STANDARDIZATION OF WELL-WATER IN THE 

 VICINITY OF GRANVILLE, OHIO^ 



Lily Bell Sefton 



The last few years have brought an increasmg realization, 

 both to scientists and to those entrusted with the sanitary wel- 

 fare of the public, of the fact that the water supply of a locality 

 has much to do with the health or ill-health of its inhabitants. 

 In consequence, there is scarcely a city of any size that has not 

 done more or less to better its water conditions. Filtration 

 plants are being established, reservoirs are cleaned more fre- 

 quently and scientifically, while the sale of distilled water has 

 become a most profitable business. 



It is unfortunate that this improvement is confined largely 

 to municipal boundaries. What is true of a city with regard to 

 its water supply is just as true of country districts. A contam- 

 inated well is as certainly productive of evil results as is a filthy 

 reservoir or a polluted river. Moreover, when we remember 

 that this well furnishes water for cattle, and that the cattle 

 products are marketed in the large cities, it will be evident why 

 these same evil results may be as far-reaching. It is highly impor- 

 tant, therefore, that the farmer, as well as the city-dweller, know 

 whether or not the water that he uses is pure. It happens that 

 there is no fixed criterion by which the wells of different locali- 

 ties can be judged. Nearness to, or remoteness from, salt bodies, 

 elevation above sea-level, differences, both chemical and geolog- 

 ical, of soil, all combine to make it necessary for each community 

 to have its own standard of purity. 



The following analysis was made for the purpose of estab- 

 lishing such a standard for the wells in the Granville vicinity. 

 Twenty samples were analyzed — samples taken from wells within 

 a three or four mile radius of the village. The water was exam- 

 ined for dissolved solids, chlorine, ammonium, both free and 

 combined, nitrates, nitrites, oxygen-consuming power and phos- 



1 This work was done under the direction of Prof. A. M. Brumback. 



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