THE VALUE OF PURE WATER 



ATTRACTIVENESS. 



The analytical determinations which relate to the general attrac- 

 tiveness of a water are those of taste, odor, color, turbidity, and sedi- 

 ment. As these quantities increase in amount, the water becomes 

 less attractive for drinking purposes, until finally a point is reached 

 where people refuse to drink it. In order to use these results in a 

 practical way, it is necessary to combine them so as to obtain a single 

 value for the physical characteristics or, as they say abroad, for the 

 " organoleptic " quality of the water. An attempt has been made by 

 the author to obtain what may be termed an esthetic rating of the 

 water, and the result is shown in the accompanying diagram. 



] f 



This diagram, it should be said, is based almost entirely upon esti- 

 mates and very little upon statistical data. It rests upon the assump- 

 tion that people differ in their sensibilities, or their esthetic feelings as 

 to the use of water. Some persons are much more fastidious than 

 others in regard to what they drink. A water which would be shunned 

 by one person, even though he were thirsty, might be taken by another 

 with apparent relish. As a rule, people are more fastidious about the 

 odor of water and the amount of coarse sediment which it contains 

 than they are about its color and turbidity. This is perhaps natural, 

 as a bad odor suggests decay, and decay is instinctively repugnant. 



