Report of analyses of Ohio River water : with a supplementary report of analyses of cistern water, determining the presence of sewage and other impurities / by C.R. Stuntz. With the report of the Sanitary Committee on the public water supply.

  • Stuntz, C. R.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of analyses of Ohio River water : with a supplementary report of analyses of cistern water, determining the presence of sewage and other impurities / by C.R. Stuntz. With the report of the Sanitary Committee on the public water supply. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    CISTERN WATER. To most persons the type of good drinking water and of water good for culinary purposes, is that which falls upon the roof from the clouds in the form of rain or snow, and which is collected in lime cemented cisterns under ground. On theoretical grounds, in which are considered the for- mation of snow and rain by condensation of moisture from the clouds, neglecting the sources of contamination, water collecting from the roofs should compare favorably with the chemically pure distilled water of the laboratory. The high estimation in which cistern water is held generally, is probably caused by the theory of its pure source. But it must not be forgotten that the atmosphere near the surface of the earth is pervaded with soluble gases through which the rain and snow must fall, and that the roofs of habitable dwellings upon which they are collected are perforated with chimneys, which vomit into the air constantly, the gases, smoke, soot, and dust that is carried up from the fires, and living occupants below. Many houses, in addition to the chimneys, have ventilat- ing pipes, to living rooms, heated by indirect radiation, pipes to drains leading to sewers, and the waste pipe itself of the inside improved water-closet, piercing the roof, and each contributing to load the air above it with fetid gases, and deleterious solids carried up by the draught. The atmosphere abounds in organic dust, so light as to be carried on its currents, and in organic germs, which