Diatoms in the Town Water
At the meeting of the above society, held in County Court Room, Guild Hall, on Wednesday, the 23rd ult., an interesting account was given by Mr. Stiles, of his microscopic examination of the Doncaster town water.
During the summer Mr. Stiles noticed on some occasions that the water which had stood for some time in his bedroom ewer contained a distinct deposit of solid mater. This he treated “secundum artem” and discovered it to consist of diatoms of many species.
In order to trace, so far as possible, the source of these organisms, the essayist journeyed to Thrybergh and Firsby. And took samples of the water from the reservoirs there. These samples were also treated for diatoms, and the species in them were compared to those collected in the town water.
Both gatherings consisted for the most part of common and generally distributed species, but one which was very abundant in the town water was absent from the water taken from the reservoirs. This led to the supposition that the diatoms in the town water were not from the town reservoirs, but from the additional supply that we have been receiving from Sheffield. Seeing that the Doncaster water is carefully filtered before entering the mains and that from Sheffield undergoes no filtration, this supposition is probably correct.
The method used in preparing the diatoms was described and some specimens of photographs of the species found were shown.”