The plumber and sanitary houses : a practical treatise on the principles of internal plumbing work, or the best means for effectually excluding noxious gases from our houses / by S. Stevens Hellyer.

  • Hellyer, S. Stevens (Samuel Stevens)
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The plumber and sanitary houses : a practical treatise on the principles of internal plumbing work, or the best means for effectually excluding noxious gases from our houses / by S. Stevens Hellyer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Boiled water. Hard water and its remedy. the filters in use, not excluding those working under air- pressure—for aerating the water as well as purifying it. When filtered water cannot be drawn immediately, or within a very reasonable time of waiting, the slowness of filtration being an important element, the filter should be provided with a small storage chamber; but water which has passed through animal charcoal should not be stored for any time ; for according to the XIX. Army Med. Rep., when water which has been filtered through [animal] charcoal is stored for any time, it soon begins to show evidence of low forms of life, and after a time a more or less abundant sedi- ment of organisms becomes formed. For this reason, and also because spongy iron does not need such frequent renewals, I prefer the latter material for purifying water. In this disturbing age, when everything is undermined with doubt, and the only safe thing left is the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it is comforting to know that by boihng polluted water before drinking it we are doing a really good thing ; for though boiling may not destroy certain organisms, it materially lessens the risk attending the consumption of polluted waters, and, to say the least, it is a very wise pre- caution. It is now known that certain organisms are not destroyed by boiling, and it appears that to absolutely destroy them the liquid must be heated to a temperature as high as 300° F. In his popular little work, Plain Words About Water, Professor Church states that the poisonous matters in polluted waters, which produce diarrhoea and fevers, may be changed and made harmless by boiling, has been proved; that this always happens is not certain. Boiled water tastes flat and insipid, but it can be made palatable by pouring it from one tin can or jug to another several times ; or, as everybody knows, a pleasant beverage is made by pouring the water when in a boiling state upon some well-browned toast. What is known as the hardness of water arises prin- cipally from salts of lime, especially the bicarbonate, being