Reports Relating to the Sanitary Condition of the City of LondonSimon, John
History
Reports Relating to the Sanitary Condition of the City of London
Simon, John
Cemeteries -- England -- London; Mortality -- Statistics; Sanitation -- England -- London
The water marked Barford contained 6·30 grs. of solid matter in the
imperial gallon; when evaporated, scales of silicic acid separated
from it in the same manner as from the water taken at Haslemere.
Neither of these waters contained any trace of carbonic acid. Their
relative hardness (distilled being unity) was--Barford 2·4, Boorley
1·5.
* * * * *
D. The fourth sample of water was drawn from the pump near the church
in Bishopsgate-street.
This water was selected as exemplifying the general composition of the
shallow well-water of the City of London, when the well is situated
near to a burial-ground, as is frequently the case with the parochial
wells.
The water from this well is perfectly bright, clear, and even
brilliant; it has an agreeable soft taste, and is much esteemed by
the inhabitants of the parish, although, as will be seen by the
subjoined analysis, it is an exceedingly hard water, and the large
quantity of earthy salts it contains renders it unfit for all culinary
and for most domestic purposes.
When heated to the boiling point, this water becomes turbid, and by
continued boiling of an imperial gallon of the water for two hours,
23·03 grs. of solid matter were deposited, consisting of 22·15 grs.
carbonate of lime, and 0·88 carbonate of magnesia, with a trace of
phosphate of lime.
An imperial gallon of this water, when evaporated to dryness and the
residue dried at a temperature of about 300° Fahr., left a residue
which amounted to 88·07 grs. From another sample of the same water
taken a month afterwards, 84·53 grs. of solid residue were obtained.
By an analysis, an imperial gallon of the water gave--
Carbonate of lime 28·97
Carbonate of magnesia 2·61
Sulphate of lime 17·85
Chloride of sodium 16·95
Nitrate of potass 12·40
Nitrate of soda 1·50
Nitrate of magnesia 4·92
Nitrate of ammonia 4·01
Silica 0·80
Phosphate of lime traces
Organic matter
------
90·01
The residue left by evaporation was of a light brown colour; when
calcined at a low red heat it became slightly charred; but I could
not, with any degree of certainty, determine the precise quantity of
organic matter it contained: it was certainly very small.
The excess of solid matter, as shown by the analysis, over the
quantity obtained by evaporating the water to dryness, is owing to the
decomposition of the nitrate of ammonia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account