Water Purification at St. Louis, Mo.

Previous to 1904, St. Louis was famous for the muddy water supplied to its inhabitants and visitors. The inhabitants, never having known anything else, had ceased to pay attention to the appearance of the water, accepting it as a matter of course, just as they endured the wind and the weather, and were inclined to be amused at “the stranger within their gates,” who protested against drinking and bathing in the coffee-colored :fluid. Visitors to St. Louis in the summer and autumn of 1904, who had previously been in the city, were amazed to find clear, sparkling water in general use even for sprinkling and street washing. The history of events leading up to this sudden and remarkable change in the water supply of St. Louis, and a description of the purification process as finally developed and used, cannot fail to be of interest to engineers, especially to those engaged on waterworks and in the investigation of water supplies.