X, A. 1 



Heise: Water Supply for Iloilo 



67 



The methods of chemical examination employed in this work 

 were, with some modifications, those outlined by Leighton.* The 

 errors and limits of accuracy involved have been discussed by 

 the same author. In addition bacteria counts on litmus lactose 

 agar and tests for gas-forming organisms in lactose bile agar 

 were made with the aid of a small portable bacteriological outfit. 



DEEP WELLS 



Many wells have been drilled in the vicinity of Iloilo by the 

 Bureau of Public Works. Most of them are from 60 to 80 meters 

 deep, and no potable waters have been found at greater depths, 

 although borings have been extended to over 700 meters. 



The artesian well project involved drilling a battery of wells 

 at Molo, a few kilometers from Iloilo, large enough to furnish 

 sufficient water to supply the city. In some way it had come to 

 be generally believed that the artesian wells already completed 

 in that vicinity were gradually losing their salt content, and 

 that the improvement of the water was sufficient to justify its 

 development for a municipal supply. Just how this idea orig- 

 inated is not quite clear; perhaps it was due to the fact that 

 people quickly accustom themselves to surprisingly large 

 amounts of salt in drinking water and that their ability to detect 

 salt by its taste is correspondingly decreased. That the salt 

 content of the deep wells in Iloilo and its environs is not decreas- 

 ing, is clearly shown by the comparative data in Table I. 



Table I. — Chlorine content of artesian wells in Panay. 



[Numbers give parts per million.] 



Well No. 



Chlorine content by- 



Previous 



analyses 



(1905-1913). 



1 



Latest 



analyses 



(Nov.-Dec. 



1914). 



462 



792 

 695 

 797 

 866 

 831 

 1,520 

 1,791 

 726 

 867 

 275 

 356 

 390 



856 

 750 

 810 

 870 

 870 

 1,660 

 1,800 

 780 

 925 

 318 

 876 

 600 



471.... 



600 



511 - 



514 



530 ' 



B68 



428... 



Customhouse well No. 3 



490 



480 



680 





* Water Suppl. & Irrig. Papers, U. S. Geol. Surv. (1905), No. 151. 



