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Saturday, September 19, ios THE DESKJET EARIfEiR. ' &::. " L.'
fGRIGULTURE
4
J CHEMICAL PROBLEMS.
Edited by Prof. Robert Stewart, Utah
J Experiment Station.
I DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLY
By E. H. Walters, Assistant in Chem
istry, Utah Experiment Station.
I The most important use of a water
1 supply in any community is that of
, furnishing a suitable water for do-
mestic purposes. The value of purity
1 is, 'by many not rated as high as it
, should be. From time immemorial
tfic highest value has been placed up
on1 a' pure water supply. We note In
past centuries that the ancient Ro
mans appreciated the lurking dangers
in polluted waters when they spent so
much time and labor to bring their
water supplies through their magnifi
cent aqueducts from sources beyond
die reach of -pollution. And upon this
'" point many consumers of our own
day would! be greatly benefited did'
they heed the teachings of Hippo
' crates of ancient times who advised
ffl boiling and filtering a polluted water
ij before using it for drinking. The
'0 transmission of certain bacterial diB-
f cases such as typhoid fever by polluted
I wafers is now universally recognized,
and the value o a community of d
" I pure supply when compared to one
p constantly polluted by sewage can
I scarcely be overestimated.
t Many cities and towns in our state
' have no public water system and
I therefore the source of water for do-
- mestic purposes is the well or a
I spVing. In the order of wholesomc
f ncss'pure spring waters lacking in all
1 metallic impurities rank first followed
f by pure, shallow and artesian well
waters. River water comes last bc-
' i cause of it carrying more or less filth.
It is usually believed that spring
water is always pure. Such is not the
aasc. A spring which is fed by rains
ahej' percolating surface waters is of-
ten suspicious- and should be guarded
a'gSinst, as organic refuse, either of
liutnan, animal or vegetable origin is
generally found on the surface of the
,sbil, It is -evident that the surface
waters would be dangerously pollut
c'd'.' 'Often in hilly or mountainous
districts the depth and thoroughness
Qf percolating surface waters over and
through masses of rock is so limited
' ttiht' the water is not as pure as nor
mal 'ground-water. Thus spring wat-
ers coming from -sources of this char
acter arc unsafe. The sources of con
tamination arc so numerous and the
'dangers of polluted waters arc so
great that top much care cannot be
taken of a pure water source. The
spring should be protected from alt
(Tminagc of filth deposits of different
characters and from being invaded by
animals.
Much carelessness in the location
of the well with regard to sources of
sewage infiltration often result in pol
luted waters which cause outbreaks of
different diseases. No proper con
ception of the right location for the
house well ever seems to enter the
minds of most of our rural people,
and if water can be obtained from 1
spot conveniently near for gcncrvl
house work, the quality of such sup
ply is seldom considered. The op
poitunity for the contamination of
well water, particularly that of the
common domestic well, is often very
great.
The common practice on the farm,
arid even in small towns is to dig n
n the yard or garden, two holes; into
one of these usually the shallower of
the two, all the filthy liquids of the
house arc discharged; from the, other
which is sunk 'below the water line,
the water for drinking and other do
mestic purposes is pumped. These
two holes are often very near each
other, in many cases within oi few
feet. The contents of the cesspool
soak away through the surrounding
soil and finally mix with the water in
the well. As the contents of the well
arc pumped! out they ard replaced by
these filthy waste liquids. Unfortu
nately the filthy liquids do not give a
bad taste to the water after having
soaked through a few feet of porous
soil. Thus the polluted water is used
over and over without even at sus
picion of its character until an out
break of some epidemic disease de
mands attention to the dangerous
water. ?
if
In many towns the boards of health
determine the minimum distance be
tween a well and a cesspool, or any
filthy waS'c deposit. But it has been
proven by careful experiment that
considerable great distances of soil
filtration has failed to protect a well
fi'om pollution, the source of which is
constant in character.
Besides the dangers of transmitting
a disease by water another objection
able feature for domestic purposes is
the presence of carbonates and sul-
!! miiiii Mian an man m
fatcsoflime, andjmagnesiumater M
containing these substances is known M
as jiard water. The presence of carj M
bonatcs cause the so-called tempos H
ftty hardness while sulfates cause per- H
mancnt hardness. The removal of H
temporary hardness is brought about M
by simply boiling. It can also be re- H
moved by the addition of lime usually M
as lime water and removing the pre- H
cipitate by filtering or allowing it to H
subside. ; -, H
Simple filtration and the. removal of H
the impurities by the application of M
certain chemical agents are the mcth- H
ods in general use for purifying water. H
The filtering process is the one used M
in the majority of cases in the house- M
hold. There are many kinds of filters H
but the one used most extensively is H
the chamberlain-Pasteur filter. This M
consists of tubes of unglazcd por- M
ctlain. At first this yields a clear M
filtrate entirely sterile. But after M
continued use the suspended matter H
in the water. accumulates on the sur- H
face of the filtering tube and causes M
an increase in the number of mi-. M
crobes, -some species of which seem M
to go through the pores of the fil- fl
tcr anct are carried into the filtrate, fl
thus the filters should be cleaned often
and heated or boiled in water for M
'some time to kill the germs. H
AWARDED FIRST PKEMIUM AT STATE FAIR. GOLD MEDAL BY STATE AGRICUL- 1 I
1 TURAL SOCIETY OF SACRAMEKTO, CAL.. ALSO GOLD MEDAL AWARDED BY MID- M
WINTER FAIR, AND LJWIS AND CLARK EXPOSITION. PORTT ND, OREGON. f
v , j. - mmI S H
' H f tiSf$SlftXv''V'1i.', JV' r '- Mtk ' Jm BY SUN X M
'V-'ol KJttr- 0VJ7j '-'ilXi M JBlHH TTTT A TIT TriMT H
mjEm. h - tfiljpWBBIHiE.M rtlvrrll. m H
IhHZhL jt-.&JKtM ' JHlMK&VK'sSKHiDBHH WILL DO M M
ARCH O V IIKBBHB!VBP3iC?Br'WHIH V 1
the field 9HHBBH9BiRI3i3IHn'''3HHBIHHB m 1
no HORSE POWER PLOWING ENGINE. f I
' : From so to xoo Acr Plowtd each day doinr the work much better than by animal power and at kalf M
the expense per acre. More tlaan two hundred in successful operation. Every one wacemm. M
Tlie above illustration represents the Utah Arid Farm Company's STEAM PLOWING OUTFIT M
at work on their farm at Nephi, Utah. This engine is plowing So acfPcfday of tc,n ho.ur Jn M
expense of So cents per acre. And it was also used by them to pull a BEST Steam Combined Har- M
vester on the same farm and harvested an average of 65 acres per day, and at the nominal expens of M -
Socts. an acre. The grain was cut, threshed, recleaned and sacked m one operation and ready for the mill
The SUCCESS of DRY FARMUNG is THE STEAM PLOW AND COMBINED HARVESTER C
For further information address I
THE BEST MANUFACTURING CO., or THE 6. T. IN6ERS0LL MACHINERY CO., I I
BELL PHONE 1099 P- O. BOX 794 IND. PHONE 848 I I
SAN LEANDRO, CALIFORNIA 321 DOOLY BLK. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
