Chapter V: Part 5

2. SPRING WATER. Rain water, when it falls on high grounds, enters the soil and filtrates through it, until it is stopped by some natural obstacle, when it pushes upwards, and welling out upon the surface, forms springs; the water is therefore merely a modification of rain water. During its passage, however, it almost always takes up some soluble matters, which of course vary according to the nature of the soil. It is purest when it passes through sand or gravel; in a limestone region, it always contains more or less of the sulphate and carbonate of lime, and it generally contains a trace of common salt, and the usual proportions of air and carbonic acid gas. The presence of these is detected by subacetate of lead, which displays the smallest portion of carbonic acid or a carbonate, and nitrate of silver, which detects the muriates by the formation of muriate of silver.

Water from melted _ice_ is perfectly wholesome, and is drunk during the summer season, wherever the climate will admit of its being collected and preserved at a moderate expense. In this form, it is a luxury--almost a _necessary_--in the middle states of this country more particularly, “where,” Dr. Dunglison remarks, “there is not a tavern on the road, on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, that does not furnish ice to the traveller in any abundance.” When sea-water freezes, the ice does not contain the salts. Consequently, when melted, it affords fresh water, and according to the voyagers in high northern and southern latitudes, the water has been found sweet, soft, and wholesome.

_River Water._ This is a mixture of rain and spring water, and when deprived of the matters which it frequently holds in suspension, is generally of considerable purity. Mountain streams, which generally issue from siliceous rocks, and run over stony or pebbly beds, are, for the most part, comparatively pure and soft. The river water of New-England, and the other hilly portions of the United States, is usually of this description, though in the time of floods, and after heavy rains, they contain much sedimentary matter. River water gradually deposits much of its earthy salts as it flows, and becomes purer by exposure; it therefore generally contains less calcareous matter than spring water; its specific gravity is less, and its taste more vapid. It, however, more or less partakes of the nature of the soil over which it flows; consequently some rivers, whose waters were pure and excellent at their source, lose these properties before they mingle with the sea. The water of the Thames, for example, in England, which is originally very soft and pure, becomes so loaded with animal and vegetable matter from the towns and villages on its banks, that after being kept a month or two in a closed cask, on opening it, a quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, of the most offensive odor escapes, and the water is so black and nauseous as to be unfit for use. But on racking it off, it clears, depositing a quantity of slimy mud, and becomes remarkably clear, sweet and palatable. As the matters deposited in such rivers are merely mingled with the body of the water, which is too large, and too changing, to admit of any permanent taint from solution, filtration, or even the natural deposition of the ingredients fits them for every domestic and medicinal purpose.

* * * * *

The following Table shows the solid contents of the Thames water[9] London, and of the Croton water[10] in the city of New-York.

+-----------------------+-----------------------++----------------------+ | | THAMES WATER. || CROTON WATER. | | +------------+----------++---------+------------+ | QUANTITY OF WATER. |_Brentford._|_Chelsea._|| At its | In the | | 1 Gallon = 10 lbs. | Source of | Source || source, | City of | | Avoirdupois, at | the Grand | of the || _Croton | _New-York_ | | 62° Fah., or 70, grs. | Junction | Chelsea || Lake._ | as it | | Avoirdupois. |Water Works | Water || |issues from | | | Company. | Works || | the pipes. | | | | Company. || | | +-----------------------+------------+----------++---------+------------+ | | Grains. | Grains. || Grains. | Grains. | |Carbonate of Lime, | 16·000 | 16·500 || 1·42 | 1·52 | |Sulphate of Lime, } | | || ·00 | ·44 | |Chloride of Sodium, } | 3·400 | 2·900 || | | |Oxide of Iron, } | | || | | |Silica, } | very | || | | |Magnesia, } | minute | Ditto. || ·34 | ·46 | |Carbonaceous Matter, } | portions. | || | | |Chloride of Magnesium,}| | || ·86 | ·90 | |Chloride of Calcium, }| | || | | |Carbonate of Magnesia, | | || ·70 | ·84 | | | | || | | |Solid matter held in | | || | | | solution, | 19·400 | 19·400 || 2·98 | 3·70 | |Mechanical impurity, | 0·368 | 0·238 || ·34 | ·46 | | +------------+----------++---------+------------+ |Total solid matter, | 19·768 | 19·638 || 3·32 | 4·16 | +-----------------------+------------+----------++---------+------------+

Analysis of the Croton and Schuylkill waters, by J. C. Booth, Professor of Chemistry to the Franklin Institute of Pennsylvania, and H. M. Boye, of Philadelphia.

_Croton Water._ _Schuylkill Water._ In 100 gr. in 1 In 100 gr. in 1 parts gall. parts gall. Carbonate of Lime, 45.86 2.293 53.67 2.190 Carbonate of Magnesia, 18.78 .939 11.87 0.484 Alkaline Carbonates, 16.57 .828 4.53 0.185 Alkaline Chlorides, 3.87 .193 3.75 0.153 Oxide of Iron, 2.21 .110 Silica, 7.18 .359 9.68 0.395 Organic Matter, 5.53 .276 0.88 0.036 ------ ----- Parts, 100.00 grs. 4.998

Alumina and Oxide of Iron, 1.88 0.077
Alkaline Sulphates, 13.74 0.560
----- -----
Parts, 100 grs. 4.080

The Croton water was taken from the Croton dam, and when perfectly clear was found, as appears by the above analysis to contain 4.998, or about _five_ grains of solid matter to the gallon. The Schuylkill water was taken from the middle basin on Fair Mount, and contained 4.08 grains of solid matter to the gallon. The Croton differs from the Schuylkill water in containing a larger amount of the alkaline carbonates, and of the carbonate of magnesia, while it contains less carbonate of lime, and is entirely destitute of the alkaline sulphates, of which the Schuylkill contains 13.74 parts in 100 of the total solid matters, though amounting to only one half a grain to the gallon.

