Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 123, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 November 1904 — A Water Test. [ARTICLE]

A Water Test.

It is one of the easiest things in the world to tell pure water from the impure. If you want to test the color of the water just fill a colorless glass bottle with the water and look through it at some black object and the distinctiveness with which you can see the object will give you an idea as to the amount of clay or sand there is in the water. Then pour out one-half the water, cork the bottle tightly and set it in a warm place for about twenty-four hours. Remove the cork and smell the air in the bottle. If there is an offensive odor, even the slightest, the water is unfit for domestic uses. Well water, no matter how bright and sparkling, is nine times out of ten putrescent. Then, as a matter of course, decomposition is sure to set id in a day or two if you put the bottle in a warm place.