The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-11-29
CITY ENGINEER
CONTINUED From Page One, Part ~
consumer by s%oftening by lime

consumer by softening by lime
ut is thus seen that lime softening
will cause a direct saving to the wat
er consumer of about $4,000 per
year and now cause q saving Of about
IS, 900 per wear. A liberal estimate
OF the additional cost Of the plant. in
order to affect softening, would be
SIS, 900. In one case the saving which
Is an earning on the investment. is
20 per cent and in the ultimate case
% per cent. This would be reduced
slightly by the interest, renewals, de-
probation and sinking fund require
ments, but would then show a large
earning on the investment. Another
way of looking at it, which may ap-
peal to some, Is to capitalize the saw
value Of the Investment would exceed
$50, 900 and $500, 900, respectively. 1t
may be desirable to capitalize the
saving at a higher rate which would
merely increase the value Of the plant.
Such an investment would be called a
good one by a private corporation.
Why is it not a good one by a city?
This does not take into considera-
ton the wear and tear on clothes, in
convenience of hard water for general
purposes, the effect Of hard water on
cooking, all Of which Is an additional
saving on the above. 1t has been
found hat hard water. destroys the
flavor of vegetables and. tea and has
marked effect on all domestic opera
tions.
primarily a filter plant is installed
to. free the water to be used for do
nestle purposes from pathogenic bac-
terra. There are a number Of cities
where the publication and soften1ng
of water has been combined. among
them being New Orleans, La; Nc
Keesport, Pa; Oberlin, o.: Columbus.
has been marked differences in results
where softening is installed, as COM
pared with plants where it has been
left out of the scheme; the results be-
ing all in favor of combining soften
ing with publication. Extensive ex-
periments have been made at Column
bus, O., during the past four wears to
determine the effect of lime softening
on pathogenic bacteria. Attention had
been called to the results obtained at
the outlets of the settling basins and
the marked absence of disease caus-
ing bacteria at this point in the .puri-
ication process and before the water
had passed through the filters, The
methods of making the tests and the
obtained have recently been
published and a knowledge of them
should be very gratifying to the peo-
pie of Fargo, eCaus Of the Similari-
ty Of many conditions and Of the pro-
cesses employed in the two cities.
"It was determined that the typhoid
bacilli could not live in water that had
been softened to the fullest extent by
the addition of lime hydrate. 1t should
be observed hat the hardness Of
water is composed principally of the
.carbonates and sulphates Of calcium
and magnesium, and to a certain ex-
tent. the carbonates are held in the
water through the action Of carbonic
acid. When lime hydrate is added to
the water. it combines with the car
bonic acid; the lime added to the
water forms an insoluble compound
and the lime in the water, at the be-
ginning Of the operation, and termed
hardness, becomes i~nsoluble. In a
properly equipped settling basin, such
Is provided at Fargo, the insolu-
BILE chemical compounds rapidly settle
Thus the hardness is reduced
the carbonic acid eliminated from
the water.
1T was clearly shown that typhoid
would live in a water con-
carbonic. acid, this being nee
apparently for their sustenance.
Some of the conclusions reached are
follows:
l2llIlO SO4SSllCu "0kOA 4
typhoid organisms or with crude
sewerage soon becomes free from
The action is selective in that GER
tain harmless bacteria grow, but the
producing germs do not"
Intestinal organisms will not live!
in water containing no free or half
bound carbonic acid" r'-,
Another result Of these tests was
the determination of the effect of
treatment on turbid water. The
states in this connection that,
'Turbid waters can be successfully
disinfected by softening with lime and
then allowing the turbidity to settle
out along with the precipitated car
Donates. Turbid water has never been
successfully disinfected with hypo-
chlorite because the bacteria imbedded
in the suspended mater are not
destroyed" That this last con-
clusion was true has been suspected
for some time, n the Columbus, O.,
experiments now confirm the sus-
picion. cities cannot rely on dosing a
turbid water with hypo alone and X
pect to make the water safe, but 1t
can soften the water by h addition
of lime n in some cases, iron. and
in conjunction with proper settling
basins, obtain much better results.
1t has been said by some one, and
with some degree Of reason that,
Every time a human being dies of
typhoid fever, some one ought to be
hung" Typhoid is pre-eminently a
water borne disease though no doubt
there are other sources. Fargo has a
plant which has proved it's ability
during the past eighteen months to
produce water second to none in the
United States, The consumer should
bear in mind that this has been ac-
complished as much by experienced
supervision and careful handling as
by the peculiar design Of the plant.
1t has been said bytmen who have no
knowledge of the subject, that a few
dollars could be saved IL less soften1ng
was done at the plant. They, no doubt,
had no knowledge OF the facts as
stated above, sor of the extensive work
now being done to insure perfect
safety to the public in the operations
of water purification plants. TO in
sure such safety. the plant must be
well designed and operated by
men of experience. Politics and i'm
mature opinions should never be al
lowed to affect the even tenor Of its
way. The operation of the plant Is
purely scientific and economic in all
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