in the hillside 300 feet above. From the pond the water
passes to the top of a new stone tower, which contains a vortex
horizontal turbine. The turbine is fixed in the pit at the
bottom of the tower, and is 20 feet below the level of the
water in the pond. The water falls to the turbine by means
of an upright vertical pipe, the waste being taken at the
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4 i2 WATER SUPPLIES
bottom by a 12 -inch drain and carried to the sea. From
the turbine, which runs about 600 revolutions per minute,
the power is communicated by a 10-inch pulley to a large
pulley on the over-head shafting, and from thence the power
is transferred to a set of high-pressure three-throw plunger
pumps. It is estimated that these pumps, driven by the means
mentioned, which are equal to five horse-power, will lift 1200
gallons an hour continuously, and they run with a surprising
degree of smoothness and absence of noise or friction. The
pumps are fitted with a pressure gauge which not only registers
the pressure but the height of the water in the pipes and
tanks. Notwithstanding the recent drought, which has had
a material effect on the spring, there is quite sufficient
water to pump up more than double the quantity that Mr.
Foster contracted to deliver at the reservoir. The tower is
built of local stone, and forms quite an ornamental feature
in this pretty village. The reservoirs are 120 feet by 20 feet,
and will hold 60,000 gallons. Formerly they were uncovered,
and not only exposed to the air but to various contaminations.
They are now covered with concrete and trapped and locked
in the same way as the spring at Winfrith. Besides making
a large number of connections in the village, a set of hydrants
and hose for use in case of fire have been provided.
Deep-well Water raised by an Oil Engine. — At a recent
gathering of Medical Officers of Health, Dr. Ashby of
Reading gave a very interesting account of the waterworks
recently established for the supply to a village (Sonning) in
his district. He stated that the water was derived from a
boring in the upper chalk, 75 feet deep, yielding about 70
gallons per minute. The reservoir has a capacity of 35,000
gallons, and the rising main from the well to the reservoir
is 4 inches diameter and 1783 feet in length. The main
enters the top of the reservoir at about 100 feet above the
level of the water in the bore-hole. The reservoir is about
4000 feet from the commencement of Sonning village, its
bottom being about 48 feet above the highest, and 83 feet
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RURAL AND VILLAGE WATER SUPPLIES 413
above the lowest parts of the village. The distributing
mains consist of 4390 feet of 4-inch pipe and 3935 feet of
3-inch pipe. There are sixteen hydrants, five air-valves, and
seven sluice-valves, besides one on the draw-off pipe at the
reservoir. The engine-house cost £124, the engine and
pumps £260, the tube well £73, making a total of about
£457 for the entire pumping station and well. The total
cost of the works was £1840. With the sanction of the
Local Government Board £1800 was borrowed; of that sum
£400 has to be repaid in fifteen years and £1400 in thirty
years. To repay the annual instalments of principal and
interest, and to cover the cost of pumping and other expenses,
a rate of Is. in the pound on houses and 3d. on land is required,
besides the water rate charged on the occupiers of premises
actually supplied. The charges for domestic supplies are 7s.
a year for all houses under £14 rateable value, and 2^ per
cent on the rateable value of all other houses, and some extra
charges for farmyards, cowkeeping, and livery stables. The
expense is considerable, but, as Dr. Ashby remarks, " it would
have cost but little more to have supplied a considerably larger
place." Sonning has a population of 515 persons, and its
rateable value is £4398. The oil engine is of two brake
horse-power, and the pumps are a set of treble ram pumps,
with gun metal plungers 4 inches in diameter by 9 inches
stroke. They are fixed to the suction pipe at the top of the
lining tube of the bore-hole. Dr. Ashby made a very careful
series of observations, showing the capacity of the pumps and
the cost of pumping. He says : —
"From 3rd September to 30th September 1894, we
pumped 3>\\ hours on 11 days. During the whole of that
time I was present and took exact observations of all the
materials which were consumed. We could have done the
pumping in four days, but we pump more frequently in order
to keep a good stock of water in the reservoir in case of any
fire occurring, or in the event of the machinery requiring any
repairs, so that the village may not be without water. We
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4 I4 WATER SUPPLIES
consequently use rather more oil in starting the engine than
would be absolutely necessary. In that time the pumps
made 57,397 revolutions, an average of 1822-1 an hour.
