FILTRATION OF WATER.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3821, 15 October 1883, Page 4

FILTRATION OF WATER.

[Homo Ncavs.] At tho present time Avhen there is at least a possibility of one of the most_ terrible scourges of civilisation appearing, is is well that tho attention of tho public should bo called to somo of tho causes that enable such diseases to fasten themselves upon a community, and to point out the effectual remedies against' them. Of these there is none of greater importance than tho obtaining of pure Avater for drinking and culinary purposes—a subject to Avhich too much importance cannot lie attached. Thcro is no doubt, Land and AVatcr says, that thousands of people die annually simply from the drinking of impure Avater. Physicians have again and again expressed their belief that four-fifths of the cases of typhus and typhoid aro caused purely aud .simply by improper drainage and impure water. In the presence of such testimony as this, the necessity for the use of filters becomes apparent. Impure matter finds its way into the drains through scams in the subsoil and rocks, and, percolating through the soil, poisons the Avater of Avclls. There is ono Avell-recorded instance of over an hundred residents in au hotel dying from partaking of Avater AA'hich it AA'as afterwards found had been poisoned by waste slops ; and, in another case, five fatal cases ol typhoid fever occurred in one famifv, caused by a vault a fciv feet from the avcll that supplied tho Avants of the household. To purify drinking water so as to remove all matter becomes, therefore, of the first importance, and filtration being the simplest find most economical, it is desirable to havo it more generally employed in households. One of the most perfect filters at present before the public, and recommended by high, authority, is the filter in which gravel and charcoal arc used. Tho arrangement is very simple. The Avater percolates in the first instance through an thin layer of gravel, beneath which there is a board full of holes, Avith several layers of clean sand and granulated charcoal; at the bottom of this there is another board, perforated and covered Avith flannel, through which tho Avater drips into the bottom of tho filter, Avhoro there is a stop-cock. This stop-cook is for the escape of the purified water, and is inserted slightly abovo tho bottom, so that the escape of any possible sediment is effectually prevented. This is ono of tho simplest apparatuses at present in use, and for all domestic purposes is as perfect as need bo desired, and if used generally by all classes Avould in a measure bo effectual iv preventing* tho inroads of diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and typhus fovor. There is also an old system iv use in various districts in tho country that is almost as effectual, but Avhich is not so Avell known as it ought to be. AYe refer to the filtration of Avater through burnt brick. Fow people know lioav freely Avater passes through a brick if the brick has been well burned, and how effective a filter a brick may thus become. It is easy to satisfy oneself of the efficacy of burnt brick as a -filter by first Aveighing it aud then placing it for a few minutes under Avater. The water enters through tho pores, exhibiting tho previous character of the substance, Avhich when taken out will be found to have largely increased in weight. It Avould bo very well if tho poorer classes could bo brought to give attention to this most important subject. It Avould not, of course, in all cases bo practicable for the working man to have or to use filters such as wo have described, but, if tho hygienic value of filtration could be impressed upon him, simpler methods would bo adopted and come into general use. Anything in the Avay of au advance on the present haphazard methods of using water for drinking and domestic purposes would be an incalculable benefit, and would largely tend to diminish lho risks of a plague such as we arc now threatened with obtaining hold upon the people.