THE PROPER SOURCE OF WATER-SUPPLY BY R. M. WIGGINTON, M. D., OF WAUKESHA. About This is furThe inestimable Impure water al This question is one of the highest importance. 80 per cent. of our system consists of water. nished largely from the water we drink. value of pure water cannot be doubted. ways produces, or tends to produce, disease. water we drink passes through the system, nourishing, laving, and intimately associating with every cell and tissue of the body. Pure water should rank in importance with pure food. Every drop of Probably it would not be putting the question too strongly to say that the health, happiness, and welfare of the household depend more upon the character of the water consumed than upon all other factors in domestic economy. This matter has not received the attention which rightfully belongs to it. Every physician in the land can testify to the doubtful character of the domestic well. It has become the settled practice of physicians now to advise their patients to drink only boiled water. This has been brought about solely because of the unhealthy character of the water of the common well. Unfortunately the location of the wells of the country has not been conducted on scientific principles. Convenience has almost always been the first consideration. How often we find the house on a slight elevation, the outhouses, privies and barnyards on the same level, or higher, and the well for convenience in digging, under the hill, ready to receive the wash from the barnyard, percolations from the privy, and the drainage from every source of filth that so rapidly accumulates around all farm premises. What should be the proper source of the domestic watersupply? With this question, like many others, circumstances alter cases. Where it can be had, the artesian well is the most economical, safest and best of all. However, the trend, geologic formations and altitude, will not always favor this form of well. The next best is the so-called drilled well. The drill should be sunk from 100 to 150 feet deep. At this depth there could hardly be contamination. However, at a less depth, provided the drill pass through a thick stratum of clay, there need be little fear of danger. The above are probably the two safest sources of supply. One of the common sources of water-supply for domestic uses is the ever-sparkling and deceptive spring. This source of supply is rapidly becoming more dangerous, year by year, as the land is being denuded of its forests. Numerous tests of these springs have amply verified the above statement. I always drink the unprotected spring-water with distrust. The next, and probably the most important source of watersupply for domestic uses, is the so-called dug well. This source of supply is, without doubt, the most dangerous of all. The well once dug goes on forever. The first thing done by the early settler was to dig a well. This was usually done where the water could be obtained the easiest, or with the least labor. The lower ground, or some spring hold, was usually sought. The matter was reversed, by building the house to accommodate the well. This fact can be observed all over every county in the State. At first this source of supply, in many instances, was very dangerous. No doubt much of the sickness during the early settlement of our country can be attributed to this cause alone. As the country grows older, the soil polluted, and the "wash" unobstructed, this source of danger becomes still greater. The same may be said in regard to the spring, which is still retained as a source of water-supply by large numbers of the rural population throughout the State. No spring, no mat ter how limpid and apparently free from contamination, should be considered pure unless protected at the surface. There are so many ways of contamination from the surface by hill and valley wash, and drainage, that unless the spring issues from the rock direct, the water cannot be considered pure. Even if the water, before coming to the surface, passes through a considerable distance of gravel, as it often does, the spring can not be considered pure if subject to surface drainage. Water always forces its way through the earth where it meets the least resistance, subject to attraction of gravitation. Water always seeks its level, as instanced in the spring and the artesian well. Water never rises above its level except by a force behind, or by capillary attraction, or both combined. It is thought that water may pass to a higher level than its source in the earth, by a system of siphonage, under certain conditions. And now in regard to the proper location of the common well. The "trend" or inclination of the land should be carefully studied, not only of the surface, but also of the lower strata, the clay, gravel, sand and rock. Keeping in view the trend of the soil, the well should be located above, and privies, barnyards, etc., below. If possible, the well should terminate in gravel below a thick stratum of clay. It should go below all "first currents," which are not lasting and are apt to be impure. stratum. Never take the first current above the clay The curbing should be of solid stone, laid perfectly tight in cement from bottom to top, and tamped well in behind. The top of the wall should be carried well above the surface, and a lot of clay carefully tamped in above, taking the place of the surface soil, and gently sloping in all directions. This will effectually carry off all the direct snow and rain and surface water. The top of the wall should be perfectly true and gently sloping. The plank should be matched and laid tight in cement, bolted into timbers anchored in the top of the wall. This will effectually keep out mice, toads, snakes, etc., which so often make this their place of habitation. A ladder made of galvanized iron pipe should be safely anchored in the wall from bottom to top. There should be a tight trap at the top just large enough to admit a man. The well should be examined frequently. Use all the water the well will afford. If possible, pump it dry once in a while. Have the water examined occasionally for organic matter. THE CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF POTABLE WATER. BY PROF. ANDREW S. MITCHELL, OF MILWAUKEE, The intent of this paper is to outline the chemical changes that occur in the various classes of potable waters as a result of pollution by sewage, together with a mention of the methods of detecting its presence, and, finally, to bring to your notice a few quick and delicate tests which have lately come. into use. These tests are such as will commend themselves to the busy physician for the qualitative examination of well water. The characteristic substances in sewage are chlorine and carbonate of ammonium. The ammonium carbonate comes largely from the rapid breaking down of urea. This becomes oxidized by bacterial action, first to "nitrites," and then to "nitrates," principally nitrate of potash. In open water the nitrates formed are quickly assimilated by growing plants, and the nitrogen becomes stored up by them in organic form. Nitrogen in water exists then in four different states, and to determine the character and stage of the pollution, it is necessary to estimate, first, the ammonium salts (by distillation and Nesslerizing the distillates); second, to determine the quantity of ammonia which can be produced by decomposing the organic matter. The ammonia thus formed may come from the organic nitrogen of the original sewage or from that which has been changed to nitrates and again stored up by plant life. The process is known as the determination of albuminoid ammonia, and is effected by boiling the concentrated water (after the determination of the saline ammonia) with an alkaline solution of permanganate of potash. The third form is that known as nitrites. This is |