82 



ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



MANGANESE IN ILLINOIS WATER SUPPLIES 



H. P. CORSON, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



The presence of manganese in water supplies, except in con- 

 centrations so low as to be insignificant, has always been con- 

 sidered rather unusual. This is true particularly in the United 

 States. In Europe, however, manganese in water supplies has 

 been encountered in a number of instances. 



R. S. Weston 1 cites some twenty ground water supplies in 

 this country and in Europe, which have been reported as con- 

 taining manganese: 



Manganese 

 Locality (parts per million) 



Arad, Hungary present 



Babylon, N. Y 0.07 



Bayshore, N. Y 0.37 



Berlin, Germany present 



Bjornstorp, Sweden 3.4-43.4 



Brunswick, Germany present 



Breslau, Germany trace — 110 



Calverton, N. Y 30 



Halle, Germany 1.50 



Hamburg, Hofbrtinnen 45 



Hanover, Germany present 



Patchogue, N. Y 20 



Reading, Mass 004-0.56 



Stargard, Germany present 



Stettin, Germany 5.22 



Superior, "Wisconsin 12 



Shrewsbury, Mass 10 



The first instance in this country where manganese was 

 found in sufficient quantity to cause trouble was in the case 

 of the well water supply of a New England mill in 1898 2 . This 

 supply was abandoned because of the high manganese content. 



Some sixty-two springs in the United States are mentioned 

 by W. P. Mason 8 as having been reported to contain mangan- 

 ese. Mason states, however, that in nearly half of these the 

 element occurs in traces, and only in seven instances does the 

 amount equal or exceed the content of 4.5 parts per million 

 which he found in the case of a mineral spring at Excelsior 

 Springs, Mo. 



Manganese determinations are not made in the general rou- 

 tine work of water laboratories, because the occurrence of the 

 element in water has been considered rather unusual. 



1. Trans. Am. Soc. C. E. 64, 124. 



2. Trans. Am. Soc. C. E. 64, 124. 



3. Chem. News, 61, 123. . • 



