46 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



water, and will drink instead any clear well-water, regardless of its 

 source. 



The waters of these rivers must be treated to render them clear 

 and germ free for household use. And it is possible to treat them in 

 such a way as to make them soft for laundry and manufacturing pur- 

 poses. The question that occurs to many is, What is the use ? or, in 

 other words, Does it pay ? 



As an example of the use of filtration to obtain a germ-free water, 

 I will mention the experience of the adjoining cities of Hamburg 

 and Altona, in Germany, during the cholera epidemic of 1892. 

 Hamburg used unfiltered Elbe water, while Altona used filtered Elbe 

 water after it had received the sewage of over 800,000 people of Ham- 

 burg. The cases rate in Hamburg was 263 per 10,000 inhabitants, 

 while in Altona it was only 38.1, and most of these cases had their 

 origin in Hamburg. One part of Hamburg, supplied by water from 

 Altona, did not have a single case, though surrounded by the disease. 



As an example of the value of water treatment to soften it, I will 

 refer to the work of the Santa Fe railroad in analyzing and treating 

 waters throughout its system, from Chicago to California. In the 

 Journal of Locomotive Firemen, Mr. Powers, the chief chemist for 

 the Santa Fe, tells of the work done, and I take the liberty of review- 

 ing his article. In 1902 the Santa Fe began the treatment to soften 

 waters by means of soda ash and lime. In September, 1904, there 

 were sixty-six plants in operation, capable of treating from 50,000 to 

 300,000 gallons of water per day, at a cost of from one cent to eight 

 cents per 1000 gallons. Cost depends on the quality of the water. 

 It is calculated that the treatment removes four and one-half tons 

 of incrustants daily from 3,570,000 gallons of water used. From the 

 only plant thus far erected in southeastern Kansas, at Neosho Rapids, 

 150 pounds of incrustants are removed from a daily consumption of 

 50,000 gallons. The results are highly satisfactory, and the life of 

 flues and fire-boxes has been more than doubled. 



The Kansas cities as individual cities are not large enough to 

 undertake the necessary examinations advantageously. It is a task 

 for the state. Other states and some large cities have established 

 chemical surveys of their water-supplies. Considerable surveys of 

 streams, watersheds and other possible sources of city supplies have 

 been thoroughly examined. Several states have undertaken such 

 work, sometimes from a chemical standpoint only, and in other cases 

 bacteriological examinations have been included. 



The most expensive work has been done by Massachusetts, carried 

 on under the auspices of the State Board of Health. Their work was 

 begun in 1887, and made possible by an act of the legislature, which 

 is quoted elsewhere. Connecticut has made similar examinations. 



