8 d 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OP CANADA. 



containing the sample of the Nelson River water were unfortunately 

 broken on the way to Montreal, when our boxes were violently tossed 

 about on a steamer during a gale of wind in Lake Huron. 



The Water Supply of the City of Winnipeg. 



City of 

 Winnipeg. 



Importance of 

 abetter supply 



Wells. 



Waters of the 

 Red and Assini- 

 boine rivers. 



Collecting of 

 samples. 



Dr. Baker 

 Edwards' 

 analyses. 



Probable 

 change in 

 composition. 



Owing to the ra^^id growth of the city of AVinnipeg, which already 

 contains a large population, the question of providing it with a cheaper, 

 and, if possible, a better supply of water than that aitbrded by the 

 present primitive and inadequate method has become a matter of great 

 importance. The waters derived from the wells sunk in the stratified 

 clay in and around the city, although clear and sparkling, are not 

 always pleasant to the taste, and they are evidently too highly charged 

 with mineral salts to be desirable for domestic use. Besides these 

 objections, the quantity which might be obtained from such wells 

 would, no doubt, prove quite inadequate for the wants of a large town. 

 The water of either the Eed or Assiniboine Eiver is fairly good, and 

 as these streams afford the most convenient sources from which to 

 draw an unlimited supply, any information as to the nature of their 

 respective waters will be of interest at the present time. Dr. Edwards' 

 analyses, to which I have referred, were made in June and July, 18794 

 The samples were collected by myself on the 18th of October, 18Y3 — 

 that of the Assiniboine at Fort Garry Ferry, and that of Eed Eiver a 

 few miles above the confluence of the two rivers. In each case the 

 samples were taken from the centre of the stream. They were pre- 

 served in hard glass bottles, at a pretty uniform temperature, in a 

 cellar in Montreal until required for analysis. Having been kept for 

 such a length of time, a portion of the organic matter has most likely 

 been lost, but the mineral constituents have probably not been affected 

 to any practical extent. Before the analyses were undertaken the 

 greater part of the suspended impurities had settled to the bottom, and 

 the decanted water, being almost clear, was not filtered. The quantities 

 operated upon were smaller than would have been desirable, but owing 

 to Dr. Edwards' skill, and his experience as a water analyst, I have no 

 doubt his figures represent very nearly the composition of the respec- 

 tive rivers at the above date. The samples handed to Messrs. Hoffmann 

 and Adams, and which were collected in the corresponding period in 

 the month of October (1879), were taken from each river at a short 

 distance above its junction with the other. It may be expected that 

 some change has taken place in the composition of these waters in the 

 interval of six years, owing to various causes, among which may be 

 mentioned the dredging by the United States authorities of the bottom 

 of the Eed Eiver throughout a considerable part of its course, to the 



