Is Galvanized Pipe Dangerous For Soft Spring-Water?
Q. Can you give me any opinion as to danger of water-poisoning from the use of galvanized pipes for soft spring-water? A. We referred this question to Prof. William Ripley Nichols, whom we consider an authority. The following is his reply: “It would be difficult to give an opinion of any value without more knowledge of the character of the water than is conveyed by the term ‘soft.’ If the water is what we should consider soft in this region, if a fair proportion of the dissolved salts consists of carbonates, and if there is no excess of carbonic-acid, the so-called galvanized pipe can, no doubt, be used with perfect safety; if the water is effervescent, or contains an excess of carbonic-acid without actually effervescing, especially if chlorides are present (or sulphates other than sulphate of lime), it would perhaps be better not to use the pipes. Even in the latter case, however, if in the morning or whenever the water has remained for any considerable length of time in the pipes, en
