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Show I I tktoQTqaken f J BUCKET a, I FOR ME! " IF Im n 'h. BY TAMTTON AUBUCHON. The farmer who carries a bucket f water from the old well to the kitchen, reconciling himself to his burden by the thought that ho enjoys en-joys the coveted advantage of pure drinking water, scarcely realizes that his friends In the city not only have their drinking fluid delivered by direct route, to almost every' room In their homes, but altso have the brand of absolute purity placed on It by men who know every member of the microbe family by their first names. The time was when well water was regarded as the limit of purity, but science now comes forward and says that the modern water purification puri-fication processes in our large cities have relegated the old oaken bucket to the corner reserved for undesirables. undesir-ables. The purity of well water depends de-pends on the possibility of Its becoming be-coming contaminated by drainage. Once it receives a charge of bac- iiri. it carries Its tiny inhabitants and their offspring to the end of its fl course. It is hardly necessary to ay that water taken from the river, w-hlch receives the drainage of a number of cities is pretty well pop-H pop-H ulated with all kinds of germs, but B; the severe treatment to which they re subjected absolutely guarantees their elimination, fl The necessity of paying out a part of one's income for water seems almost ridiculous when one contemplates the millions of gallons that daily flow down the channel of the jreat rivers. The farmer per- V haps laughs to himself when he H V hear his city cousin talking about H the water bill. No one le prohibited H' by law or regulation from drinking 1 WH or river water, but the man who Is willing to touch his lips to either after he has examined the bacterlol-j bacterlol-j ogist's analyses of them is more than welcome to all ho cares to consume. It la fair to say that science has produced drinking water equal to fl nature's most exquisite product. Success in water permeation, like success In any other department of the world's work, comes only after years of painstaking Investigation fl and many experiments. Forty years 1 the business of water purification has had wonderful results in brlng-log brlng-log us water free from all disease i germs. There are few cities In th's coun-try coun-try so fortunately situated they can have purs water without bothering the chemist to get It Seattle gets ttP water fresh from the snow-H snow-H capped peaks of the Cascades. A j irreat covered flume takes snow wa- ter from the Cedar River high up In the mountains and delivers it to the tap without exposing it to the Hf Rerm-infeited air where human be- lngs live. wBti Bacteria gathered from vegetable irrowth is not harmful to men. Anl- naJ bacteria la slightly harmful, but human bacterid nr:,-n is deadly. Ty- phoid germs often come to us in our water. The Seattle water supply can at contain no such germs because ty- phold patients do not go up to the yrn Bpig mountain peaks. Guards patrol the ?xriu BHP park surrounding the reservoir to fcOjLrj fi5 keep Ovit camping parties and others tifi&fc. Jri who climb the heights, thus pre- I I'Cra B' y venting them from contaminating lKVySS the health-giving stream. .LjT- . j-Jr SAN FRANCISCO TRIES WKt lin TO GET MOUNTAIN WATER. Hr tl& San Francisco would emulate Seat- Bpr' tie and get its water from the w ' ' mountains, too. For years the water purity men of San Francisco have stormed the doors of Congress in an effort to be permitted to build a dam In Yosemite National Park and bring water from the peaks of the Sierras to the City of the Golden y Gate. The average city, however, has to depend on streams that flow by its gates for water. Deep wells can not supply cities when their population rises above tho 100,000 mark. Few cities of 100,000 population are built away from the big strcama Grouped along large streams they get their water from those sources. Chicago gets Its water from Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan In turn gets its water from rivers that flow into it All these rivers hav cities and towns on their banks and every one of these places dump their sewage sew-age and refuse Into the water which finds its way to the lake. Chicago has a drainage canal running run-ning to the Illinois River, and the Illinois runs into the Mississippi, yet St Louis, Cairo, Memphis and Now Orleans drink from tho Mississippi unmindful of the sewage and in turn empty their sewage into the Father of Waters. A chemist sitting In his office hunting the germs in tho water makes this possible. In addition, the Missouri River, perhaps the most turbid stream of its size in the world, discharges its volume into tho Mississippi River producing an exce'lent mixture of mud and microbes. It passes ordinary understanding how an army of bacteria, drawing Its recruits from such a drainage area will go down in defeat in the face of a comparatively simple and seemingly Innocent process. The condition of the water described de-scribed above i8 by no means peculiar pe-culiar to the Mississippi River, for on Investigation we find that any river upon which a considerable number of large cities are located possesses its full quota of bacteria, and there are many instances in which the analyses of the water Indicate In-dicate conditions even worse FIVE THOUSAND BACTERIA EV ONE TEASPOON. If you dip a teaspoon In the Mississippi Mis-sissippi River and half fill it with water, you