It appears from the above table, that the amount of impurities contained in the Thames water, exceeds those of the Croton by nearly six fold, and that the quantity of lime, held in solution in the former, surpasses that of the latter, about fifteen times. The Thames water differs also from the Croton, in the circumstance that it contains an appreciable quantity of chloride of sodium, or common salt of which the Croton is entirely free. There are but very few streams to be found, whose waters contain less than 4.16 grains of solid matter to the gallon. The carbonate of lime is held in solution by carbonic acid, forming bicarbonate of lime. By boiling, this acid is expelled, and the carbonate of lime is precipitated on the sides of the vessel, constituting the _fur_ of the tea-kettle, and the _crust_ of boilers. River water always contains a quarter or less quantity of organic matter in suspension or solution. As a general rule, the quantity is too small to produce any decidedly injurious effect, but physicians and medical writers agree in the opinion that water impregnated with it to any great extent must be deleterious. Where the quantity of decomposing matter is too small to produce any immediately obvious effects, it is difficult to procure any decisive evidence of its influence on the system. When the amount is considerable, it causes dysentery and fevers, often of a highly fatal character. In a trial at Nottingham, England, in 1836, it was proved that dysentery of an aggravated form, was caused in cattle by the use of water contaminated with putrescent vegetable matter, produced by the refuse of a starch manufactory. The fish, (perch, pike, roach, dace, &c.,) and frogs in the pond, through which the brook ran, were destroyed, and all the animals which drank of the water became seriously ill, and many of them died with the symptoms of dysentery. It was, moreover, shown, that the animals sometimes refused to drink the water, that the mortality was in proportion to the quantity of starch made at different times; and that subsequently, when the putrescent matter was not allowed to pass into the brook, but was conveyed to a river at some distance, the fish and frogs began to return, and the mortality ceased among the cattle. There are many instances on record where troops have sickened and many died of putrid fever and dysentery, from drinking the water of stagnant pools and ditches or of rivers, as of the river Lee, near Cork, (Ireland,) which, in passing through the city, receives the contents of the sewers from the houses, and is otherwise unwholesome.

The organic matter contained in river water consists chiefly of the exuviæ of animal and vegetable substances, but another class of impurities consists of living beings, (animals and vegetables.) The aquatic animals, which have, from time to time, been exhibited in this city by means of the solar microscope, are collected in stagnant pools, and are not found in river or well water. The quantity of organic matter contained in the Croton must be extremely small, as this, together with the silex, iron, and magnesia, amount to only 4/10ths of one grain to the gallon.

WELL WATER,--or _pump_ water, as it is often called in cities, is essentially the same as spring water, but liable to impregnation, owing to the land springs filtering through the walls, and conveying impurities into it. This is sometimes prevented by lining them with cast-iron cylinders, or by bricks laid in water-cement. Dr. Percival affirms, that bricks harden the softest water, and give it an aluminous impregnation. The old wells must, therefore, furnish much purer water than the more recent, as the soluble particles are gradually washed away. It contains a greater proportion of earthy salts, and of air, and has a greater specific gravity than other spring waters. Owing to the fact, that it contains a larger quantity of bicarbonate and sulphate of lime, than river water, it decomposes and curdles soap, and is then denominated _hard water_, to distinguish it from those waters which mix with soap, and are therefore called _soft waters_. The reason that hard water does not form a pure opaline solution with soap, is, because the lime of the calcareous salts, chiefly the _sulphate_, forms an insoluble compound with the margaric and oleic acids of the soap. Here a double decomposition ensues, the sulphuric acid unites with the alkali of the soap, setting free the fatty acids, which unite with the lime to form an insoluble earthy soap. Hard water is a less perfect solvent of organic matter than soft water; hence in the preparation of infusions and decoctions, and for many economical purposes, as making tea and coffee, and brewing, it is much inferior to soft water, and for the same reasons it is improper as a drink in dyspeptic affections, causing irritation, and a sensation of weight in the stomach. The abundance of this earthy salt in the water of Paris, and London, of many parts of Switzerland and this country, cause uncomfortable feelings in strangers who visit these places. It is also said to produce calculous complaints in the inhabitants, a result which might be expected, owing to the low solvent power of the water not being sufficient to carry off the animal acid, which concretes in the kidneys to form calculi.[11] Well water can be easily freed from these earthy salts; boiling precipitates the carbonate of lime by driving off the carbonic acid which holds it in solution; and the addition of a little carbonate of soda precipitates the lime, if any exist in the water. Many persons prefer the taste of hard water to that of soft, and a change from one to the other, frequently causes a derangement of the digestive organs. The briskness, and rapidity of this and other water is owing to the air, and carbonic acid mixed with it. The air contained in water, has a larger proportion of oxygen than atmospheric air, and hence it is better adapted for the respiration of animals.

