346 On the Water of Tunbridge Wells. 
uses, such as for washing and making tea. When I had, there- 
fore, sunk the well to the depth sufficient to get water, which 
did not appear till I had got down to above sixty feet, I accord- 
ingly found that it was hard and chalybeate; [had not the sci- 
entific chemical tests for delicate examination, but it curdled 
the soap, was harsh and rough to the hands in washing, and 
not only precipitated upon standing a brownish ochreous pow- 
der, but a piece of linen washed in it exhibited, when dry, a 
brown stain, clearly owing to the iron, and called by the washer- 
women iron mould; and tea made with it acquired a dark 
colour, and a rough taste. These circumstances I believe to 
be the case with almost all the well and pump water of this 
place. The consequence is, that very many people, especially 
in dry seasons when the water is undiluted from the land springs 
by rain, are obliged to buy soft water from men who go about 
with carts to sell it. 
Upon reflecting in what manner these inconveniencies could 
be remedied, it occurred to me, as the iron was dissolved in the 
water in the state of a carbonate, and if the hardness of the 
water was solely owing to the carbonic acid, that at a very 
trifling expense, and without any difficulty, both the iron and 
the carbonic acid could be got rid of, and the water thus rendered 
perfectly useful, and good for all purposes. 
As the carbonic acid is in a loose state of combination, it 
is easily disengaged by heat; it is therefore clear that the 
process of boiling the water would soon disengage it; but as 
this would also render the water vapid to the taste, and 
would be very inconvenient, and expensive in a large way, 
I felt satisfied that if the water were not immediately used 
on being taken from the well, but suffered to remain for a 
time in a cistern, the carbonic acid would be dissipated in its 
usual state of gas, and that the oxide of iron, thus rendered inso- 
luble by being freed from its acid, would be in the greater part 
precipitated, and that whatever small portion was suspended 
would be readily got rid of by filtration, and that thus I should 
not only have a good and pure water for every purpose, but that 
others at Tunbridge Wells who suffer from the same incon- 