There are 7*2 revolutions of the engine to 1 revolution of
the pumps, so the engine ran at an average speed of 218*65
revolutions per minute. The total quantity of water raised
was 75,764 gallons, or an average of 2405*2 per hour. The
supply per head of the population per day was about 7
gallons.
" The consumption of materials was as under : —
s. d,
12 gallons of tea rose oil . . . at 5d. 5
1 battery charge . . . . at Is. 1
1J zinc for battery . . . . at 3d. 4£
24 fluid ounces of sulphuric acid . at 2d. per lb. 5£
Total cost of material consumed by the engine . . 6 10
3£ pints of lubricating oil for engine and pumps
at 2s. a gall. 10£
Cotton waste . . . . at 4d. per lb. 3£
Total cost of materials consumed by engine and pumps . 8
Cost of materials for engine per 1000 gallons of water raised 100
feet high 1*082 penny
Total cost of materials for engine and pumps per 1000 gallons of
water raised 100 feet high 1 '267 penny
Consumption of oil per h.p. per hour . . 1*5 pint."
Spring Water pumped by Gas Engine. — Great Baddow and
Springfield are two adjoining villages with a population of
about 4000. The waterworks are situated in a piece of
ground near the spring. The spring yields 120,000 gallons
per day. For the past fifteen years one eight horse-power
gas (Crossley Otto) engine and set of pumps have been
sufficient to raise all the water required; but this year a
new eight horse-power (Crossley Otto) with a set of three-
throw pumps has been erected as a duplicate.
There are four reservoirs 24' xl2'x6' brick -built and
covered with brick arches, each holding 10,350 gallons.
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RURAL AND VILLAGE WATER SUPPLIES 415
The water is pumped twice daily from these reservoirs to
a tank holding 40,000 gallons on the top of a tower 96
feet high.
The villages are then supplied by gravitation. One engine
will work both sets of pumps at once, raising 20,000 gallons
per hour.
The amount of gas used in pumping is 200 feet per hour
for the new engine and 250 feet per hour for the old engine.
Gas at 3s. 4d. per 1000 feet The total expense for working
is about £180 per year. The amount of water rents collected
from the houses supplied is about £350 per annum. Where
water is supplied by metre the charge is Is. per 1000
gallons.
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APPENDIX
1. Crenothrix, Cause of Disagreeable Odours
in Water.
Crenothrix, a fungoid growth of thread-like form, can only thrive in
water containing protoxide of iron and organic matter, and, by its
decomposition, often causes water to acquire a disagreeable odour and
taste. The Berlin water supply from wells sunk near the Tegeler Lake
had to be abandoned on account of the abundant growth of this
organism. Its appearance in the Rotterdam water supply led to the
formation of the "Rotterdam Crenothrix Commission," and Prof.
Hugo de Vries reported that Crenothrix was not a ground water
organism as was generally supposed, but that it was found in many
surface waters. As the result of his observations and experiments, he
expressed the opinion that two factors are necessary for its growth to
become so rapid as to render a water unpalatable. These two factors
are — the presence of. decomposing organic matter, and the presence of
protosalts of iron. For a detailed account of this organism and its
relation to water supplies, an exhaustive article by Prof. W. F. Sedgwick,
in the Technological Quarterly, Boston, 1890, may be consulted. In
the Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, there
is also a mass of information bearing upon this subject ; and in Public
Health for October 1896, Dr. Garrett describes the effect of this
organism on the Cheltenham water supply.
2. Effect upon Health of Zinc- Contaminated Water.
Zinc poisoning from the use of water which has been stored in
galvanised iron receptacles is of comparatively rare occurrence.
Obstinate constipation is, so far as experience extends, the one notice-
able effect produced, and possibly zinc-contaminated water may be a
more frequent cause of this condition than has hitherto been suspected,
but Myelius states that the water of the parish well at Tutendorf
contains half a grain of zinc per gallon, and has been used for about
a century without any perceptible effect.
