August, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



1 29 



WATER NOTES 

 Rain -Water Storage and Purification 



RAIN-WATER, especially when gathered 

 in the country, is fairly clean, points 

 out a recent writer, and if filtered and 

 stored in suitable receptacles is a great acquisi- 

 tion, more particularly for washing purposes. 

 It is best, whenever possible, to collect and 

 store the rain-water as near the roof as prac- 

 ticable, thus saving expensive pumping ma- 

 chines and underground drains and tanks. It 

 is needless to say that a large overflow is es- 

 sential to prevent flooding in time of heavy 

 storms. 



There are two means generally adopted for 

 removing many of the impurities, such as soot 

 and roof washings, from rain-water. The 

 separator, which allowed the first portion of 

 the water to run to waste and then by a rock- 

 ing motion passed the remainder to the stor- 

 age tanks, is effective, but, of course, there is 

 waste of water, which in a dry season was a 

 consideration; while a filter composed of 

 broken bricks, ballast and sand is most useful, 

 but needed occasional cleaning. Some favor 

 a small settling chamber divided from the filter 

 by a brick wall built with half a dozen courses, 

 dry at the bottom, giving upward filtration, 

 thus avoiding to a great extent choking of the 

 upper surface of the filter, as in the case of 

 downward filtration. All the tanks need an 

 overflow, but this should not be connected to 

 the soil drains. 



Destroying Algae in Water Supplies 



THE importance of maintaining all water 

 supplies at the highest degree of purity 

 and wholesomeness is too well recog- 

 nized to require discussion. The United States 

 Department of Agriculture has recently pub- 

 lished a bulletin dealing with this problem of 

 purifying water, and Messrs. G. T. Moore 

 and Karl F. Kellerman, in the summary of 

 their pamphlet, declare that the disagreeable 

 odors and tastes so often present in drinking 

 water are due almost exclusively to algae, al- 

 though the economic importance of studying 

 these plants has not been recognized until re- 

 cent years. These algal forms are widely dis- 

 tributed, and reservoirs are often rendered 

 unfit for use by their presence. The methods 

 now known for preventing the objectionable 

 odors and tastes have been found either too 

 costly or ineffectual. A new, cheap, harmless 

 and effective method was therefore required to 

 rid reservoirs of the pests, and it has been 

 found that copper sulphate in a dilution so 

 weak as to be colorless, tasteless and harmless 

 to man is sufficiently toxic to the algse to de- 

 stroy or prevent their appearance. The mode 

 of application makes this method applicable to 

 reservoirs of all kinds, pleasure ponds and 

 lakes, fish ponds, oyster beds, watercress beds, 

 etc. It is also probable that the method can 

 be used for destroying mosquito larvae. At 

 ordinary temperatures one part of copper sul- 

 phate to 100,000 parts of water destroys ty- 

 phoid and cholera germs in about three to four 

 hours. The ease with which the sulphate can 

 then be eliminated from the water seems to 

 offer a practical method of sterilizing large 

 bodies of water. Definite knowledge in re- 

 gard to what organisms are present, the con- 

 stitution of the water, its temperature, and 

 other important facts are necessary before it 

 is possible to determine the proper amount of 

 copper sulphate to be added. A microscopical 

 examination thus becomes as important as a 

 bacteriological or chemical analysis. No rule 

 for determining the amount of copper sulphate 

 to be added can be given. Each body of water 

 must be treated in the light of its special 

 conditions. 



MARSTON'S 



HAND AND FOOT POWER 



CIRCULAR SAW 



Iron Frame, 36 inches high. 



CENTRE PART OF TOP IS MADE OF IRON ACCURATELY PLANED, 



with grooves on each side of saw for gauges to slide in. 



Steel shafts and best Babbitt metal boxes 

 Gears are all macbine-cutfrom solid iron. 

 Two 7 inch saws and two crank handles with each machine. 



Boring table and side treadle. 

 Weight, complete. 350 lbs. 

 Send for catalogue. 



J. M. Marston & Co., 199 Ruggles St., Boston, Mass. 



MDNDN ROUTE 



I 



Four Trains Daily 



between Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and 

 the South, via Monon Route and C. H. & D. 



Two Trains Daily 



between Chicago, Louisville and West Baden 

 and French Lick Springs. 



Three Trains 



Chicago to LaFayette. 



Parlor Cars on Day Trains, Palace Sleeping 

 and Compartment Cars on Night Xrains. 



FRANK J. REED, 



Gen. Pass. Agt., 



CHICAGO. 



CHAS. H. ROCKWELL, 



Traffic Manager. 



