El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-06-07

present in the latter-nOtably iron and
manganese, but these constituents are
present only in very small quantities.
Next to the rather high total solids and
high chIorides noted in the water from
the Watts well should be mentioned
! the bituminous odor. This odor is
rather unusual in connection with
ground waters; and it suggests
the proximity of a bituminous shale,
odor. It's presence adds no unwhoIe-
| some feature to the water. 1t may Of
! fend the sense of taste. but 1t is not in
the least harmful to the human organ
| ism.
To put it briefly, I am Of the opinion
that the high percentage of total solidg
| and the bituminOus odor are the only
| Objectionable features of the water
from the Watts well at present and
neither of these render the water I'M
| healthful.
For steaming purposes, the water
could be improved by special treatment.
! but we are not called upon to discuss
! that feature here.
Suggestions.
The main point is. to keep the water
| free from bacterial infection, and that
can be done by properly housing it
| after it leaves the well and safeguard
| ing 1T against dust
If the water becomes infected with
colon bacilli, the hypochlorite treat
ment will destroy the micro organism
if used in adequate dosage. This meth
Cd of treating infected waters is be-
ing successfully used in q number Of
places The small amount of chloride
of lime used even in the case Of foul
waters can do no possible harm to the
human organism.
w Z. Anderson, manager of the In
ternationaI Water company, is fully
competent to administer the hypochlo-
rite treatment of the water, when such
treatment is needed, and l see no rea-
son why the water cannot be kept bac-
terially safe by this method.
The treatment of water with ozone
has met with favor in Europe, but
whether it could be economically used
at Ell Paso remains to be proved.
Mechanical filtration is another
method that is successfully used for
the publication Of waters. but the in
stallation of a plant sufficiently large
to meet the requirements of a rapidly
growing city would necessitate a large
expenditure of money.
OdOrs in Waters.
The bituminous odor in the water
from the Watts well is insignificant
when compared with other doors fire.
Quently present in water impounded in
reservoirs Ground waters contain a
number of mineral constituents that are
essential to the development Of micro
organisms. and when these waters are
brought to the surface and stored in
open reservoirs they soon become
charged with q luxuriant growth Of or
ganisns of various kinds. Some of the
lower forms OF plant life in their life
cycle produce large quantities of arc
matte substances and some of these
substances have exceedingly unpleasant
olors. In Exhibit II a list Of some Of
the organism present in the Mesa
reservoir Is given, and in this list will
be found at least one typical mal-odor
producer. Several are present. but the
ore that is probably chiefly responsible
for most of the vile odorS observed in
the FL Paso water supply is the os-
cillaria. It has notorious reputation
for befouling waters in which it grows.
1t gives to the water a very rank
odor and an unpleasant taste, but no
disease is produced thereby. 1t yields
to the treatment of copper sulphate in I
dosage of one n9rI of the salt to five
million parts of he water.
This kills the oscillaria, but several
days elapse before the odor disappears.
wish to empha the fact that the
WORST doors encountered IN the water
supply of Ell PaSo during certain sea-
sons of the year are due to growths of
this and similar organisms. Such forms
of life grow best in the presence Of
supnlight-they do not thrive in closed
or darkened reservoirs.
Open Reservoirs Bad.
1. Oscillaria and other troublesome
forms of algae are not found in the
water as 1t directly comes from the
wells themselves watts or Mesa but
water, say advices received here Tues ,