History of the Water Supply of the World / arranged in a comprehensive form from eminent authorities, containing a description of the various methods of water supply, pollution and purification of waters, and sanitary effects, with analyses of potable waters, also geology and water strata of Hamilton county, Ohio, statistics of the Ohio river, proposed water supply of Cincinnati.

by Thomas J. Bell

Cities.	Source.	Date.	Authority.	Free Ammonia. Grains.	Albuminoid Ammonia. Grains.	Remarks.
Philadelphia	Schuylkill	1874	Booth & Garrett	1.17	1.76	Fairmount.
“	“	“	“	5.85	5.11	Belmont.
“	“	“	“	7.31	5.12	Flat Rock.
“	“	“	“	1.46	7.31	Perkiomen.
“	“	“	“	17.50	8.75	Spring Garden.
“	Delaware	“	“	25.74	11.70
London	Artesian Well	“	“	none	1.75	Bryn Maws.
“	Thames	“	“	1.00	5.31
Detroit	Detroit	1879	Stearns	3.09	7.29	Hydrant.
Hoboken	Passaic	1880	Leeds	1.72	19.22	Hydrant water.
Jersey City	Passaic	“	“	2.96	22.28	“
Patterson	Passaic	“	“	1.50	30.90	“
New York	Croton	“	“	1.60	15.70	“
Brooklyn	Long Island	“	“	.50	4.80	“
Boston	Lake Cochituate	“	“	7.60	35.60	“
Rochester	Hemlock Lake	“	“	.90	13.00	“
Philadelphia	Schuylkill	“	“	.60	10.50	“
Wilmington	Delaware	“	“	2.00	17.50	“
Baltimore		“	“	2.90	11.70	“
Washington	Potomac	“	“	3.50	15.70	“
Oswego		“	“	2.00	15.20	“
“	Well	“	“	4.90	12.30	“
Cincinnati	Ohio River	“	“	6.70	14.00	“
“	“	“	Stuntz	.87	1.40	Markley Farm, best condition.
“	“	“	“	2.45	36.42	Markley Farm, worst condition.
“	“	“	“	3.15	4.37	Dayton Sand B’ch best condition.
“	“	“	“	2.33	14.24	Dayton Sand B’ch worst condition.
“	“	“	“	13.48	11.67	Eden Reservoir, best condition.
“	“	“	“	12.20	42.50	Eden Reservoir, worst condition.
“	“	“	“	2.92	9.10	Pump House, best condition.
“	“	“	“	4.43	79.73	Pump House, worst condition.

The Rivers Pollution Commission value the quality of water by the previous sewage or animal contamination, as they term it. This expression is obtained by taking, as a standard of comparison, the amount of total combined nitrogen (which is assumed as 10 parts), in solution, in 100,000 parts of average London sewage. The parts of nitrogen obtained, in the form of nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia, less .032 part of 100,000 for that portion in rain, is that nitrogen derived from animal matter. Animal matters dissolved in water, such as those contained in sewage, the contents of privies and cess-pools, or farm-yard manure, undergo oxidation in lakes, rivers and streams very slowly, but, in the pores of an open soil, very rapidly. When this oxidation is complete, they are resolved into mineral compounds; their carbon is converted into carbonic acid; and their hydrogen into water; but their nitrogen is transformed partly into ammonia and chiefly into nitrous and nitric acids. The following table is a compilation of their analyses:

Potable Waters, from Analyses by Rivers Pollution Commission, (1874,) (Parts of 100,000 Parts.)

	Organic Carbon.	Organic Nitrogen.	Previous Sewage.
	parts	parts
Rain-water, collected in leaden gauges	.070	.015	42
“ “ “ from roofs, etc., for domestic use	.257	.080	12031
Dew or hoar frost collected on leaden gauges	.264	.076	1536
Sea-water	.278	.165	103
Upland surface, from non-calcareous strata	.278	.033	0
“ “ from calcareous strata	.346	.037	33
Land drainage water, from sewage farms	.082	.191	10443
Deep well waters, in the chalk below London clay	.093	.028	797
Spring waters, from the chalk	.044	.010	3511
Bristol, from springs and deep wells	.172	.024	16620
Edinburgh, from springs and streams—water filtered	.145	.026	2020
Glasgow, from Loch Katrine	.204	.017	0
Liverpool, Green Lane well	.020	.020	3840
“ Rivington River, gravity supply, unfiltered	.243	.031	0
“ “ “ “ “ filtered	.210	.029	0
Birmingham, from Bourne River, normal	.211	.039	2480
“ “ “ “ in flood	.640	.059	3890
“ “ “ “ filtered	.460	.045	2720
“ from Aston well	.034	.006	1440
“ mixed waters—river and well	.040	.010	1380
London, Thames water from Hampton Grand Junction Works	.246	.033	3270
“ “ “ after subsidence “ “ “	.262	.042	3270
“ “ “ after filtration “ “ “	.231	.032	3140
Jacob’s Shallow Well, at Sheffield	1.200	.126	590

They consider reasonably safe water, when it is derived from deep wells, (say 100 feet,) or from deep-seated springs, although it contains previous animal sewage, but does not exceed 10,000 parts in 100,000 parts of water. Suspicious or doubtful water is, first, river or flowing water which exhibits any proportion, however small, of previous sewage; and, second, well or spring water containing 10,000 to 20,000 parts. Dangerous water is, first, river or flowing water which exhibits more than 20,000 parts of previous animal contamination; second, river or flow water containing less than 20,000 parts of previous contamination, coming from sewage discharged into it directly, or mingling with it as surface drainage; third, well or deep-seated springs containing more than 20,000 parts, because previous contamination is in direct proportion to the amount of such contamination.

The value of an analysis, sanitarily considered, is questioned. Mr. Simon, medical officer of Her Majesty’s Privy Council, testified, before the Royal Commission on Water Supply, on this point, as follows:

“There are dangerous qualities of water supply with regard to which, so far as I know, chemists are totally unable to measure, even to demonstrate the fatal influences that a water may have. A water may be, for instance, capable of spreading the cholera, but chemists be unable to identify the particular contamination which produces that effect. It is, I think, a matter of absolute demonstration that, in the old epidemics, when the south side of London suffered so dreadfully from cholera, the great cause of the immense mortality there was a badness of the water supply then distributed in those districts of London.”

Prof. Frankland says:

“That we have no reason to believe that the injurious character of either sewage or of the gases from a drain depends fundamentally upon the quality of that sewage or of that gas. In all probability it far more depends upon the quality of the sewage, namely, what it consists of. Now, what is the nature of the poisonous matter in the atmosphere or in the sewage? We do not know that, at all; therefore you can not possibly say when that poisonous matter is got rid of from the water or from the air. Chemical analysis can not do it, for its limit is by the power of weighing and measuring. It is not sufficiently advanced, and is one of the poorest things possible to reach those delicate points.”