The water procured from wells in the city of New-York, has gradually been growing more and more impure, as the city has increased in size, until a very large proportion of it, is entirely unfit for culinary and dietetic purposes. That in the lower part of the city, has always been, more or less, brackish, owing to the percolation of the salt water from the north and east rivers through the loose sandy soil, thus giving them a distinct saline impregnation. The amount of impurities contained in these waters, varies, therefore, in different parts of the city, according to its elevation, and the denseness of the population. A gallon of water from the well belonging to the Manhattan Company in Reade-street, yielded 125 grains of solid matter; while the same quantity of water, from their well in Bleecker-street, yielded 20 grains, and in 13th street, 14 grains. A gallon of water taken from four of the city wells in the densely populated parts of the city yielded on an average, 58 grains each of solid matter.

The supply also of well water has been gradually diminishing in this city for the last several years. For example, at the Chemical Works on the North River, at 33d street, and at an extensive distillery on the East River, some distance above the Alms House, water cannot be procured in sufficient quantities on their premises, where, but a few years past, it was obtained in great abundance. At the Gas Works on the Collect grounds, where they have a well 20 feet in depth, by 18 feet in diameter, which, until 1834, furnished water freely, enabling the engine to raise 20,000 gallons in ten hours, in 1835 it required 14 to 16 hours to raise the same quantity, and in order to continue the supply, it was found necessary to return the water to the well, after using it for condensing the gas. The Corporation well, also, in 13th street, furnished, for several years, about 120,000 gallons of water daily, but in 1835, this quantity was reduced down to from five to ten thousand. In order to remedy this evil, a well was sunk at Jefferson Market, which in a short time deprived most of the wells in that vicinity, of water; thus drying up one source of supply, in order to increase that of another. There is, therefore, every probability that had not water been introduced into the city of New-York from abroad, the supply from the wells would, in a few years, have been insufficient for the economical, domestic and manufacturing purposes of the inhabitants. It is fearful to contemplate the amount of decomposing organic matter contained in the wells in the vicinity of Trinity, St. Paul’s, and St. John’s burying grounds, which for more than a century furnished the only water used by those residing in their neighborhood. No one can doubt that the use of such water, as well as that from the wells on the Collect, and over the greater portion of the city below Canal-street, must have proved extremely detrimental to the health of the citizens, and especially to children, and infants. We believe, therefore that the introduction of the Croton water, will increase the average duration of human life in the city of New-York, from 8 to 12 per cent. From 1815 to 1836, it ranged from 30.08 to 22.05, (in 1836), but the mean duration of life for the last 20 years is about 25 years; and the ratio of mortality, according to population, about as 1 to 35. From the manner, however, in which the inspector’s reports have been made, from the imperfection of the law, no great confidence can be placed in the returns,--those carried out of the city for burial, not having been included.

From a “Report on the subject of introducing pure and wholesome water into the city of Boston, by L. Baldwin, Esq., Civil Engineer,” it appears that the whole number of wells in that city in 1835, was 2,767. The water from 2,085 of these wells was drinkable, though brackish and hard, and 682 of them were bad and unfit for use. There were only seven of the city wells which yielded soft water occasionally and for washing, and from 33 of them the water was obtained by deep boring. “Within a few years,” says the Report, “it has become common in Boston, and the vicinity, to bore for water, and to make what are called Artesian wells. But no certain or valuable result has grown out of these endeavors. There are 33 bored wells, only two of which are stated as furnishing soft water. The same remarks will apply to the public wells of this city, the most of which produce nothing but hard and brackish water, and none of which is sufficiently soft to authorize its use in washing clothes,” &c.

LAKE WATER is a collection of rain, spring and river water, usually more or less contaminated with putrefying organic matter. It is generally _soft_, and when filtered, is as good and wholesome as any other description of waters. Though lake water cannot be characterized as having any invariable qualities; yet most of the Lakes of the United States, especially our great ones, afford a very pure water. In many of our smaller lakes the water is more or less stagnant, and of course very unhealthy.

_Marsh Water._ This is analogous to lake water, except that it is altogether stagnant and is more loaded with putrescent matter. The sulphates in sea and other waters are decomposed by putrefying vegetable matter, with the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen; hence the intolerable stench from marshy and swampy grounds liable to occasional inundations from the sea. Marsh water cannot be drunk with safety either by man or beast.

_Tests of the usual impurities in Common Water._

The following are the tests by which the presence of the ordinary constituents or impurities of common waters may be ascertained.

1. EBULLITION.--By boiling, air and carbonic acid gas are expelled, while carbonate of lime, (which has been held in solution by the carbonic acid) is deposited. The latter constitutes the crust which lines tea-kettles and boilers.

2. PROTOSULPHATE OF IRON. If a crystal of this salt be introduced into a phial filled with the water to be examined, and the phial be well corked, a yellowish-brown precipitate (sesquioxide of iron) will be deposited in a few days, if oxygen gas be contained in the water.

3. LITMUS. Infusion of litmus or syrup of violets is reddened by a free acid.

4. LIME WATER. This is a test for carbonic acid, with which it causes a white precipitate (carbonate of lime) if employed before the water is boiled.

5. CHLORIDE OF BARIUM. A solution of this salt usually yields, with well water, a white precipitate insoluble in nitric acid. This indicates the presence of sulphuric acid (which, in common water, is combined with lime).