will have approxlmate-y approxlmate-y one cubic centimeter, the bacteriologist's bac-teriologist's unit of water measurement. measure-ment. Submit your cubio centl- meter of water to analysis and you will find from 1,000 to 100,000 of all kinds of microbes, which, if subjected to a final analysis, will furnish you a means of innoculat-ing innoculat-ing yourself with almost any desired de-sired disease. The average number of bacteria found in a cubic centimeter centi-meter at the intake pipe Is about 5,000. Near the shore of the river we find what is called a low service station. This station is equipped with pumps which draw the water from the river through the lare Intake pipes, having no part in the purification process. From the low service station the water is sent under un-der pressure to the first settling basin. When we first behold the settling basin wo are ready to believe be-lieve that a rather creditable attempt at-tempt was made to erect an object of beauty. Our attention is directed direct-ed to a series of symmetrical fountains across the entire width of the basin, discharging their water wa-ter in thin cylindrical sheets from a height of about five feet. This is the aerating process. During its course through the channel of a river the water of necessity entraps a considerable amount of gas generated gen-erated by the decay of submerged matter. These fountains by thinning thin-ning out the water and subjecting it to the action of fresh air cauBe the gases to be released, thus greatly great-ly Improving its taste. During this process a certoln amount of oxygen oxy-gen finds its way Into the water. The fountains, we may say, serve to replace the harmful gases with beneficial oxygen. Tho first settling basin is used only for the purpose of precipitating heavy mud which you may bo sure is found on cleaning clean-ing day deposited in startling quantities quan-tities on the bottom. This basin Is thoroughly washed at regular Intervals In-tervals with filtered water. It Is divided di-vided by a stone wall Into two main compartments, which enables the operators to clean one-half of it at a time without interfering with the !sl ' ' Ssj BSBBBBBBBBBBBBByS' vl continuity of the supply. If you were to allow a tumbler of water filled with ordinary Impurities to stand for several hours, you would find the clearest water at the top. So it is with this basin. The capacity of this basin is sufficient to permit the water to remain in tho comparatively stationary position long enough to allow practically all of the mud to precipitate. The water is then drawn from the top. At the end of the basin opposite to the location of the fountains we notice the water flowing into a trough, which reaches from one side of the basin to the other. This is called a weir and is designed to draw about a quarter of an inch of tho topmost water from the entire width of the basin, which proves to us that the very best product only of this basin is allowed to go on. The water runs along In the trough Into a central outlet pipe, which conducts it to its first chemical treatment Flowing by gravity, It finds its way to a small receptacle, in which It circulates long enough to become thoroughly permeated with a coagulant. coagu-lant. All chance of error in the Injection In-jection of the coagulant Is obviated by the presence of a 36-lnch n-turl n-turl meter, which measures the quantity of the water in the system every minute of the day and night. This coagulant is a clay product, called sulphate of aluminum. While It is very destructive to bacteria, wo will see that Its effect upon the water is such as to render it no less desirable for drinking purposes. Its success as a destroyer of germ life lies In its adhesive power alone. After it Is deposited in tho water It takes the form of small flakes, varying vary-ing in size from an eighth of an inch to the minute proportions of a Pin point. WATER IS MIXED BY BAFFLE WALLS. The water, after being fully charged with sulphate of aluminum, discharges into a circulating or coagulating co-agulating basin. This basin is the seat of an important part of the purification process. The water Is not permitted to wander at will at any corner or part of the coagulating coagulat-ing basin, but Is compelled to travel over a route fixed by a series of baffle walla Moving onward under the Influ- ence of a constant Influx, the water courses through the passageways In this basin in a serpentine fashion until it has travelled about half a 'mile. During this journey the flakes of sulphate of aluminum are doing their work. These tiny flakes circulate about in the water after the manner of police officers walking walk-ing their beats, and seem to have a keen desire to place under arrest every norm of bacteria and small particles of mud with which they come in contact. When one of these inflnitesmal advocates of aquatic purity touches a microbe or a partici of dirt, it never releases its grip. It proceeds to arrest one after another until It reaches the limit of its power, when it sinks under un-der the burden of Its charge to tho bottom of the basin. When the water finally arrives at the end of Its course In this basin, we make a test and find that the majority of the bacteria have been arrested, leaing us a number considerably con-siderably smaller than that with which we started. Those that have been clever enough to escape the -vigilance of the flakes are now sent against a treatment treat-ment far less gentle. The water passes from the