Another way of viewing the matter is that cold retards the growth of bacteria on the filter, thus reducing the effect of the Schmutzdecke. Still another view of the greater danger from bacterial contamination in winter is the theory that cold prolongs the life of the bacteria by merely preventing them from living through their life cycle and reaching natural old age and death as rapidly as in warm weather.
Another topic in Mr. Hardy's paper which has interested the writer is that of preliminary filters. The experiments described at length indicate clearly that such devices would prove of little or no benefit under the conditions existing in Washington, and that when the river contains considerable amounts of suspended clay nothing less than chemical coagulation will suffice to treat the water so that the effluent will be perfectly clear. Preliminary filters have been used for a number of years at various places and with varying success. In few instances have they been operated for a sufficient length of time or been studied with sufficient care to determine fully their economy and efficiency as compared with other possible methods of preliminary treatment.
Among other experiments on this matter are those made at Albany, N. Y., and published by Wallace Greenalch, Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E., in the Fifty‑ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30th, 1909. The Hudson River water used at Albany is quite different in character from the Potomac River water used at Washington, as it is less turbid and contains rather more organic matter. The results obtained in these experiments showed that during the summer the number of bacteria in the effluent from the experimental sand filter used in connection with a preliminary filter did not differ widely from the number found in the effluent of the city filter where there was no other preliminary treatment than sedimentation. In the winter, however, the numbers of bacteria did not increase in the effluent from the experimental filter as they did in the effluent from the city filter. This is shown by [Table 26], taken from the report mentioned.
Apparently, therefore, at Albany the benefits of the preliminary filter, as far as bacterial efficiency is concerned, would be confined to a short period of three or four months in each year. Under such circumstances it may well be questioned whether the advantages of preliminary filtration justify its cost.
On the diagram, [Figure 11], will be found various data taken from the published records of the Albany filter, from 1899 to 1909. These data include: The numbers of bacteria before and after filtration; the percentage of bacteria remaining in the effluent; the average quantity of water filtered, in millions of gallons per day; the quantities of water filtered between scrapings; the turbidity of the raw water; the cost of filtration, including capital charges and cost of operation; and the typhoid death rates of the city per month. Several points are brought out conspicuously by this diagram. One is the uniformly low death rate from typhoid throughout the entire period. The filter was operated from 1899 until the fall of 1907 with raw water taken from what is known as the "Back Channel." Since then it has been taken from a new intake which extends into the Hudson River itself. Until the fall of 1908 the preliminary treatment consisted merely of sedimentation, but since then the water has received an additional preliminary treatment in mechanical filters operated without coagulant, along the lines of the experiments just mentioned. During this time the average rate of filtration of the sand filter has not changed materially, although it is said that the maximum rate has been increased since the preliminary filters were put in service. The study of the bacteriological analyses shows that the best results were obtained during 1902, 1903, and 1904. Since then the numbers of bacteria in both the raw and filtered water have increased. This was especially noticeable during the winters of 1907 and 1908 when the water was taken from the new intake. It will be interesting to compare the results after the preliminary filters have been operated for a long period to ascertain their normal effect on efficiency and on the increased yield.
Figure 11—Filters at Albany, N. Y. Results of Operation. 1899‑1909. Compiled from data in Annual Reports.
Another fact to be drawn from the plotted Albany data is the increase in the cost of filtration, both in capital charges and in operation. From 1899 until 1906 the cost of operation, including the cost of low‑lift pumping, was approximately $5 per million gallons of water filtered; and the total cost of filtration, including capital charges, was about $10 per million gallons. During the year ending September 30th, 1909, the cost of operation had increased to $7.63 per million gallons, and the total cost of filtration to $15.92 per million gallons, or approximately 50% in three years.