36 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE DEPOSIT FROM A 

 CHALYBEATE WATER. 



By E. C. CASE. 



During the past year there have been carried on In the chemical labor- 

 atory of the State University a series of very careful analyses of the river 

 water which furnishes the commercial supply for the city of Lawrence. A 

 portion of the water supplied was taken from a well situated a few hundred 

 feet from the bank of the river, and this water presents marked differences 

 from the river supply, and is in many respects different from that of the sur- 

 rounding wells. In cleaning the well, during the above-mentioned investiga- 

 tions, a deposit was found in the bottom, consisting mainly of oxide of iron. 

 This deposit was some two feet thick and of a homogenous character. It was 

 thought that an examination of this sediment might be useful as giving some 

 clue to the dissolved matters of the underground waters of this region, and as 

 to the part that would be deposited when the water stood where there would 

 be little opportunity for aeration. 



The well stands near the bank of the river and is sunk in a bed of gravel, 

 part of the moraines of the earlier glacial epoch. These drift pits are full of 

 limonite in nodules and scattered masses, so that any water filtering through 

 them would easily take up iron, especially with the aid of any carbonic acid 

 gas that might be in solution in the water. An analysis of the water gave 

 the following composition, in parts per 100,000: 



Silica and insoluble matter 4.50 



Oxides of iron and alumina 3.45 



Calcium oxide 12.25 



Magnesium oxide 3.20 



Sulfuric anhydride 5.48 



Chlorin 8.64 



The above constituents are probably combined in the following order: 



Silica and insoluble matter 4.50 



Peroxide of iron and alumina 3.45 



Calcium sulfate 9.31 



Calcium carbonate 15.03 



Magnesium carbonate 6.72 



Sodium chlorid 14.43 



Total 53.44 



This water contained 35.15 parts of carbonic anhydride per 100,000 parts 

 of water. Of this amount 10.14 parts would be required to combine with the 

 lime and magnesia, as above computed, leaving 25.01 parts of carbonic anhy- 

 dride free, or to keep the bicarbonates in solution. 



On standing in the air the water, which is as clear as distilled water when 

 first drawn, becomes first milky then turbid within an hour, but does not de- 

 posit all the iron under 36 hours. Then the w^ter again becomes clear by 

 settling. Below is the analysis of an air-dried sample of the sediment 

 found in the well, this being the deposit from the water when it has not a 

 full opportunity for aeration: 