6. OXALATE OF AMMONIA. If this salt yield a white precipitate, it indicates the presence of lime, (carbonate and sulphate.)

7. NITRATE OF SILVER. If this occasion a precipitate insoluble in nitric acid, the presence of chlorine may be inferred.

8. PHOSPHATE OF SODA. If the lime contained in common water be removed by ebullition and oxalic acid, and to the strained and transparent water, ammonia and phosphate of soda be added, any magnesia present will, in the course of a few hours, be precipitated in the form of the white ammoniacal phosphate of magnesia.

9. TINCTURE OF GALLS. This is used as a test for Iron, with solutions of which it forms an inky liquor, (tannate and gallate of iron). If the test produce this effect on the water before, but not after boiling, the iron is in the state of carbonate; if after, as well as before, in that of sulphate. Tea may be substituted for galls, to which its effects and indications are similar. _Ferro cyanide of potassium_ yields, with solutions of the sesqui-salts of iron, a blue precipitate, and with the proto-salts a white precipitate, which becomes blue by exposure to the air.

10. HYDROSULPHURIC ACID. (_Sulphuretted Hydrogen._) This yields a dark (brown or black) precipitate, (a metallic sulphuret) with water containing iron or lead in solution.

11. EVAPORATION AND IGNITION. If the water be evaporated to dryness, and ignited in a glass tube, the presence of organic matter may be inferred by the odor and smoke evolved, as well as by the charring. Another mode of detecting organic matter is by adding nitrate (or acetate) of lead to the inspected water, and collecting and igniting the precipitate; when globules of metallic lead are obtained if organic matter be present. The putrefaction of water is another proof of the presence of this matter. Nitrate of silver is the best test for the presence of chloride of soda or common salt. By adding a small quantity of this to the common well water of New-York, a copious, white, flocculent precipitate is immediately formed, which is the chloride of soda. The same test, however, applied to the Croton water, produces no discoloration whatever.

_Purification of Common water._ By _filtration_, water may be deprived of living beings and of all suspended impurities; but substances held in solution, cannot thus be separated. _Ebullition_ destroys the vitality of both animals and vegetables; expels air, or carbonic acid, and causes the precipitation of carbonate of lime, but the water should be afterwards subjected to the process of _filtration_. _Distillation_, when properly conducted is the most effectual method of purifying water. But distilled water is in general contaminated by traces of organic matter. The addition of chemical agents is another mode which has been proposed and practised, for freeing water from some of its impurities. _Alum_ is often used by the common people to cleanse muddy water, and ashes and pearl-ash to destroy its hardness. When alum is used, two or three grains are sufficient for a quart of water. The alum decomposes the carbonate of lime; sulphate of lime is formed in solution, and the alumina precipitates in flocks, carrying with it mechanical impurities. This agent, however, adds nothing to the chemical purity of the water, but by converting the carbonate into sulphate of lime augments its hardness. _Caustic alkalies_ added to lime saturate the excess of carbonic acid, and throw down the carbonate of lime, having an alkaline carbonate in solution. Professor Clark of Aberdeen,[12] (Scotland) has recently patented a plan for the purification of water, by the addition of lime. The lime unites with the excess of carbonic acid in the water, and forms carbonate of lime (chalk) which precipitates, along with the carbonate of lime held previously in solution in the water. The effect of this process is similar to that of ebullition,--as the hardness of water is, however, owing to the sulphate and not the carbonate of lime,[13] this plan can have little or no influence in rendering hard water soft. Alkaline carbonates soften water, decompose all the earthy salts (calcareous and magnesian carbonates, sulphates, and chlorides) and precipitate the earthy matters. They leave, however, in solution, an alkaline salt, but which does not communicate to water the property of hardness.

SEA-WATER includes the waters of the ocean and of those lakes, called island seas, which possess a similar composition. The Dead Sea, however, varies so much from ordinary sea-water, as to rank amongst mineral waters.

The quantity of solid matter varies considerably in the waters of different seas, as the following statement proves--

_10,000 parts of water of_ _Solid constituents._
_the Mediterranean Sea_, contain 410 grs.
English Channel, 380 „
{ At the Island of Fohe, 345 „
German Ocean { At the Island of Norderney, 342 „
{ In the Frith of Forth, 312 „
{ At Ritzebuttle, 312 „
At Apemalle, in Sleswick, 216 „
At Kiel, in Holstein, 200 „
Baltic Sea At Doberan, in Mecklenbergh, 168 „
At Travemunæ, 167 „
At Zoppot, in Mecklenbergh, 76 „
At Carshamm, 66 „

The average quantity of saline matter in sea-water is 3½ per cent., and its specific gravity about 1.0274. The composition of sea-water differs also in different localities. Iodine has been found in the Mediterranean sea.

