The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-05-15
LIFE AND HEALTH.
As Related to Water Supply Discussed
by Professor Kober.

l of Medicine, Georgetown university,
Washington. D. c., addressed the con-
walton Of Life and Health by Improved
Water Supply" He spoke in part as
| follows:
Water is a prime necessity to man
not only as an article of food but also
| for the proper degree of cleanliness OF
person, clothing and dwellings. So,
homes sprang first into existence
| wherever nature yielded a bountiful
supply of water. Look where we may,
the land supplied with spring or
| traversed by a stream constituted the
| first choice Of our sturdy pioneers.
In our towns and cities the question
of water supply has been solved by the
| Introduction of public waterWorks, put
| even these instrumentahties are not OF
modern origin, for in visit to Rome
we will be shown aqueducts covering
| miles on miles which were begun 312
B. c., many of which have been rem
| ovated. and attest the munif1cence
with which the ancient capital was
supplied with one of the first sanitary
requisites.
Sources Of Water.
The water which we require for our
daily use comes to us from the clouds
in the form of rain or snow. OF this
a certain amount is evaporated; anotn-
er portion may be collected in cisterns,
another soaks into the earth to reap
pear in the form of springs, another
portion flows off in the direction OF sur
face slope to join the ponds, lakes,
streams or rivers, or it may penetrate
the earth sufficiently deep to require
| us to dig wells for it's collection. The
sources Of our water supply may there
fore be classified as rain and snow wa
| ter, surface water Qncluding ponds,
lakes, streams and rivers), and ground
water including springs and wells.
The amount Of water available Tor
| community purposes depends on the
precipitation and the precautions Ia
ken in given water shed for the con-
servation of the waters. The mean
annual rainfall for different portions Of
| the United States has been tabulated
| by the United States weather bureau;
| 1t averages some 30 inches.
| Tanning gives the average Of 40
inches for New England and the mid
die states. One inch of rain would
| amount, according to Church, to near
| ly 101 (gross)) tons per acre or on
house roof Of say 20 by 20 feet area,
one inch of rain would be about $50
gallons. With rainfall of 40 inches
per annum this would amount to 10000
gallons, or q gallons per day. The
average daily supply per capita In
most Of our northern cities ranges
! from 20 to 217 gallons or more.
Public Water Supplies.
The needs for community water sup
plies are met according to the location
of the town or city with reference to
| the availability of springs, streams,
rivers and lakes Since springs rarely
yield a sufficient supply of water for
general use, 1t is perfectly natural that
| in the majority of instances, surface
water, like streams, rivers, lakes or
ponds were utilized for public water
| works and when these were not avail
able, recourse was had to shallow and
deep wells and so-called filter galleries
River water is a mixture of spring,
ground, rain and surface water. The
! English river pollution commission in
| it's sixth report estimated that about
one-hah Of the water descending as
rain finds its way into streams. Rivers
are always purer near their source; the
| amount of impurities increases as we
descend the stream, since the water
courses are the natural drainage chan
nels of the country and the wastes Of
\ way into the streams. 1t Is for this
reason that rivers, after passing
| through cultivated valleys with cities,
| towns or settlements along their banks
often contain a dangerous amount Of
mineral and organic matter. Thus the
Mississippi at Minneapolis contains only
1876 total solids per 100000. while the
same river at st. Louis contains 244.3
per 100000.
| River Pollution.
| The sanitarian recognizes two prin-
cipal forms of pollution, viz: The
/
! the character and amount of organic
| matter contained in the water. The
amount of mineral matter depends
largely on the geological formation of
the country and the erosive power Of
the streams. Water containing so parts
| per LOG, 600, or 80 grains of solid matter
| per gallon is unfit for drinking pur-
| poses on account of it's irritating ef-
fects upon the gastro-intestinal tract;
4 but beyond this, turbidity is Of no spec
4 oil oy1if a CT "a
ter also contains metallic poisons or
4 Objectionable chemicals.
II Potomac river, which may serve as
| a type Of American rivers for our dis
II pollution. For example certain pulp
mills, tanneries and manufacturing
establishments defile the water by
chemicals and other refuse-one
i paper mill alone discharges over 10O,-
II 600 gallons Of liquid into the river
each day heavily laden with sulphuric
| and fannie acids.
These forms Of pollution, although
at times so great as to prove destruc-
4 tive to game fish, are of less interest
to the sanitarian, than contamina-
ton with excrementitious matter from
human beings or animals, within the
towns and settlements of the Poto-
mao basin.
II Chemical Analysis.
Notwithstanding numerous sources
Of pollution, Potomac river, according
to the chemical analysis, compares
very favorably as regards purity with
other American rivers.
II The presence Of intestinal bac-
terra is satisfactory evidence of
contamination with feca1 matter OF
man or animals. Apart from the fact
that It conclusively shows, that much
valuable organic matter has been
carried away which should have been
retained in the uplands for manuria]
purposes, the presence of sewage
bacteria is significant of danger and
strongly points to the possibility that
such waters may be infected with
/ typhoid bacilli.
L It has been estimated. that the