The Ely miner., 1930-08-08
(By the Board of saritation.)


Two years ago the local water supply
became highly Objectionable as a
drinking water, due to certain algae
which gave off foul smelling and
tasting volatile oils A general public
demand that something be done about
the water supply followed and has per-
sisted since that time. It is attempted
in this article to explain to the resi-
dents of this city what has been done
along these lines and to let you know
that it has been necessary, with the
carry out certain tests and observa-
tions to reach a conclusion.
There have been many public sug-
gestions as to going into another lake
for water as well as reSorting to wells
for supply. The prime factor in this
reasoning has been from natural as
sumption that sewage from the city
entering the lake was considered as
being our principal trouble.
AS a matter of explaining what
should be water for a city, let us con-
slider these points:
It should be a water acceptable to
the senses of taste and smell To pos
and taste should be absent. How
ever, it is seldom realized that good
drinking water must have a certain
oxygen and carbon dioxide content as
well as minute quantities of various
minerals as chlorides, iron and other
substances in solution, to perfect the
taste. Water like distilled or rain
water, which is free of all organic and
inn Mi &c of 10
table as drinking water.
A water supply must be soft and
free of color. This makes great
difference in washing to say nothing
of the saving in consumption of soap.
without interfering with the taste, you
forming in heating boilers where it
fuel for firing.
A water supply should be free of dis
ease producing bacteria as well as
bacteria that produce stale or stag
nant tastes and odorS in the city mains
A water supply should be obtainable
| in quantity. At the present time the
people of Ely use daily more than one
hundred gallons per person, to say
ten for emergency fire needs.
Studies on BURNSIDE Lake water
showed that the same kind of purifi-
cation plant would be necessary for
| BURNSIDE water as for Shagawa Lake
water because similar communicating
material is present in each lake. The
| cost of reaching Burnside Lake with
a pipe line would be in excess of $780,
600 and the final results in the water
obtained would be similar.
We have in Shagawa Lake water
| supply which is sufficient for our needs
and readily obtainable. 1t is the soft
est municipal water supply in the
| State of Minnesota Because of these
| facts it was seen fit to carry on ex-
periments to determine what would be
| necessary in the way of publication to
make our present supply of water a
good palatable drinking water. 1t
seems as though the following con-
| cluSion arrived at have pretty well
answered this question
l. Our present intake out into the
lake is too small for our present and
| future needs and new one must be
installed to extend about $500 feet out
into the lake and at that point take
the water at about a depth of about
10 feet from the surface to avoid
| drawing sediment from the lake bot
tom during heavy winds.
2. An aireator or spray has been
built to drive off the gases or odors
and this is doing efficient work
8. Alum and sodium illuminate
| treatment was found to make the