Standards of Quality of Water
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Abstract
In thinking of the quality of a water, it is natural to think first of its potability or sanitary quality, then of its physical attractiveness and finally of its suitability for steam making and other industrial uses. In certain cases the suitability for industrial use takes precedence, but when considering a water supply for a community, choice is commonly determined by the potability and attractiveness, assuming that all sources under consideration can yield a sufficient quantity of water to supply the needs of the community in question, and that the cost of supplying water from the different sources is not subject to too great variation. The consumer is likely to assume that the water is safe to use and to direct his notice to the physical properties. Color, turbidity, taste, odor, temperature, and to some extent the mineralization make their appeal directly to his senses, and he is apt to judge a water supply on the basis of the conditions with which he happens to be familiar. Local habituation to various types of water that may be common in the particular part of the country in question so frequently determines what will be accepted as satisfactory for public use that the author does not intend to discuss these factors in detail, important though they are. He prefers rather to confine himself to a topic, itself sufficiently broad, that of the standards of the sanitary quality of water supplies, which are supposed to aid in reaching conclusions as to the safety of water supplies for drinking