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APPENDIX 419
3. Plumbo-Solvent Action of Moorland Water.
In 1890 the Medical Department of the Local Government Board
was entrusted with an investigation respecting the causes of the lead
poisoning which has been referred to public water supplies derived
from moorland sources. This investigation has been undertaken by
Mr. W. H. Power, F.R.S., and an interim report has just been pre-
sented, based upon data collected for the West Riding of Yorkshire by
Dr. Barry, and for Lancashire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland by
Mr. T. W. Thompson. With reference to this subject, Dr. Thorne, in
his last Report to the Local Government Board, says—
" Observations were, in the first instance, confined to the gathering
ground at Burnmoor, near Settle, in Yorks, water from different parts
of which were, for some eighteen months, examined week by week as
to their physical, chemical, and bacteriological features, the results
being recorded along with concurrent meteorological and other condi-
tions, and compared with the ability of the same water week by week
to take lead into solution. With the latter only one chemical condi-
tion has been found generally parallel, while none of the other condi-
tions observed have been at all parallel. This is the amount of acidity
of the water. And a similar correspondence was found to exist when
the experience of Burnmoor was applied to other gathering grounds.
For although the amount of lead taken up by one water as compared
with another was not always found to be in direct proportion to the
relative acidities of the two, yet, for a particular water, variations in
its lead-dissolving property were always associated with corresponding
variations in the amount of its acid.
"The problems of plumbo-solvency of a moorland water thus came
to be, in large measure, problems of the particular acidity connected
with it, and accordingly experiments were undertaken to determine
the nature of this acidity and its source. Having ascertained that a
moorland water has not in itself any power of developing or increasing
in acidity, it remained to be discovered where in its moorland history
the water acquired its acid properties. It was soon ascertained that
it was from the peat that the water derived this quality ; and the
question next arose whether the acidity of the water was due to merely
chemical and physical reaction of the water and the peat or to active
organic life in the peat itself. The answer is indicated in the experi-
ments so far reported on. They show that while neither moorland
water nor a sterile decoction of peat can of itself develop acidity, the
addition to either of a minimal amount of moist peat soil will cause
bacterial growth in it, with increasing development of acid reaction
and ability to dissolve lead.
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4 20 WATER SUPPLIES
"And they have further indicated two species of microbes which,
alone among the many kinds of micro-organisms found in the samples
of peat examined, have the power of producing acidity when added to
a sterile decoction of peat
"At this stage, then, Mr. Power's forecast of 1887 would seem to
be borne out as the result of the labours of the experts who have been
engaged in this inquiry. The investigation is, however, by no means
completed, and it is being continued throughout the current year/'
Dr. Scatterby (Public Health, May 1895) describes the filtering
arrangements made to neutralise the plumbo-solvent action of the peaty
water supplied to Keighley. He says : " These works, completed at a
cost of £18,000, consist of three beds of Welsh coke (to extract the
grosser peaty impurities), four sandstone and limestone filters, four
polarite chambers, and a clean water reservoir." By this filtration the
acid so invariably found in moorland water supplies is neutralised by
the limestone of the filters, and by this means it is hoped to completely
destroy the solvent action of the water on the lead piping,
4. Pollution of Water in Keservoir. Outbreak
of Typhoid Fever.
During the latter half of 1893 an epidemic of typhoid fever
occurred in and around Paisley, affecting over 800 people. Dr. Munro,
the County Medical Officer, attributes it to the pollution of the water
supply, and upon visiting the reservoir a month after the beginning
of the epidemic he found that until the 6th of July there had existed
close to the margin of the water an inhabited farm house, "the
drainage or soakage from which could only escape into the reservoir."
Dr. P. Frankland, who examined the collecting ground and the filter
beds, proved that the filters were in an unsatisfactory state.
5. Pollution of Water Supply by Melting Snow.
Outbreak of Typhoid Fever.
In 1885 an outbreak of typhoid fever occurred in Pennsylvania.
1200 people were attacked and 150 died. Stampfel states that during
the early spring the dejecta from a typhoid patient was thrown upon
the snow lying on a hill sloping towards the source of the public water
supply. A sudden thaw setting in, the impurities would be carried
down with the melted snow. This occurred on 25th March, and on
10th April the epidemic commenced. Just at that time the water
from this particular source was being used to an unusual extent.
