212 
ARTESIAN WELLS ON THE ATLANTIC COAST. 
[BULL. 138. 
with various persons. For the Charleston wells I have used the data 
which were published some years ago by the committee appointed by 
the city to prepare a report on the first deep well. 
Charleston. — Many attempts were made to obtain water by deep wells 
in and about Charleston, but they were practically unsuccessful until 
1879, when a large simply was found at a depth of from 1,940 to 1,970 
feet. The management of this well was placed in charge of a committee 
of scientific citizens, who prepared a report on its results, which is a | 
model as a thorough and comprehensive document. 1 The borings were 
carefully preserved and sent for examination to one of the foremost 
geologists of the world, and exhaustive chemical analyses and investi- 
gations were made of the waters of the well and of other wells, and of 
various materials from the borings, so that we have very complete 
scientific data for the Charleston well. The water obtained has a 
temperature of 99.5 °, but it is of excellent quality. The flow at 
about 4 feet above the surface, or 16 feet above mean low-tide level, 
was found to be 250 gallons a minute. 
In the earlier wells at Charleston water was found in considerable 
amount and fair degree of purity at GO feet, in the sand, under the 
stiff blue-clay stratum. In a well on Washington street, between Cal- 
houn and Inspection streets, which was bored over half a century ago, 
water was found in limestone marl at 109 feet. It flowed to the sur- 
face, and still continues to afford an undiminished stream of water. 
The well bored in 184G reached a depth of 1,260 feet, where water was 
found which rose to a level nearly 25 feet above the surface, but owing 
partly to the small bore of the casing it furnished a supply of only 
about 30 gallons a minute. The water was perceptibly saline, but it 
was extensively employed as a beverage. It contained 134.7 grains 
per gallon of solid matter, of which G3.3 grains were chloride of sodium. 
The water from the deeper well was analyzed by Dr. Robinson in 1879 
with the following result : 
Analysis of water from 1260-foot well at Charleston, S. C. 
Organic matter and water of crystallization. 
Carbonate of iron 
Sulphate of lime 
Sulphate of magnesia 
Chloride of magnesium 
Chloride of sodium 
Carbonate of soda 
Nitrate of soda 
Silicate of soda 
Silica 
Total 
Grains per 
gallon. 
1.73 
.34 
.44 
. 17 
.23 
11.40 
47. 2G 
. 55 
2.52 
.36 
1 Municipal report of the city of Charleston, S. C, 1881; Artesian Wells, Report 
of Scientific Committee [etc.], 61 pp., 1 plate. Charleston, 1882. 
