Potable water : how to form a judgment on the suitableness of water for drinking purposes, addressd to medical officers of health and sanitary authorities, etc / [Charles Ekin].

  • Ekin, Charles.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Potable water : how to form a judgment on the suitableness of water for drinking purposes, addressd to medical officers of health and sanitary authorities, etc / [Charles Ekin]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    I 28 formation contains on an average as much as l-686 parts in .100,000 of nitrogen as nitrates and nitrites, hut if we turn to the results of the analysis of this water* we find it stated that “ this sample of water had been previously polluted to such an extent as to mask its true character. It contained but a minute proportion of organic matter, although it exhibited so much evidence of previous contamination with animal matter as to relegate it to the class of suspicious watersand not- withstanding this very questionable character, the results of the analysis are headed in large type, “ Unpolluted Spring water fi'om Magnesian Limestone !” Passing from general considerations, we will briefly reca- pitulate the conclusions that we think may now fairly be arrived at, and then proceed to state the standard that expe- rience dictates may be relied upon. First then with regard to organic matter. It may be esti- mated in a variety of ways. The advocates of various pro- cesses concern themselves chiefly, not only in praising their own particular method, but in demonstrating very elaborately the fallacy of every one else’s method. We will be more impartial. A fair trial of the different processes leads to the conclusion that all are absolutely worthless, so far as distin- guishing between organic matter that is dangerous, and organic matter that is innoxious is concerned, but that pro- bably all may be relied upon as giving a rough approximation as to whether organic matter is present in excess or not. Possibly the most convenient process is that of Professor Wanklyn, and the most accurate that of Dr. Frankland, but as the latter is confessedly “ both troublesome and tedious and requires considerable manipulative skill,”f and as the less simple the process, the more the chances of error are increased, even in the most skilled and careful hands, to this extent it * 1 Rivers Pollution Commission.’ Sixth Report, p. 115.