Those who derived water from other sources were not affected.
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APPENDIX 421
6. Pollution op Water in Mains.
Mr. M. A. Adams, F.R.C.S., Medical Officer of Health for the
borough of Maidstone, in his Annual Report for 1894 (quoted in
Public Health, July 1895) states that he found in May that the water
from a particular hydrant was polluted. Upon investigating the
cause, the main was found to be defective at two points near a disused
drain. Mr. Adams explains the insuction of foul matters by stating
that therewas a tendency for this service pipe to empty itself in favour
of the lower placed hydrants, and when the taps at these lower places
were shut off, a wave of water pressure was sent forward to the higher
level ; when this wave reached the hydrant implicated, the water
recoiled upon itself, and set up a sudden and strong retreating current
in the opposite direction, which produced the insuction. He adds,
* ' This seemingly small matter ought not to be lost sight of ; it teaches
a practical lesson in hydraulics of the greatest sanitary importance."
7. Pollution op a Deep Well nea$ Edinburgh.
In the Edinburgh Medical Journal for November 1894, Dr. A. C.
Houston gives an account of a well at Morningside, 294 feet deep,
which yielded polluted water. The pollution was apparently due to
the discharge of sewage into a quarry 800 feet away, since the pollution
ceased soon after the sewage was diverted into the Edinburgh sewers.
8. Typhoid Fever in the Bolan Pass.
Surgeon -Captain Haynes states that in the Bolan Pass in 1877
typhoid fever was caused by drinking a few ounces of water from a
well in which a dead camel was found, yet that the natives who had
been drinking the water some time did not contract the disease. He
also remarks that native troops can live in barracks which have had
to be vacated by our men on account of the prevalence of typhoid
fever and cholera.
9. Self-Purification of Streams.
The effect of the sun's rays upon the organisms found in water has
been studied by many observers. Dr. Procacci exposed water in deep
cylinders to the nearly vertical rays of the sun, and foimd that all the
organisms in the water up to a certain depth were killed. After three
hours' exposure the water in the cylinders to 1 foot depth was nearly
sterile, whilst at a depth of 2 feet they were unaffected. Prof. Buchner
exposed gelatine plates sown with typhoid bacilli in water at various
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422 WATER SUPPLIES
depths for a period of four and a half hours, and fouud that all those
plates covered with less than 5 feet of water were sterilised. Those
exposed at a depth of 10 feet were not affected. Percy Frankland has
proved that in the Thames and Lea there are often twenty times more
organisms present in the water in winter than in summer, but this he
thinks may in part be due to the greater proportion of spring water
contained in the streams in summer, since spring water contains
comparatively few organisms. When a little common salt is added to
water the sterilising effect of the sun's rays is said to be increased.
With reference to the great variation in the number of bacteria in
river water during the course of the year, Prof. E. Frankland, in his
Report on Metropolitan Water Supply, 1894, says, "that the number
of microbes in Thames water is determined mainly by the rate of the
flow of the river, or, in other words, by the rainfall, and but slightly, if
at all, by either the presence or absence of sunshine, or a high or low
temperature."
Dr. D. Harvey Attfield (Brit. Med. Journ., 17th June 1893)
describes the results of a series of experiments undertaken by him in
Munich to ascertain the effect of Infusoria upon the bacteria in polluted
water. He concludes that "Infusoria would seem to have some powerful
influence in the getting rid of bacteria, and, possibly, so aiding in the
' self- purification' of water."
