SUPPLY
Finds That Owens River at Point Of
Intake Contains Lees Mineral
salts Than Los Angeles
SWater

o "I consider that the water from
o Owens river, according to the an-%
o aIysls made by w. H. Hei1einan of
O the United States reclamation SER
O vice of samples taken mt Char
o Iey's Butte is superior for domes-
o tic purposes to the water now 4
@ supplied to the city of Los An 4
@ geles.
@ T base my conclusions upon
@ the following considerations
o "Thc analyses show that the
O Owens river water contains about
@ three-fourths as much mineral
@ matter or salts in solution as the
@ Los Angeles water.
o "The Owens river water con-
o tains about two-flfths as much
@ lime and magnesia as the Los An
o geles water. The lime and mag
o nesia in the Owens river water
@ are in such form or chemical. {
@ combination that upon the boil
@ ing of the water they will be en-
@ tirely dep -tted, leaving soft
o water for use. The Owens river (
o water will not form hard or
@ troublesome scale when used I'm
@ steam boilers.
O. 'sThere is present in Owens
@ river water an amount of bicnr-
@ Donate of soda, Or "baking soda," {
@ equivalent to about one table,
@ spoonful, or One> ounce, in from
@ one to four barrels of water, the
8 quantity varying at different
o times. This quantity could not be
@ considered harmful or deleterious
@ for any domestic or agricultural
@ purpose.
O. "City Chemist.
@ clos Angeles, May ~. 1907"
o 8 @ @ @ g @ @ @ 1910 @ @ 90 &%
Erwin H. Miller, city chemist, afte
an investigation of several days, dur
ing which analyses of Los Angeles
river water were made, makes SOM
interesting comparisons of his result
with those of w. H. Heileman, tn
government chemist who for the sl'
months ending April 80 made weekl,
analyses of the Owens river at Char
ley's Butte, the intake.
Mr.. Miller finds that the Owen
river water is superior for domesti
purposes to the water now supplied Il
the city. In the comparison that h
makes he says Owens river water con
tains only three-fourths as much mat
ter or salts in solution as the Lo
Angeles river water, which the city 1
now using.
The samples of Los Angeles rive
water were taken from the main D
Broadway.
The samples taken by Mr.. Helena
were from the Owens river. All rive
Ifef e
that his analyses show the maximum
quantity of salts which the water Lo
Angeles Is to use will contain. A
other water purchased by the city l
Owens valley is still better, tn
mingling of the waters forming an av
erage water which will be almost twic
as pure as the present supply.
Makes Comparison
Mr.. Miller was requested by the cam
paign committee and officials of tn
Los Angeles Aqueduct to make care
full comparison of Mr.. Heileman's re
suits with those Of his own. The &C
companying signed statement gives tn
result of his Investigations.
The table of comparison showing Lo
Angeles river water to contain twenty
five per cent more salts in solution
than Owens river water is as follows:
Aqueduet. Supply
Salts in solution. 22.O 29.
Lime calcium, 'Ca.).. 30 a..
Magnesium (MgO O.... 0.6 1,
Sodium and Potassium
INA. and K0...... So 2.
Sulphate 900 .....; 2.5 3,
Acis carbonate (HCO3) 11.5 To-.
Mr.. Heileman made twenty-tw
analyses, in all of the water of owen
river at the point where the city vii
divert it's supply. The period owe
which the tests extended, Novembe
until the end of April, is such as t
show the quality of the water unde
almost every condition of drouth an
freshet
His report on his findings as mad
to the government is to the effect tha
he found the water to be satisfactory
"On the basis of mineral content,
says Mr.. Heileman in his report, 9TH
water at the intake of the proposes
Owens river aqueduct, for the perio
studied, is, for a western water, of goo
quality for municipal and industria
use. 1t necessarily follows that TO
agricultural purposes its quality cal
in no wise be Questioned.
"We may sum up the sanitary re
suits on the Owens water as being gen
orally favorable for the periods OBJ
served"
CHALLENGE TO A DUEL