Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1913-05-20

ing of the resolution which brings the
matter to head and is the best way
to get at the matter.
! Mr. Seligman's remarks were fair
! and impartial and well received, He
paid the mayor a compliment for call
ing the meeting and said Mr.. Lopez
deserved the credit for giving the
; people an opportunity Of hearing the
matter. AS chairman of the commit.
tee on public funds and utilities from
the chamber of commerce, which body
was doing so much good for the city,
1t was not only a personal but a pub
lie matter Of the greatest Importance
to our city that we should have the
purest quality and the best quantity
of water, for public use.
This was not personal matter or
one in which personalities should be
considered, but question of the most
vital interest, touching as it did one
of the most important features in the
utilities that belonged to the public.
People of this city had right to
know that the water they We're using
was of the highest and purest quality
in the United States. Any investiga-
tion into the matter should determine
for all time this question thus obviat-
ing future discussions and avoiding
future doubt on the subject.
Two years ago when he was may
or, this same subject had been agi-
tated AT that time the odor of the
water at times, was obnoxious, and
the city had employed a physician to
get two bottles of the city water
from the intake to the main city sup
ply pipes. The bottles were covered
with cotton, heremtically sealed, and
one of them was sent east and the
other west to be analysed The analy-
sis proved the water to be of excel
lent quality and as good as any water
in the United States. The analyzation
cost the city $50 and was well worth
he knowledge that it furnished.
The eX-mayor said that to his best |
the water then and the |
water now was free from contamina-
ion with any animal matter. There !
vas no grazing permitted on the wat |
II she'd no cattle there and but one |
human being living there, and he was
! forest ranger. The water shed !
rom its source to the reservoir eX-
ends some 90 miles, and the water
s pure snow which is thoroughly
Grated by being thrown against and h
ver the rocks of the mountain
tream as it comes tumbling down
he course. Hence the supply is the
nest and purest to be had any where
n the world.
There was one thing, said Mr.. Sci ,
5man. that ought to be done. howev-
r, and that was to put in intakes, t,
S had been suggested by Mr.. Hughes, ,
o that the water from the reservoir, I
hen the reservoir has to be used, 6
an be cotton from depth not to ex- !
eed four feet from the surface. Water +
annot be purified from the air above :
a greater depth. This should be )
one either by the tower system or 6
le pipe system, but there is little
uestion but what it should he in
tailed. This would always insure 9
IRE water from the reservoir when c
le reservoir has to be used in emer- ;,
9ncy.
Mr.. Selieman said that he was :
either hydraulic nor an irrigation :,
lgineer, but that he did know that !
, had visited the reservoir three :.
mes since it had been emptied and ),
at there was fill OF at least IS or r
feet of silt and brush in the bottom
the reservoir. Whether this re- =
Sc was Injurious or not he was un- 4
lie to say. He had recently taken
e trouble to lay out a clean piece Z
muslin, white and bleached and
ured water over it and had noted
at in five minutes a deposit of green
my substance had formed on it, and
at there was also the presence of
lall bug red in color and looking
like a miniature crab. On
samples to a physician he
is informed that these deposits were
t injurious to drink, but personally \
did not care to drink them. He
ought the remedy for this would be
the city to compel the water COM
ny to install filter if it seemed
cessary which has been done in
ch cities as Cleveland and have all
mixing water filtered before coming
the consumer.
Nr. Seligman said that one of the ~
st important solutions to the, pres
problem was the quantity of wa
as well as it's quality. Was the
,sent system sufficient with the in
ase of capacity that would come? ,b
ould another reservoir be built or r.,
$ one cleaned? The enormous de- -,
lit took away just that much capa- Nc
, from the reservoir. These were ~.
,stions that a competent engineer ne
'uld be called on to determine. to
ere was not a sufficient amount of ar
ter for the poor man or the small s,,
dener The presence of two of the ti1
yor domos or ditch bosses, the an
ty of the poor classes living in this de
: and vicinity that they would not es
e enough water, with the present cit
dition of the reservoir was natural. 90
S city could not afford in any way m,
restrict the irrigating rights that an
e as old as the hills, or to put the he
a
CONTINUED on page four).
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