Water-analysis : a practical treatise on the examination of potable water / by J. Alfred Wanklyn and Ernest Theophron Chapman.

  • Wanklyn, J. Alfred (James Alfred), 1834-1906.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Water-analysis : a practical treatise on the examination of potable water / by J. Alfred Wanklyn and Ernest Theophron Chapman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    Grains of total solids in a gallon. London. Thames Companies . . 18-5 „ New Eiver 17-6 „ Kent Company 26-5 Manchester Water Supply 47 Glasgow. Loch Katrine 2-3 Bala Lake 3-2 Gnildford. New Supply 197 Scarborough Eeservoir . 287 The Ehine at Basel II-8 Spree at Berlin 8-0 Atlantic Ocean 2688-0 Distilled water oi With the exception of the sea-water, all these waters are, so far as the total solids are concerned, fit to drink; and, on inspecting the above table, it will be seen that the water supplied to the Metropolis contains four or five times as much soHd matter as the water supplied to Manchester and to Glasgow. The healthiness of London is higher than that of Manchester and Glasgow; and although we should be un- reasonable if, overlooking the fact that sanitary conditions are very numerous and very complex, we were to attribute the superior healthiness of the Metropolis to the state of its water-supply exclusively, we are, I think, warranted in maintaining that a high sohd residue in drinking-water can have no very markedly injurious efi'ect on the public health; and that the experience of London proves it. Li the instance of the London water-supply, the major part of the solid residue consists of carbonate of lime; and if we subtract the carbonate of hme, the rest of the solid residue will be seen to be not very much higher than that of the water of Manchester and other naturally soft waters. The excellent new water-supply to Guildford is likewise in