Water at the Taps

Present-day standards for public water supplies are high, and the majority of American cities are delivering water from their supply works that meets these standards. The water from the supply works passes through iron distribution mains to the taps of the consumers and, in many cases, deteriorates considerably so that the tap water does not exhibit so high a standard of purity as that recorded at the point of delivery. The reasons for this reversion in quality are being studied by water supply engineers and chemists and present variable and extremely interesting problems. The house builder and house-holder, however, are interested, as a rule, solely in the water as it is delivered at the tap and seldom give much weight to the reports of its condition at the supply works.