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GENERAL INDEX
Abyssinian tube wells, 310
yield of, 312, 313
cost of, 314
Action of frost on water mains, 375
of water on metals, 8
Advantages of softened water, 120
Alum, clarification by, 255
Amount of water required for domes-
tic and other purposes, 272
used, constant supply, 274
by cattle, 283
intermittent supply, 274
in tropical climates, 282
available from various sources,
285
Analyses, vide Tables
the interpretation of, 160
ammonia, 169
chlorine, 161
nitrates, 164
nitrites, 165
organic ammonia, 172
organic carbon and nitrogen,
171
oxygen absorbed, 173
phosphates, 170
Animal charcoal, properties of, 253
Animals, effect of polluted water
upon, 157
Aqueducts, fall of, 370
Artesian wells, 70, 320
Asterionella, 108
Bacteria in water, 113, 185
effect of sunlight upon, 223, 421
sedimentation upon, 220
Bacteriological examination of water,
185
Ball hydrants, dangers of, 212
Beggiatoa alba, 110
Blasting of deep wells, 325
Bogs, marshes, and swamps, 41
Boiling point of water, 5
Bore-tube, advantages and disadvan-
tages of pumping from, 316
varieties of, 319
Brine, yielded by well, 302
Bursaria gastris, 108
Carbonic acid in water, 6
Cast-iron mains, 372
acted upon by soft water, 206
Catchment basins, 86, 295
Chalk, water held by, 44, 74, 301
Charafoetida, 109
Charcoal, animal properties of, 253
vegetable properties of, 253
Chlorine in surface waters, 31
signification of, 161
Cholera, 148
and improved water supplies, 150
and defective filters, 153
and water filtration, 190
organisms, influence of soil on,
309
outbreaks of, Altona, 151, 187
232
Hamburg, 151, 187
London, 148
Poonah Jail, 151
Theydon Bois, 150
Vadakencoulam, 151
Wandsbeck, 151
Cisterns, action of water on, 205
house, 204, 369
rain-water, 21
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424
WATER SUPPLIES
Clarification of water by alum, 255
Classification of potable waters, 11,
27
Collection of rain water, 25
Colour of water, 2, 105
removal by filtration, 235
Communication pipes, 371
Composition of water, 1
Conduits, open, 370
Conferva Boinbycincu, 109
Constant supply, 274, 369
Constituents of natural water, 7, 115
Construction of wells, 805
Consumption of water, daily varia-
tion in, 283
hourly variation in, 277, 364
Cost of public water supplies, 35,
37, 82
boring wells, 821
tube wells, 314
well sinking, 314
Cottage filter, 252
Crenothrix, 108, 364, 418
Cryptomonas, 108
Dairy farms, 383
Dead ends, 373
Deep-well water, 27, 70, 80
wells, boring of, 319
cost of, 320
effect of pumping on, 78
increased supply by blasting,
325
pollution of, 75, 203, 421
site, selection of, 77
yield of, 80, 83, 303, 326
Density of water, 4
Depth of mains, 372
Deserts, 15
Diarrhoea, 122
due to distilled water, 254
decomposing animals in water,
125
sewage in water, 124
sewer gas in water, 123
sulphuretted water, 123
turbid river water, 123, 124
Diseases due to animal parasites,
154
specific organisms, 130
Distillation of water, 12, 254, 257
sea water, 254
Distributing mains, 371
Distribution of water, 369
Divining rod, 290
Domestic consumption of water, 277
filters, 247
dangers of, 251
high pressure, 247
low pressure, 247
limited utility of, 251
self-supplying, 250
Domestic purification of water, 247
Drainage area, 295
Drinking water, qualities of, 104
Dual supply, 303
Duties of Sanitary Authority to
supply water, 395
Dysentery, outbreaks due to impure
water 125. 184
Earth, living, action of, 47
Eels in water mains, 111
Electricity, decomposition of water
by, l
Engines, pumping gas, 353
oil, 352
steam, 353
water, 344
wind, 341
Enteric fever vide Typhoid fever
Entozoa, affecting man, 155
Evaporation, loss of water by, 297
rate of, 12
from the ocean, 12
Expansion of water when freezing, 3
Factors influencing amount of water
available, 91
Ferrule machine, 373
Filter beds, 236, 242
area of, 237
area of, to calculate, 238
cleansing of, 236, 239
construction of, 235, 245
effect of scraping, 230
polarite, 242, 253
Filters, cottage, 252
domestic, 247
high pressure, 247
low pressure, 247
limited utility of, 251
self-supplying, 250
Filtration and cholera, 190
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GENERAL INDEX
425
Filtration at Alton a, 232
by machinery, 240
nitrification during, 234
rapidity, 232
removal of colour by, 235
efficiency of, 227, 233