Another topic in Mr. Hardy's paper which has interested the writer is that of preliminary filters. The experiments described at length indicate clearly that such devices would prove of little or no benefit under the conditions existing in Washington, and that when the river contains considerable amounts of suspended clay nothing less than chemical coagulation will suffice to treat the water so that the effluent will be perfectly clear. Preliminary filters have been used for a number of years at various places and with varying success. In few instances have they been operated for a sufficient length of time or been studied with sufficient care to determine fully their economy and efficiency as compared with other possible methods of preliminary treatment. Among other experiments on this matter are those made at Albany, N. Y., and published by Wallace Greenalch, Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E., in the Fifty-ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30th, 1909. The Hudson River water used at Albany is quite different in character from the Potomac River water used at Washington, as it is less turbid and contains rather more organic matter. The results obtained in these experiments showed that during the summer the number of bacteria in the effluent from the experimental sand filter used in connection with a preliminary filter did not differ widely from the number found in the effluent of the city filter where there was no other preliminary treatment than sedimentation. In the winter, however, the numbers of bacteria did not increase in the effluent from the experimental filter as they did in the effluent from the city filter. This is shown by Table 26, taken from the report mentioned. Apparently, therefore, at Albany the benefits of the preliminary filter, as far as bacterial efficiency is concerned, would be confined to a short period of three or four months in each year. Under such circumstances it may well be questioned whether the advantages of preliminary filtration justify its cost.