The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1908-06-11
a CITY DlsTILLING PLANT.
~ SAFE AND SANE WATER PLANT

The City of Minot paid nearly Slo'-
900 for bottl d drinking water during
the wear from August 1st, 1916, TO
August 1st 1907. During the same
period over $4,000 was paid for water
Il wash clothes in. This means that
If we can supply city water that IS
absolutely soft and absolutely pure
for drinking purposes, the city can
afford to spend $4,000 year to get it.
Rut if it can be shown that the same
amount Of distilled water, Whlcn Is
purere than any other water, pelns
condensed stem, can be supplied TOT
less than $1,000, it should, think, at
least induce sane and practical men to
consider the proposition enough to
At least inquire about it. saving OF
s11 900 year is worth while, out OF
$4,000. And then, knowing that the
water is absolutely pure should also
be an inducement.
For fire protection and for lawn
sprinkling and stable use the river
water is good enough, but the river
water would be dangerous for drink
ing purposes without publication OF
some sort. Then, too, the water in the
Mouse river is hard, and even If fit
cred will not be fit to wash in. An
adequate filter would cost $4,000 and
$4,000 a year to keep clean, and not
kept clean it would be worse than no
filter. There is always the overhang-
ing dread of the inefflciency OF the
filter attached to it. Uncertainty at
taches to the proposition of getting
the supply from wells also. First, it
is an expensive business to dig wells
enough to supply great and growing
city with plenty of water, and you
can never know how long the supply
will be adequate for an increasing
population. Then you can never get
water that is as pure as distilled
water. In most cases the water is
hardif taken from wells suffi GENTLY
deep to guard against the possibility
of surface water. Flowing wells give
are at all times dangerous, and es-
either hard or bad smelling and tast.
ing water, as a rule; and surface wells
pecially SO in the spring of the year.
The idea of taking water from wells
only fifteen or twenty feet Deep on
the north side of the river, where it
was asserted in the council meeting
last Monday that there would be a
sufficient supply because the water
soaks in from the river, is a danger
Gus idea. It may be true, and it may
not, that the water in soaking through
stratum of gravel will arrive at the
wells in a filtered condition. But in
the spring, when the river overfows.
which it occasionally does, the water
will soak in from above this gravel
stratum, and contaminate the wells
with the refuse from the streets and
backwards. And after such contamina-
ton It would take months and possibly
years before the water would again
be as pure as it was before the over
flow, especially after the population
increases around the wells. Surface
wells are not under any circumstances
to be advised for city water supply.
unless they can be situated high
enough to be above the danger of
contamination. Then there is another
reason why surface wells over on the
satisfactory, and that is because the
water will be hard, at least at times
because the river water is hard, and
no filter will remove the hard i'm.
purities. This is also why an arti,
fetal filter will not be satisfactory
because the filtered water will be
hard, at least at times. If Moose Jaw
as was asserted, has been satisfied
so far (for four years) with surface
wells dug near the river, it is because
the water in the Moose Jaw river is
soft-while the water in the Mouse
river is hard. But Moose Jaw is Ger
tain to have trouble from contamina
ton, if they have not already had it
Now, if we can eliminate all this
uncertainty, both as to the impurity
OF water and as to the necessary guam
tity, and still save money, it seems
to me that we ought to consider tbs
osition-especially as We con
tinue to pay out money for soft water
under all other proposed systems.
The first cost of putting in an elab
prate distilling plant would be approx
imately the same as to put in an ade
quate filter. and after the distillins
plant has been installed the cost O.
keeping it clean is so infinitesima
compared with keeping filter clear
that it may be pronounced to be mex
to nothing. 1t is true that it would
not be economical to have the dis
titled water supplied for extinguishinl
ores and to the barns and lawn, am
chat it would be advisable to put ii
two sets Of pipes in the streets wher
IRE protection was needed; but thi
would be necessary only in ever,
other street. and the allitional cos
of putting in two instead of one pip
In the same trench ia very small