170 Kansas Academy of Science. 



the filters to be covered with numerous Synedra, Navicula, Chlamydo- 

 monas and Clathrocystis. The filters were washed, and about a foot of 

 water, to which one pound of CUSO4 had been added, was left standing in 

 each. The basins were treated with eight pounds to the million ji^allons. 

 The filters, after standing for eight hours, were drained into the sewer, 

 and the water now let in from the basin and filtered was in good condition. 



Occasionally difiiculty which seems to be due to the algae may be caused 

 by the growth of small animals. A few cases in our state where water 

 from the basins and filters has given off foul odors have been traced to 

 this cause. For example, Lyndon, in May, 1917, and Kansas City, in 

 January, 1917, reported offensive, fishy odors coming from their settling 

 basins and filters, and that the walls were covered with a brownish-gray 

 growth resembling masses of roots. Samples of this material analyzed in 

 the laboratory proved to be Polyzoa, minute animals forming mosslike 

 clusters. These small animals when in a state of decomposition give off 

 an odor much the same as comes from a stagnant fish pond. By a purely 

 mechanical treatment, consisting in scraping the walls and carefully 

 cleaning the filters, the difficulty as to odors was removed. On the other 

 hand, the State Hospital at Osawatomie, in February, 1917, when 

 troubled by a protozoan, Vorticella, in the water supply, eradicated it by 

 the use of copper sulfate. 



Other similar cases of the successful use of copper sulfate in the water 

 reservoirs have been recorded by the workers in the Kansas water labora- 

 tory. The method has been practically the same in all cases and the 

 dosage and identification of the organisms have been easily made from 

 tables and keys such as given in this report. 



SUMMARY. 



1. Out of the one hundred and ten species of algae listed in this paper 

 only twelve have been reported previously in this state ; thirty-seven have 

 not been reported in our neighboring states. Fifty-five species of the 

 Chlorophyceje were identified, thirty-six of the Myxophyceae, thirteen 

 Bacillarige, four Hetreokontae and two Flagellata. Fourteen species of 

 Oscillatoria were classified. This genus was found ninety-one times and 

 is the most common algal form prevalent in our reservoirs. The diatoms 

 were always present, Navicula being found eighty-five times. 



2. The algse of our state which have been found to be the most active 

 in causing bad tastes, odors or colors in our drinking water are Anabaena, 

 Conferva, Oscillatoria, Spirogyra, Cladophora, Clathrocystis, Synedra and 

 Navicula. Animals of the Polyozoan and Protozoan groups have also been 

 found to cause these difficulties. 



3. The collections of algae during the five seasons brought out no 

 changes due to the differences in the seasons. To determine whether this 

 is due to the absence of seasonal influence on the flora or to the artificial 

 conditions of the reservoirs requires data from a longer period of time 

 than is covered by this paper. 



4. The copper sulphate treatment for algal trouble has been used 

 successfully in Kansas. 



