METEOROLOGY — WATER. 



free access, slmwcil a higher bacteria] content than thai which was fenced and received 

 drainage from pasture land. The number of bacteria in the pond water was high 

 after heavy rains and rapidly fell with clear weather. "Two conditions contribute to 

 this purifying process in ponds, sunshine and sedimentation, the latter having a much 

 greater influence in purifying the water than the former." A- a result of such puri- 

 fication in the pond, which was fenced bo thai the water was aol disturbed by stock, 

 the actual number of bacteria presenl in the surface water was less than in Borne of 

 the wells examined. The number of bacteria in the tanks was much higher than in 

 the water of the wells from which they were filled, showing "thai anj water, how- 

 ever pure, w hen pumped from a well will soon show a large number of bacteria w hen 

 Bampled from a tank, on accouni of the trash, dirt, etc., that will accumulate in the 



tank, a- well as from the saliva of animals drinking the water." 



Attention is called to the danger of the spread of intestinal parasites through the 

 agency of pond water. "If any of the stock are infested with worms the water from 

 pastures collected into ponds soon becomes contaminated with the eggs and larvae, and 



in this way are transferred to the alimentary canal of other animals, where they 



develop." 



The methods of bacteriological examination used, of building ponds and cisterns, 

 and of protecting them from contamination are described. 



Miscellaneous water analyses, A. (i. Ford (Oklahoma Sta. Bui. 67, pp. 



The results of partial analyses of L26 samples of water made at the station during t In- 

 past •"> years are reported and discussed. Of these. 95 samples were from well-. 13 



from springs, 5 from rivers or creeks, 2 from cisterns, and II miscellaneous. The 

 methods used in analysis and in the interpretation of results are briefly explained, 

 and methods of protecting water from different sources from contamination arc 

 described. 



Filtration and sterilization of water, II. Pillaud {.lour. Agr. /'ml., ,,. ser., 10 

 (1905), Nos. SO, pp. 109-111; 88, />/'• 878-875, fig. /).— Apparatus and systems (ther- 

 mal, chemical, and physical ) for this purpose suitable for use on farm- are described 

 and tests of the efficiency of some of them are briefly reported. 



The action of cupric sulphate upon the bacterial life contained in water, 

 II. Watkins-Pitchfobd (Natal Agr. Jour, and Min. Rec, 8 \ 1905), No. 8, pp. . 



.—A series of tests of Moore's method (E. S. R., 16, p. 238) is reported, which 

 leads to the conclusion that "in the sulphate of copper, used in proportions of 1 part 

 of the salt to 75,000 parts of water, we possess a-. agent which promise- to be both 

 valuable and safe." Practical trials of the method on a large scale in purification of 

 South African water supplies are advised. 



Use of barium carbonate for the purification of water, E. E. Basch i Chem. 

 Ztg. r 29 (1905), No. 58, pp. ;//, :.'.'; abs. in Jour. Chem. Soc. [London], 88(19 

 No. 514, II- /'■ 515). — Experiments on a small scale are reported, in which barium 

 carbonate used in excess and thoroughly mixed with the water was found to be an 

 effective means of reducing hardness. 



The barium carbonate precipitates lime as carbonate and sulphuric acid as sulphate. 

 It thus has a decided advantage over the ordinary method of using caustic lime to 

 remove temporary hardness due to bicarbonates of lime and magnesia, and sodium 

 carbonate to remove permanent hardness due to sulphates of these bases, since in 

 this process sodium sulphate is formed which remains in solution with .-odium 

 chlorid and is objectionable for a number of reasons. The barium carbonate, how- 

 ever, acts slowly on account of its low solubility in water. loir this reason apparatus 



has been devised which keeps the carbonate stirred up in the water and thus hastens 

 its action. 



Thirty kg. of barium carbonate to 10,000 liters of water daily, with the addition of 

 15 kg. every 14 days, is considered a Bufficienl amount for the treatment of ordinary 



waters. The precipitated slime may be partly removed from time to time, but it i.- 



