Reports on the chemical analysis of samples of water drawn from cisterns in different parts of the City of Glasgow / by Professor Anderson and Dr. Wallace, and note thereon by Dr. Gairdner (Medical Officer of the City).

  • Anderson, Thomas, 1819-1874
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports on the chemical analysis of samples of water drawn from cisterns in different parts of the City of Glasgow / by Professor Anderson and Dr. Wallace, and note thereon by Dr. Gairdner (Medical Officer of the City). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    to be observed that in some of them the quantity of total solids is very materially in excess of that found in the pure Loch Katrine water. This occurs to the most marked extent in the water from the uninhabited houses, and I am induced to attribute it partly to evaporation, owing to the water having lain so long in the cisterns, and partly to the access of dust. The substances found in the water were only those which exist in the natural Loch Katrine water, and even with this additicJM' the waters are still very pure, and far superior to those generally used for domestic purposes. An exception, however, must be made to the presence of .lead, which appears in the water from unoccupied houses to an appreciable, and, in some cases, to an injurious extent. This is especially the case in No. 7, where it amounts to half a grain in the gallon. There can be no doubt that the continued use of such water would be followed by symptoms of lead poison- ing. It must be borne in mind, however, that the water here was from an uninhabited house, where it had been exposed for more than four months to contact with the leaden cistern. Had the house been occupied, and the water pipes in daily use, so that fresh water was constantly passing through the cistern, there can be no doubt that no such contamination would have been found. In the cases in which lead was found in the water of inhabited houses, it did not exceed of a, grain to the gallon, a quantity incapable of producing injury, and less than that invariably found in the water supplying the city of Aberdeen. The facts here observed should indicate the necessity for carefully emptying cisterns in houses which have been un- occupied for some time before they are again used. As far as the primary object of these analyses is concerned, namely, that of ascertaining whether the water in cisterns is or is not contaminated by sewage gases, these results are per- fectly conclusive, for they show most incontestably that not the slightest trace of such gases could be detected; nor, as it appears to me, could any other result have been expected. A very exaggerated opinion seems to prevail in the mind of the