_Action of Water on Lead._ When lead is exposed to atmospheric air, the oxygen of the air combining with it, forms an oxide, while, at the same time the carbonic acid of the air, unites with it forming a thin white crust, which is the _carbonate of lead_. This formation is accelerated by moisture, and by the presence of an unusual quantity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere. The same process goes on with still greater rapidity in pure running water. But if water be deprived of all its gases by ebullition, and excluded from contact with the air, the lead will not be acted upon If water, however, be exposed to the air, although all the gases have been expelled, a white powder will soon form around the lead, till, in the course of a few days, there is formed a large quantity of white, pearly scales, which partly float in the water, but are chiefly deposited on the bottom of the vessel. In 12 ounces of distilled water, contained in a shallow glass basin, loosely covered to exclude the dust, twelve brightly polished lead rods weighing 340 grains, will lose 2½ grains in 8 days, and the lead will show evident marks of corrosion; and this action will go on as long as the water is exposed to the air. While these changes are going on, a small quantity of lead will be dissolved, as may be shown by carefully filtering the water acidulating with a drop or two of nitric acid, and evaporating to dryness. Sulphuretted hydrogen is also a good test, occasioning, where lead is present, first a brown color, and subsequently a black precipitate. Christison has proved that the lead which is dissolved, is in the form of the carbonate, and hydrate of the oxide, or, oxide of lead, carbonic acid and water.

The fact is then sufficiently established, that distilled water has the property of dissolving lead--Does the same hold true in relation to waters in ordinary use? In the year 1809, it was first announced by _Guyton Morveau_, that the salts which are held in solution by some natural waters, destroy their property of acting on lead, and that of these modifying circumstances none are more remarkable in their action than the neutral salts. Dr. Christison has pursued this investigation with great success, and has proved that this preservative power exists in the case of sulphates, muriates, carbonates, hydriodates, phosphates, nitrates, acetates, tartrates, arseniates, &c. These salts, however, do not possess an equally protective influence, the carbonates and sulphates being most, the chlorides the least energetic of those saline substances commonly met with in waters. As a general rule, it appears that those whose acid forms with the lead a soluble salt of lead, are the least energetic; while those whose acid forms an insoluble salt of lead, are most energetic. The variable quantity of salts necessary to prevent the action of water on lead, may be seen from the following results obtained by actual experiment.

Of acetate of soda a 100th part of the water is a preservative.
Of arseniate of soda 12,000th „ „ „
Of phosphate of soda 30,000th „ „ „
Of hydriodate of potash 30,000th „ „ „
Of muriate of soda 2,000th „ „ „
Of sulphate of lime 4,000th „ „ „
Of nitrate of potash 100th „ „ „

The sulphates of soda, magnesia, lime, and the triple sulphate of alumina and potash, possess about the same preservative power; which appears to depend on the acid, not on the base of the salt. The general results of Dr. Christison’s investigations, appear to be, that neutral salts in various, and for the most part minute, proportions, retard or prevent the corrosive action of water on lead--allowing the carbonate to deposit itself slowly, and to adhere with such firmness to the lead as not to be afterwards removed by moderate agitation,--adding subsequently to this crust other insoluble salts of lead, the acids of which are derived from the neutral salts in solution,--and thus at length forming a permanent and impermeable screen in the form of a film over its surface, through which the action of the water cannot any longer be carried on. These films are composed of the carbonate of lead, with a little of the muriate, sulphate, arseniate, or phosphate of lead, according to the nature of the acid in the alkaline salt, which is dissolved in the water. The following general conclusions may therefore be considered as sufficiently established.

1. Lead pipes ought not to be used for the purpose of conducting water, at least where the distance is considerable, without a careful examination of the water to be transmitted.

2. The risk of a dangerous impregnation with lead is greatest in the instance of the purest waters.

3. Water, which tarnishes polished lead when left at rest upon it in a glass vessel for a few hours, cannot safely be transmitted through lead-pipes without certain precautions; and conversely, it is probable, that if lead remain untarnished, or nearly so, for 24 hours in a glass of water, the water may be safely conducted through lead-pipes.

4. Water which contains less than about an 8000th of salts in solution, can not be safely conducted in lead pipes without certain precautions.

5. Even this proportion will prove insufficient to prevent corrosion, unless a considerable part of the saline matter consists of carbonates and sulphates, especially the former.

6. So large a proportion as a 4000th part, probably even a considerably larger proportion, will be insufficient, if the salts in solution be in a great measure muriates.

7. In all cases careful examination should be made of the water after it has been running a few days through the pipes; for it is not improbable that other circumstances, besides those hitherto ascertained, may regulate the preventive influence of the neutral salts.

8. Where the water is of sufficient purity to act on lead, a remedy may be found, either, in leaving the pipes full of water and at rest for three or four months, or by solution of phosphate of soda; in the proportion of about a 25,600th part.[14]

Dr. Kane, however, seems to differ from Dr. Christison in opinion on this subject; for after having mentioned the crust which gradually forms on the interior of the cistern, and assists in protecting it from the oxidizing action of the air, he remarks, “no danger is therefore to be apprehended from the supply of water to a city being conveyed through leaden pipes, and preserved in leaden cisterns; for _all water of mineral origin dissolves, in filtering through the layers of rocks in its passage to the surface_, a sufficiency of saline matters to serve for its protection.”

Now, to apply these results to the water of the Croton; as this holds in solution only about one 18,000th part of salts, it must, according to Christison, exert a corroding influence on the lead-pipes. Dr. Dana, of Lowell, has lately investigated this subject and detected lead in the water which had passed through the leaden-pipes for the distribution of water in the city of Lowell. The first examination was made from a sample of water taken from the source or spring-head before it had entered the leaden pipes, when the specific gravity was found to be 1,000,18. The pint, on evaporation to dryness, yielded 2.37 grains of solid matter. The solid contents of an imperial pint were found to be,

_Grains._
Chloride of Sodium, 1.54
Chloride of Magnesia, 0.71
Sulphate of Lime, 0.128
------
A trace of Carbonic acid,
Grains, 2.378
Excess in the course of analysis .008

The second examination was made of water taken from the leaden pipes when the specific gravity was found to be 1.000.42. Upon a pint of this water being evaporated to dryness it yielded two grains of solid matter, (viz.)

