The microscope revealed sand, clay, legs, and other parts of insects, foreign matter of many kinds, and animalculæ. This water is but little better than sewage. It is due to the water works to state that the water taken from the river is filtered through a bed of sand and gravel about four feet deep.
Professor Edward R. Taylor, of Cleveland, examined two samples of water from the water works with the following result:
| 1st sample. | 2d sample. | |
|---|---|---|
| Specific gravity | 10019 | 10021 |
| In grams per litre the analyses show | ||
| Solid residue | .5876 | .5696 |
| Organic and Volatile matter | .3150 | .1213 |
| Chlorine | .0598 | .0738 |
| Free ammonia | .0015 | .0002 |
| Albuminoid ammonia | .0038 | .0018 |
The amount of chlorine is very considerable in both samples. It would properly be presumed that both had a bad origin.
The following is taken from The State Press, Iowa City, Iowa, April 14, 1880:
“The Des Moines City Council spent several days inspecting the various systems of water works through Iowa, Illinois and Indiana and came back discouraged and disgusted with what they had seen.” The Leader says: “The last report made was from Indianapolis, where the water was bad, the contract bad, and all the conditions were very bad. But for that matter those things are getting monotonous. On the whole route, from Burlington to Peoria, water was not found fit to drink, and in several places it was too bad to wash in. At Springfield water is taken out of the Illinois river, thick and black, and pumped about the city without even an excuse made toward filtering it, and yet the money spent on her water works aggregates nearly three times the hundred thousand of dollars the works in Des Moines are offered at. The State Board of Health has declared the water unfit for use. At Indianapolis the Secretary of the Water Company said they could not recommend the water; at Burlington, with her new and cheap works, the filter is reported broken and the yellow Mississippi mud is daily dished up for men to wash their eyes in. There was no excuse made for the mixture of mud and water at Keokuk, it is probably past the day of excuses.”
On May 18, 1880, a sample of water was drawn from a faucet of the Water Works Company. The analysis revealed the following. Each litre contained:
| Total solids | .84 | gramme. |
| Organic and volatile matter | .43 | ” |
| Chlorine | .047 | ” |
| Free ammonia | .00008 | ” |
| Albuminoid ammonia | .00024 | ” |
| Nitrates and nitrites | Large amount. | |
The value of the above figures can best be understood when it is known that pure spring water never contains over .000005 gramme of free ammonia, and .00002 gramme albuminoid ammonia per litre. The best authorities state that, that water is suspicious which contains above .0001 gramme of albuminoid ammonia per litre; and over .00015 gramme of albuminoid ammonia per litre ought to condemn absolutely.
Another sample of water from the water works was sent to Prof. Van Nuys, on May 27, 1880. He reports that the water contained much more organic matter than that in which an estimation of organic matter was made before.