PAPERS ON WATER SUPPLY 71 



EXAMINATION OF DRINKING WATER ON 



RAILWAY TRAINS 



Edward Bartow, University of Illinois 



In order to determine the character of water furnished to 

 the passengers on railway trains, 100 samples from water con- 

 tainers on trains have been collected and analyzed by members 

 of the staff of the Illinois State Water Survey. Although the 

 number of samples examined is small, the information obtained 

 concerning the actual condition of the waters should be valu- 

 able in formulating practical standards. The samples were 

 secured from trains at Champaign, Urbana, Kankakee and 

 Chicago. It was thus possible to secure samples from cars 

 coming from all parts of the country. 



Of the 101 samples : Twenty-eight of the tanks were said 

 to have been last filled at Chicago. Nine at Peoria. Eight at 

 Centralia. Six at Detroit. Five at Cincinnati. Four at In- 

 dianapolis. Three at Kansas City, Mo. Two each at Memphis, 

 Tennessee ; Salamanca, New York, and New York City. One 

 each at Boston, Massachusetts; Buffalo, New York; Cham- 

 paign, Illinois; Dubuque, Iowa; Effingham, Illinois; For- 

 rest, 111. ; Ft. Madison, la. ; Ft. Wayne, Ind. ; Grand Rapids, 

 Mich. ; Havana, 111. ; Lincoln, Neb. ; Mason City la. ; Mattoon, 

 111. ; Minneapolis, Minn. ; Montreal, P. Q. ; Nashville, Tenn. ; 

 Parsons, Kans. ; Pittsburgh, Pa. ; St. Louis, Mo. ; St. Paul, 

 Minn. ; Sioux City, la. ; South Bend Ind. ; Springfield, 111. 

 Four were filled with bottled water from Hammond, La., one 

 with bottled water from Waukesha, Wis. The water in five 

 was of unknown origin. The majority of the samples, 57, 

 were taken from coaches, 19 from sleepers, 8 from dining cars, 

 7 from smoking cars, 6 from parlor cars, 2 from tourist 

 sleepers, and of 3 there was no record. 



The analyses include both bacteriological and chemical exam- 

 inations and an attempt has been made to make them as com- 

 plete as possible when using 120 cc. samples for bacterial ex- 

 amination and one liter samples for the chemical tests. 



METHODS OF ANALYSIS 



The analyses have been made as far as possible in accordance 

 with Standard Methods of Water Analysis of the American 

 Public Health Association (1912) and all analyses made after 

 May 1 include confirmations of B coli made in accordance with 

 the recommendations of the Commission on Standards for 

 Common Carriers in Interstate Commerce. 