Carbonate of lead 164 Grains,
Organic matter and salts 038 „
---
202 „
Excess in analysis, 002 „

It therefore has been calculated that every gallon of the water used after passing through the leaden pipes, contains 1.312 grains of the carbonate of lead. Such water, although it would not speedily destroy life, would undoubtedly be attended with injurious consequences, should its use be habitually continued.

On the other hand, Dr. Hare of Philadelphia, in reply to a letter requesting his opinion as to the action of the Schuylkill water[15] on lead pipes, states that after using the Schuylkill water for 25 years in his laboratory, he has never perceived the slightest indication of the presence of lead; and that if there had been any in the water, the re-agents which he has been accustomed to use must have rendered the impurity evident. If it be true that the Schuylkill water does not act upon the lead pipes, it would follow as a matter of course, if the doctrines above laid down be correct, that the Croton, which contains very nearly the same quantity of saline ingredients, would also exert no influence upon this metal. In cases, however, where injurious consequences have resulted from the agency of lead, the pipes through which the water was conducted, were of considerable length; suppose for example that the pipes are 4000 feet long, and three fourths of an inch in diameter, each portion of water will pass successively over no less than 784 square feet of lead before being discharged; and it would not therefore be at all remarkable, if the water were found contaminated with the lead. In this city, however, the pipes are rarely more than 50 feet in length, generally not more than 25, and therefore cannot exert so deleterious an influence as in those of greater extent. Dr. Chilton, recently inspected the Croton water drawn from the leaden pipes, by which it is introduced into the house of Mr. G. D. Coggeshall. No 421 Pearl-street in this city, and found the water evidently affected by the lead. He has also obtained similar results in several other instances. If the precaution be used, of not employing the water first drawn from the pipes for dietetic and culinary purposes, no injurious consequences would probably attend the use of water conveyed in this metal, but as this is not likely to be attended to generally, it is expedient to employ other measures to guard against its deleterious effects.

For this purpose, various means have been suggested, such as the substitution of block-tin and other metals not acted upon by water; but the most efficient, scientific, and useful, as well as the most economical, of all the plans hitherto proposed, is that introduced by Thomas Ewbank, Esq., of coating the lead-pipes with tin both inside and out. The process, which has been patented, consists simply in drawing an ordinary lead-pipe through a bath of melted tin, coated with a layer of melted rosin, which leaves a continuous deposit, of tin upon both sides of the pipe, of sufficient thickness, to effectually prevent any oxidation of the lead. These pipes have been highly recommended by our first chemists, and other men of science, as furnishing an effectual safeguard against the corroding effects of pure water This highly ingenious process, strengthens the pipe, without diminishing its elasticity, and although some small portions of the lead should escape being coated, yet the proximity of the tin, will, from galvanic action, probably prevent oxidization of the lead. As these pipes are furnished at about eight cents per pound, the usual price of ordinary lead-pipe, there can be no doubt that they will be generally adopted by our citizens,--as they have been, already, by the Corporation, in the conveyance of the Croton water, into the public buildings.

_Use of Water as Aliment._ Water is the beverage provided by nature for all animated beings. It is a vital stimulus, or one of the external conditions essential for the manifestations of life. Consequently, without it, life, at least in the higher order of animals, could not be maintained.

Considered in a dietetical point of view, water serves three important purposes in the animal economy; namely, it repairs the loss of the aqueous part of the blood, caused by the action of the secreting and exhaling organs; secondly, it is a solvent of various alimentary substances, and therefore assists the stomach in the act of digestion, though, if taken in very large quantities, it may have an opposite effect, by diluting the gastric juice; thirdly, it is a nutritive agent, that is, it assists in the formation of the solid parts of the body.

_As a diluent_, water is indispensable to the preservation of health. The body being composed of solids and fluids, there must be maintained a certain relative proportion of these, to constitute that state of system called health. In a full grown adult, the solid matter of the body, by which we mean all that substantial part of the frame which is not in constant motion in the vessels, amounts to only about one fifth of the weight of the body--Chaussier says, one ninth of the total weight, the difference, perhaps, being owing to the fact that there is a quantity of fluid combined with the solids in so intimate a manner, as almost to constitute a part of their substance. The diminution of the fluid part of the body, is the cause of an uneasy sensation, indicating the necessity of repairing the waste of fluids, which we familiarly call _thirst_. This is a sensation connected with some natural state of the corporeal functions, and altogether independent of the occasional excitement of foreign bodies, although it may be induced by these. There is a demand for a certain supply of liquid which is the result of repletion of the stomach, and the cause of our drinking at our ordinary meals, but this is different from true or spontaneous thirst. True thirst occurs, when we have been some time without taking drink, (unless the food has consisted mainly of fruits and other succulent vegetables; under which circumstances, a person may go for months without any desire for drink); when the system has been greatly excited, whether by corporeal or mental causes; when acid substances, particularly saline bodies, have been taken into the stomach; and, in short, in every condition of the system, which favors the inordinate excretion of fluids. The immediate cause of thirst appears to be a dry state of the mouth and fauces; owing to the mucus which covers these parts becoming thick and viscid, though physiologists are not agreed on this point. This may arise from the absorption of the fluid parts of the saliva; for it appears to be necessary for the due performance of the functions of the palate and the tongue, that the mucus should possess a certain degree of liquidity. The sensation of thirst is generally indicative of the necessity of a supply of fluid to the system generally; for although thirst may be momentarily assuaged by wetting the mouth, or holding a thin fluid in it--yet it can only be effectually relieved by conveying into the stomach a quantity of fluid sufficient to supply the deficiency. This supply is termed _dilution_, from the fact that the fluid is absorbed and carried into the blood, which it renders thin, and the fluids themselves are called _diluents_.

