Progress and Achievements of the Colored People / Containing the Story of the Wonderful Advancement of the Colored Americans—the Most Marvelous in the History of Nations—Their Past Accomplishments, Together With Their Present-day Opportunities and a Glimpse Into the Future for Further Developments—the Dawn of a Triumphant Era. A Handbook for Self-improvement Which Leads to Greater Success

by Kelly Miller; Joseph R. Gay

GUARD YOUR WATER SUPPLY

Water supplies differ greatly in purity and composition, and are of the utmost importance in their effect upon the general health of a household. There is nothing which requires to be guarded more carefully. Absolutely pure water is almost unknown. Rain water collected in open countries is the purest, though even it takes up matters in its passage through the air, and in towns may be strongly acid. All waters which have been in contact with the soil dissolve out of it numerous inorganic and organic substances. Waters are described as hard or soft, hardness being the popular expression for the property of not easily forming a lather with soap. It is due to the presence of salts of lime and magnesia. Hard waters, if their hardness be not excessive, are agreeable and wholesome for drinking, but not well adapted for laundry or bathing purposes. They tend to harden vegetables cooked in them, and do not make as good tea as soft water. Rain water is, of course, the softest, but as a rule lakes yield waters also quite soft. When a good and wholesome water cannot be obtained from springs or rivers, as in malarial districts, and when there is reasonable ground for thinking the ordinary sources are contaminated by epidemics, it is well to fall back on the rainfall for drinking purposes, with special care that it is collected in a cleanly manner.

Surface wells are always to be viewed with suspicion when they are in the vicinity of stables and cesspools, farm yards, cemeteries and anywhere in the towns. The filtration of the water through the soil removes the suspended matters, so that it may be clear enough to the eye, but it has no power to remove impurities actually dissolved. The eye cannot be trusted to judge the impurities of drinking water. Water which appears absolutely clear may be unwholesome in the extreme, and water with sediment floating in it may be in no way unwholesome. Nothing but an analysis of the water can settle this with absolute certainty. Deep wells and artesian wells which penetrate the surface strata are likely to be safe. Marsh waters carry malaria and should never be drunk without boiling. Indeed suspicious water of all sorts may be made safe by boiling, although it is not sufficient always merely to bring it to a boil. Thirty minutes above the boiling point is a safe rule to follow. Typhoid, diphtheria, dysentery, cholera, diarrhea and other dangerous diseases are caused by impure water, either by suspended mineral matters acting as irritants, by suspended vegetable and animal matters, or by dissolved animal impurities. Sewer gases dissolved in water, in addition to these diseases, cause sore throats, boils and other ailments.

It must not be forgotten that water closets, stable yards, manure piles, decaying kitchen slops and all sorts of filth are responsible for many of the most serious diseases, either by draining into the well and so contaminating the water supply, or by direct breeding of disease germs carried as dust and inhaled. Health is one of the rewards for household cleanliness of the most careful kind.