To determine the presence of lead in water, place a given quantity, say 100 c.c. in a white dish, and stir with a rod dipped in a solution of ammonium sulphide; if the water becomes coloured, this is generally due to the presence of iron or lead. If the colour remains after adding a drop or two of hydrochloric acid, lead is present.
To determine the amount of lead, a standard solution of lead acetate containing 1 ∕ 10 milligrammes of lead in 1 c.c., is made by dissolving ·183 gramme of crystallised lead acetate in a litre of distilled water. Place 100 c.c. of the water to be examined in a Nessler glass, acidify by a few drops of acetic acid; now add ½ c.c. of a saturated solution of ammonium sulphide. A brownish-black discoloration is produced if lead is present. To a second Nessler glass, containing 100 c.c. of distilled water, the same amounts of acetic acid and ammonium sulphide are added, and then a sufficient quantity of the standard lead solution is added, until the tints of the contents of the two Nessler glasses are identical. The amount of the standard solution added being known, we know the amount of lead in 100 c.c., and the amount per litre (1,000 c.c.) will be tenfold. Thus if 2 c.c. of the solution were required for matching colours, there were ·2 parts of lead per 100,000 of water, or ·14 grains per gallon.
Traces of Iron are sometimes present in water, giving it an astringent taste. Such water is apt to turn brown; and tea made from it is very dark.
Organic Impurities.—Organic impurities may be either vegetable or animal, the latter being by far the most dangerous. The water from moorlands is often brown, but this is not noxious. Growing plants, again, may be beneficial to water, by absorbing dissolved organic matter, and aiding its oxidation. Decaying vegetable matter is objectionable in water, and may set up diarrhœa.
The most important organic impurity of water has an animal origin—from sewage; the liquid or solid excreta (i.e. the urine or fæces) gaining accidental access to the water. Besides sewage, the eggs of various intestinal worms have been swallowed with water; and in a few cases, even leeches. But whatever the source of the organic matter contained in water, it contains nitrogen as an essential constituent; and tends under the influence of warmth, and therefore especially in summer, to undergo putrefactive changes, owing to the action of bacteria. These split up the more complex molecules of organic matter into simpler matter; ammoniacal compounds and salts, of which the most important are nitrites and nitrates, being final products of their activity. The detection of nitrates, and still more of nitrites, is important, as they may indicate the occurrence of previous sewage contamination. These products are quite harmless in water, except as an indication that the water has been polluted, and that possibly a certain proportion of the nitrogenous matter in the form of the complex organic matter forming the germs of such diseases as enteric fever, may still be present. Organic matter may be suspended or dissolved, the former being most dangerous to health. The germs or microbes causing disease consist of suspended, i.e. particulate matter. The amount of organic matter is determined by the amount of free ammonia and albuminoid ammonia which are present (Wanklyn’s process), by Frankland’s combustion process, or by Forschammer’s oxygen process; all of which give indications, rather than an exact estimate of its amount.
METHODS OF WATER ANALYSIS.
The following scheme of qualitative examination may be followed, when an immediate opinion is required as to a water. It can only be trusted when the examination shows pollution. The following results will be obtained, for instance, when a minute quantity of urine is added to a gallon of water.
(1) The water has a faint odour.
(2) Its colour is greenish yellow in bulk.
(3) On adding a few drops of Nessler’s solution, a deep yellow colour appears.