coagulating basin to a battery of filters, On its way It receives a small charge of bleach. The bleach is nothing moro than diluted chloride of lime, but as far as bacteria is concerned It is a very destructible agency. The chloride of lime contributes to the quality of the water by liberating oxygen In a very active state. It Is put into the water in the proportion of about one gallon to n million. In reading treatises on spring water you have probably learned x Chemistry and Bacteriology Make It Possible for Cities to Pump Water From Germ-Infested Rivers and Yet Have Purer Drink Than Comes From Wells. that It acquires Its high degree of peptone, the latter being a Juice clarity by passing through sand and from the digestive organs of an gravel. Nature furnished us the animal. The mixture is then placed best model from which to pattern on a round glass developing plate the water filter. The filters through under a close fitting glass cover, which the water now passes are de- The developing plate Is then put signed to give It treatment similar into an Incubator which is kept at to nature's process. S" degrees, or 20 degrees Centl- At tho bottom of the filters Is a grade, according to the kind of test, stratum of gravel covered by a lay- for forty-eight hours. During that er of sand. The water slowly per- time the bacteria produces and colates through the sand and gravel surrounds itself with a large family leaving all signs of discoloration be- or colonv. These colonies form hind. You will remember that a spots, which are plainly visible to considerable number of flakes re- the naked eye. The germ food is malned in the coagulating basin. put Into the water to accelerate the Failing to perform their full duty growth of germ colonies. The pl us In their proper place, they now com- Is then placed on a counting chart, pensate us for their negligence by which Is a circular diagram, dla- assisting us in the filtration pro- metrically divided into tenths. The cess. We notice a thin tissue cov- bacteriologist then proceeds to erlng the surface of the sand In the count the germs in divisions of ten. filters. This tissue Is a mat com- The water bacteriologist is not as a posed of the flakes and forms an rule concerned about the classlflr impregnable barrier against any germ life which might hae escaped es-caped the destructive influence of the bleach. The flake tissue or mat is the last stand of the microbe. In order to keep pace with the water, the bacteria must pass through the tissue, the component parts of which being still of the same inclination incli-nation to arrest all kinds of germs, holds them fast. The filter not only clarifies the w-ater, but it also removes every trace of coagulant- We now take a cublc-contlmeter of water and test it. Absolute freedom from bacteria bac-teria is the result of our analyses. Beginning with 5,000 germs to the cubic-centimeter, removing gases, taking In oxygen. Injecting a clay product and bleach, passing through sand and gravel, and finding the number reduced to naught, Is tho sum total of the process. COUNTING THE GERMS IN A SPOONFUL. The process of counting the bacteria bac-teria In a cubic-centimeter of water would be something like finding needle in a hay stack, but when the little Job Is given oer to a baclerl-oljgist. baclerl-oljgist. he performs it with seemingly seem-ingly comparative ease. His long experience with bacteria enables him to put them through some Interesting In-teresting paces. He makes three tests during the process of purification purifi-cation and in each Instance he puts a cubic-centimeter of water under the same examination. First, the bacteriologist takes a sterilized glass tube and measures Into it one cublc-centlmeter of the water to be analyzed. He then adds to this mite of water a supply of germ food, composed of liquid sea-weed an cation, names or pedigrees of bacteria bac-teria In ordinary tests. The tests w- have Just described are merely quantitative. However, when tne Health Commissioner reports ths discovery of a water borne disease, typhoid for instance, the bacteriologist bacteriolo-gist promptly makes tests throughout through-out the system, searching for the slightest indication of germ organisms organ-isms of the typhoid family. Weston Gavett bacteriologist of the East St. Louis plant on the Mississippi Mis-sissippi states that the purification process in operation in East St. Louis is so thorough that he has never yet been able to discover a typhoid cerm in the finished water. a Belleville, 111., a city of 20,000 population, twelve miles from East St. Louis, formerly drew Its water supply from deep wells. While the water suply of Belleville possessed a high degree of purity. It wan rendered ren-dered unpalatable by the presence of algea and Iron bacterium. The authorities made a contract with the City Water Works of East St. Louli for their water supply. To wash successfully with well w-ater a great quantity of stronr soap is necessary. Since the Inhabitants Inhab-itants of Belleville have been using purified river water Instead of well water, It has been estimated that they have actually saved In the neighborhood of 1 5,000 a year on soap, lye and cleaning powders. The large meat packing Industries in East St. Louis are always In search of the purest water for washing wash-ing meats. The credit of science that the United States Government meat inspectors will not permit the use of well water for meat cleansing and Insist upon the use of purified river water. |