Thirst, however, does not always indicate a deficiency of fluids in the circulating mass, and the tongue and fauces are occasionally dry and harsh whilst the sensation of thirst is absent. Some individuals never experience the sensation of thirst. Mr. Alcott, who lives entirely on succulent vegetables, states that he has drunk no fluids for more than a year past, and that he never experiences the sensation of thirst--a similar case is mentioned by Sauvages, of an individual who never thirsted, and passed whole months of the hottest weather without drinking. It is well known that many warm-blooded animals such as mice, quails, parrots, rabbits, &c., drink but very little; which is supposed to be owing to the circumstance that they have very large salivary glands, and a larger pancreas in proportion to the size of their bodies. In general, as we have already remarked, thirst is indicative of diminished fluidity of the blood and when it is not assuaged by taking liquids into the stomach, or by moistening the mouth with them, or by applying them to the surface, the torment which it induces amounts occasionally almost to phrenzy, and is borne with less patience and greater difficulty than hunger; sometimes inflammation of the mouth and throat and intense fever supervene. Various circumstances connected with the ordinary condition of the body influence the sensation of thirst. Thus it is greater in infancy and childhood than in adult age, and less in old age; it is greater in women than in men; it is varied by constitution and temperament; by climate; season; the nature of the diet; exercise; passions of mind, and even by imagination. As an _aliment_, water is of prime necessity to all organized beings. As a solvent, it reduces to a fluid mass all the principles necessary for the growth of animal and vegetable bodies; which must be in a fluid form, before they can be taken up by the fine lacteal and other absorbent vessels, and thus carried to every part of the living tissue. How important then, that this universal solvent should be pure,--that it should be free from those foreign ingredients, whether of animal, vegetable or mineral origin, which, if introduced into the system, tend to disturb the functions of the various organs, and often to occasion serious derangement and disease. But besides its important office as a _menstruum_, water is perhaps the most important _nutrient_, of all those which sustain the existence of organized bodies. A great proportion of that which is drunk, is speedily absorbed by the veins, and carried into the circulation, some time before the product of the digested food is introduced by the way of the laeteals. There are numerous cases on record, where persons have lived, for a considerable length of time, on water alone. In the “Transactions of the Albany Institute,” for 1830, Dr. M’Naughten relates the case of a man who was sustained on water alone, for 53 days. “For the first six weeks he walked out every day, and sometimes spent a great part of the day in the woods. His walk was steady and firm, and his friends even remarked that his step had an unusual elasticity; he shaved himself until about a week before his death, and was able to sit up in bed till the last day.”

To the evils which result from the use of impure water, we have already alluded, although it would require far more space than has been assigned to us in this Appendix, to do them adequate justice. There can be no doubt, that the chief cause of the excess of mortality in cities, over that of the country, is to be found in the impure water, with which the former are so generally supplied, and we may confidently predict, that in consequence mainly of the introduction of the Croton River into the City of New-York, no city in the world of equal size, will surpass it in salubrity. To the operation of the same cause, we may doubtless look with confidence for a decided improvement in personal comeliness and beauty. “It is evident,” says Dr Jackson, “that the health of a whole community may be so affected by impurities in water drank by them, as to give a peculiar morbid expression to their countenances which causes the observant eye of a traveller to remark it, while he in vain endeavours to account for the phenomenon. Who has not remarked the expression common in some of our cities, as in New-York and Boston, which is called a “care worn and anxious expression.” This expression I will venture to assert, is not so much the result of “too much care,” as it is of abdominal disease, produced by the habitual and continued use of impure and unwholesome water, which has fixed upon us this morbid stamp. I do not know that the people of the cities in question, are subject to more care than those in other districts, but I do know that they use every day, in many forms, a variety of noxous ingredients, which they pump up from their wells, dissolved in the water, and which enters into every form of food and drink they use in their houses.” Mrs. Hale, also, in her excellent Manual “The Good Housekeeper,” remarks, that “hard water always leaves a mineral matter on the skin, when we use it in washing, which renders the hands and face rough and liable to chap. Does not this water, if we drink it, likewise corrode and injure the fine membranes of the stomach? The Boston people, who constantly use hard water for all purposes of cookery and drink, certainly have bad complexions, sallow, dry, and _hard_ looking; and complaints of the stomach or dyspepsia are very common among them.[16] A Salem gentleman declared, that when his daughters, who frequently visited at Boston, passed two or three weeks at a time there, he could see a very material change in their complexions. At Salem there is plenty of soft water, and the ladies of that ancient town are famed for their beauty, which is chiefly owing (its superiority I mean) to a peculiarly fair, delicate tincture of skin contrasted with the half petrified appearance of those who are obliged to drink _hard water_ always, and often to wash in it.” Such authority on this point we presume will not be disputed.

