ARTESIAN WELLS.

Southland Times, Issue 3302, 20 January 1879, Page 2

ARTESIAN WELLS.

'."'' <» .." . ".:■'" "." {San Francisco WeeMy Colli) i The sinking bf ; the.a,rtesian well at Appraiser's Store, which, it is believed, is Capable of furnishing 4,000 gallons per hour, or 'nearly 100,000 gallons per day, has gone Still further towards demonstrating the fact that the strata underlying the s city have vastly more water than Avail be required for the inhabitants of San Francisco for : a century to come. In sinking the well; the- following revelations have been made asto;the .different formations through which it ; passed •: The first forty feet from the surface was through the formation filled in to reclaini the laria^theri :i teri-"_eet of black or dock . mud, then nine feet of blue clay and sand lying .iri strata, then twelve feet of hard yellow clay, then thirteen feet o£ porous sand^rock and gravel,-;; -from which water was obtained, thence through two feet of cement into bedrock... From the surface down, about sixty feet, a cement pipe has ' been formed, so as to keep out' the Avater from above, thus draAving the supply entirely from beneath the clay and rocky formations. It is now pretty well "established that there is Avater passing under" the city, which conies from the Sierra, and .which cannot be exhausted ; and what is more, it is also settled by scientific investigation that no water can be obtained from surface drainage which is equal to that which has been purified by : passing through the" sandy formations for long .distances. Investigations; have been made Avhieh prove conclusively that where water is collected from the surface of the earth, sweeping over large areas, it takes in ■ animal and vegetable matter; which is most detrimental to health. Scientific " examinations establish the circumstance without a ' question, that the seeds of parasites are carried in such water for miles, and when taken into the human stomach are hatched into life. The last number of the Popular Science quotes authorities, both in Europe and America, which cannot- be questioned. It is claimed that various diseases are propa- : gated in this wayj hence exertions are being made to change the water supplies for cities by means of arteSiari wells. In England an entire change is destined very soon to be brought about in the water supply for .large cities, for the reason given. The alarm is general in Europe. In France, notably in Paris, investigations haye been made in respect to sewerage, which has an important bearing upon the water question. The sewers in Paris are themost extensive of any in the world, as they collect; aU." the 'filth' from a city of nearly two millions' of inhabitants, turning it into the river Seine. In consequence, the water .mv the Seine becprnes so offensive to the .inhabitants who live rrie'ar its banks on its' course to .the ocean that; they can scarcely endure .; its offensive Smell. Various efforts have been made to .'deodorize the Avater, but idtimately a proposition was adopted to conduct ;a; portion of the sewage through large pipes,; and distribute it on a tract of. land some distance .-from the city, for the cultivation of vegetables. •'; " This has' been done for; several years,; arid with perfect success. The sewage is distributed" in trenches afevy feet apart,, and. used Avithout in any wise becoming offensive to the people. Indeed, JL»S sauL the land cultivated in this way is jr^ 'desirable than that' ; where ordinary mferftires' are used. Bub; what. Aye wish particularly to draw attention to is. the fact that upori the land where the sewage has been distributed, shallow : wells have been sunk, arid the water whicft.leecries through the soil to them is in a; far better arid purer condition thari are the waters of the Seine .above the city, -portions of which are still'vrised'by the inh'abitarits'bf Paris. Science has established ithatthe earth is the best purifier of Avater iwhich has'yet been discovered, and the authorities of Pails are preparing td> utilize all of the sevvage rippri land dn.prder: to purify the r Seine. 'The iriyestigatipris , which liave .taken place in Frarice;have.surjirised scientific persons, for it hasbeen a popular opinion, until recently, that the deleterious;, substances in populous districts passed from"; the surface "into shallow wells,' whereas experiments prove that the most, filthy of ;aU /fluids— sewage --from -a great city- ; --are" 'almost entirely •purified by : such a process. The scientific reports state that organic substances: are taken from the water and left in the earth, AA:A :.....-