REPORT 
OF 
PROFESSOR W. R. NICHOLS, 
OX THE 
NEW BEDFORD WATER SUPPLY. 
From the 10th Annual Report of the Acushnet Water 
Board, 18 SO. 
Mass. Institute of Technology, 
Chemical Laboratory, 
Boston, June oth, 1879. 
Wm. B. Sherman, Sup't Water Works, New Bedford, Mass.: 
Dear Sir,—The samples of water which you collected and sent to 
me have been duly examined, at least so far as the determination of 
the solid matter and the organic carbon and nitrogen. You are, no 
doubt, familiar with the reports of the Rivers Pollution Commission 
of Great Britain, and know that Frankland’s method for obtaining in- 
dications of the amount of organic matter in water has been used in 
them. As no method is known by which we can determine the exact 
amount of “ organic matter ” present in a water, Frankland has de- 
vised this process by which we may determine the amount of two of 
the essential elements of organic matter, namely, the carbon and the 
nitrogen. The process is somewhat tedious and requires special appara- 
tus and delicate manipulation, and consequently will hardly come into 
general use. 
In considering the results obtained, in any case, several things must 
be borne in mind : 
(1) As in other methods of analysis, we cannot compare together 
waters of different character; thus we cannot compare the results of 
the examination of a well-water with those obtained from the exam- 
ination of a surface water. Each sort of water must be judged by a 
different standard. 
(2) Any water is liable to variation from time to time, and a single 
sample does not give a complete idea of the character of the given 
water. 
(3) In interpreting the results we must look not only at the absolute 
amounts of nitrogen and carbon, but also at the relative proportion in 
which they are present. Organic matter of vegetable origin contains 
a larger amount of carbon in proportion, while organic matter of ani- 
mal origin contains a larger proportion of nitrogen. 2 
The accompanying table will show the results of the examination 
of the New Bedford waters, and will give means for comparison. 
TABLE I. 
Examination of Various Waters by Frankland’s 
Method. 
[results expressed in parts in 100,000.] 
Date. 
Description. 
.2 - 
11 
c c 
•2 
£ -jj 
& O 
U 
°J S 
HI S 
© 
O 5 
May, 1870, 
New Bedford (4) Storage 
Reservoir, 
0.790 
0.098 
8.1 
-> 
it tt 
(1) Street Main, 
0.789 
0.097 
8.1 
rs 
it it 
(2) Long Pond, 
0.759 
0.043 
17.6 
tt tt 
(3) Little Quittacas, 
0.491 
0.033 
14.8 
Jan -April, 1879, 
Average 15 Samples Bos- 
ton water, 
0.420 
0.052 
S.l 
J 
Unpolluted rain water, 
average of 39 samples, 
0.070 
0.015 
4.7 
1 
Unpolluted upland sur- 
face water, average of 
195 samples, 
0.322 
0.032 
10.0 
Unpolluted deep well wa- 
C. 
ter, average of 157 
d> 
samples, 
Unpolluted spring water, 
average of 198 samples, 
0.001 
0.018 
3.4 
r/5 
HH 
0.05G 
0.013 
4.3 
=: 
Jan. 31, 1873, 
Unfiltered Thames water. 
J' 
Lambeth Companv, 
0.325 
0.076 
4.3 
“ “ “ 
Southwark and Vaux- 
O 
hall Co., 
0.285 
0.050 
5.7 
| 
Feb. 3, 1873, 
Grand Junction Co., 
0.246 
0.033 
7 5 
5 
1873, 
Variation in filtered wa- 
ter of Lambeth Co., 
Average of 12 monthly 
samples, 
0.206 
0.040 
5.1 
Maxima,* 
0.449 
0.065 
6.9 
Minima,* 
0.130 
0.021 
3.0 
J 
*Of course, these maxima and minima are not at the same time. 
Thus the 
maxi- 
mum amount of carbon may occur at a different time from the maximum amount of 
nitrogen. 3 
It appears from the Table that while the total amount of organic 
matter in the Acushnet water is quite large as compared with the 
average of English surface waters, and with the Boston water, yet 
the large ratio of carbon : nitrogen w’ould point to its being mainly 
of vegetable origin. I have examined a surface water used as a 
source of supply, but known to be polluted, where the ratio was as 
low as 2.5. It further appears that Long Pond and Little Quittacas are 
both superior to the Acushnet, and that the latter is the better of the 
two. Little Quittacas is also much less colored than either Long Pond 
or Acushnet. 
In Table II, I have given the amount of solid matter obtained by 
evaporation of the waters and also the loss when the residues are ig- 
nited, the so-called “ Organic and Volatile Matter.” 
Yours truly, 
WM. RIPLEY NICHOLS. 
TABLE II. 
Examination of Water from New Bedford, 
[results expressed in parts in 100,000 ] 
Solid Residue. 
No. 
Date. 
Locality. 
Inorganic. 
“Organic 
and 
Volatile.” 
Total at 
212° Fall. 
4 
May 31, 1879. 
Storage Reservoir, 
1.G4 
2.48 
4.12 
1 
“ 
Street Mains, 
2.40 
2.40 
4.80 
2 
< ( 
Long Pond, 
2.24 
2.48 
4.72 
3 
Little Qnittacas, 
1.92 
1.44 
3.36