Health, however, is no less promoted by the internal, than by the external use of water; and it is to be hoped, that but a short period will elapse, before free baths will be provided at the public expense, for the use of the poor, as well as the public generally. Daily ablution should be regarded as necessary as daily food or sleep.

The advantages which soft water possesses over hard, in the thousand economical purposes of life, are too obvious to need particular remark. The lime contained in well water, renders it inapplicable to the purposes of brewing, tanning, washing, bleaching, and many other processes in the arts and domestic economy; and we believe the calculation would not be found extravagant, if we should say that by the use of the Croton water 100,000 dollars annually will be saved to the inhabitants of New-York, in the articles of soap and soda alone. When to this, we add the increased comfort and health of the citizens, from its free external and internal use,--the superior cleanliness of the streets, by the washing away of all stagnant matters in the sinks and gutters, and the consequent purity of the atmosphere,--the diminution of danger from fires, and the consequent reduction of rates of insurance, with other important advantages too numerous to detail, we shall not consider its introduction purchased at too dear a rate, even were the expenses attending it increased to double the actual amount.

We need not attempt to specify in detail the benefits which are likely to accrue to the city of New-York from the introduction of an abundance of pure water. Its value is not to be estimated by dollars and cents; though it might easily be shown, that it already saves to the citizens a sum far exceeding the annual interest on its cost. We have already referred to its superiority as a solvent of vegetable matter, over the hard well water, formerly used. Since then, we have made a calculation, by which we are satisfied that in the single items of tea and coffee, it will save to the inhabitants of this city annually, not far from 90,000 dollars. To this may be added the improvement of the public health, and the consequent saving in medicine, and physicians’ fees, a sum probably exceeding that above specified; the increase of the working days, and the extension of the average period of working ability among the laboring classes; and lastly, the moral and intellectual advancement of the entire population, attendant upon the improvement of their physical condition; each of which is not an unimportant item in the aggregate of public prosperity and happiness.

Such are some of the facts connected with this important fluid--water. So common and abundant is it in nature, that we are apt to overlook its value; but we need only be deprived of it for a season, when we shall set a due estimate upon its importance. Pure and sparkling to the eye, bland and refreshing to the taste, whether it bubbles up from mother earth, gurgles in rills, flows along in streams and rivers, or spreads out in lakes and oceans, it every where proves a blessing,--and ought to be universally regarded as one of the most inestimable gifts of Providence to man. As it is the only fluid capable of quenching thirst, so it is the only one compatible with the prolonged duration of animal life--we need not add, that as ALCOHOL, under all its combinations, fermented and distilled, is a deadly poison, fatal to organized beings, whether they belong to the vegetable or animal kingdom, WATER can in no case be improved by combining it with this deleterious fluid. It was formerly common in this city, and still is so in many places where the well-water is brackish, to modify its taste by the addition of a quantity of brandy, or some other form of ardent spirit, with a view, not only of rendering it more agreeable to the palate, but also of correcting the deleterious properties, occasioned by the salts held by it in solution. But in all such instances, the spirit which is added proves far more injurious than the small quantity of vegetable and mineral matters which it is designed to correct. To the latter, the system becomes in a manner habituated, so that even when pure soft water can be had, the former is often preferred, as is now the case with many individuals, who prefer our brackish well water to that of the Croton. But where ardent spirit is added, an artificial appetite for stimulants is soon created,--there is a constantly increasing demand for a repetition as well as increase of the dose, derangement of the digestive organs succeeds, and in a large majority of instances, the health is irremediably impaired. But fortunately, no arguments are needed in this place to convince the citizens of New-York that pure Croton water needs no corrective,--and that it is the sworn enemy of _fire_, whether in the shape of alcoholic poison, or that of the more simple element--

“Αριστον μεν υδωρ”--PINDAR.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM OSBORN,
88 William-street.

FOOTNOTES

[1] It is proper to remark that, the pier at each extremity, of the range of arches of eighty feet span, has an extra thickness, making it a pier of equilibrium; this is also the case with the one in the centre of that range of arches, so that on each shore and in the centre of the river this additional security has been given.

[2] This report was from the pen of Samuel Stevens, Esq.

[3] This Act was drawn up by Myndert Van Schaick, Esq., and its character and suitableness to obviate former difficulties were approved of by the Common Council, and the situation of Mr. Van Schaick, as member of the Senate, no doubt promoted its success.

[4] This Act was prepared by Myndert Van Schaick, Esq., from materials which he had previously collected for the purpose, and it passed into a Law, and is the one under which, as its main foundation, the work has been constructed.

[5] For some general remarks on Water, its economical and dietetical uses, an analysis of the Croton and the comparative purity of that supplied to different cities, the action of water on lead, &c., see Appendix, which has been kindly furnished by Charles A. Lee, M. D., of New-York.

[6] The Aqueduct is calculated to convey 60,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours.

[7] This includes, besides the actual cost of constructing the work, the accumulation of interest on loans.

[8] The air in ice and snow water contains 34.8 per cent. of oxygen, while that in rain water contains but 32 per cent.

[9] Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords, appointed to inquire into the supply of water to the Metropolis, p. 91, 1840. Analysis by R. Phillips, Esq.

[10] Analysis, by Dr. J. R. Chilton, of New-York.