The Value of Pure Water 77 



SUMMARY. 



In the foregoing paper attention has been called to the following 

 propositions : 



1. Pure water as compared with impure water has a real financial 

 value to a community. 



2. This value may be measured by determining what impure water 

 costs the community. 



3. There are three principal characteristics which affect the value 

 of water to the general consumer — its sanitary quality, its general 

 attractiveness, and its hardness. 



4. A formula is suggested for computing the effect of the sanitary 

 quality of water on its financial value to a community. It is based on 

 the typhoid fever death-rate. 



5. A formula is suggested for computing the effect of the general 

 attractiveness of water on its value to consumers. It is based on the 

 physical characteristics of turbidity, color, and odor. 



6. A formula is suggested for computing the effect of the hardness 

 of water on its value to the consumers. It is based on the use of soap 

 in the household. 



7. Considered from the financial aspect alone, and disregarding all 

 humanitarian considerations, the filtration of a polluted water supply 

 adds very greatly to the vital assets of a community ; hence, as a mere 

 business proposition, no city can afiford to allow an impure water sup- 

 ply to be publicly distributed. 



8. The advantages to a community of having a water supply, not 

 only safe, but also attractive in appearance, taste, and odor, are 

 material from a financial aspect. The increased value of many waters 

 because of the improvement in their esthetic qualities alone justifies 

 the cost of filtration. 



9. Water-softening at present does not receive the attention it 

 deserves at the hands of municipal authorities. The economic advan- 

 tages to be gained by removing the hardness of water are so great 

 that, in many cases, the saving to the ordinary water-consumers justi- 

 fies the cost of softening water. 



10. The formulae here suggested and the detailed results derived 

 from their use are not to be considered as of great accuracy, as the 

 assumed data are not fully adequate. They are given merely to 



