Document ymKqYa485mvL6Mj3xMnNGq1Z4

November 15, 19ll-l Lt. Colonel C* J. Gentskow Army Medical School Army Medical Center Washingtont D. 0, Dear Colonel Gentzkow; Thank you very much for the preliminary report on the water cans. Our work on them was delayed somewhat by repairs and remodeling here in the laboratory, but our results will be complete enough for practical purposes this next week and T will forward them to you. Our findings parallel your own. We used for our experiment distilled water, water of the city of Norwood {the hardest water readily available), and^ Cincinnati city water, chlorinated to about 5 p.p.a. The amounts of lead and zinc taken up by these different waters varied and will be reported in detail later, but at the end of one we e k 's standing, the lead content ranged from 0.29 to 1.^0 mg. per liter, and. the zinc content from 5 to 102 mg. per liter! as with your experiments the pH increased in all cans. At this point, without laboring the issue, one can say quit definitely that water from these cans is unsafe for drinking purposes I did not get to see Bill Tent at Atlantic City as 1 had to be in the West at that time, but he did go over the material with Dr, Kehoe and I imagine all of his questions were answered, Thanks very much for the copy of the regulations anent the use of cans, etc, for drinking water. That should settle the question for the time being at least. We are still receiving inquiries about this use and I have recently learned that attempts will be made to devise a filter for the purification of water from containers that have contained leaded gasoline. Exactly where and how work on this filter is to be carried out is still unknown, but it has been suggested and I feel certain that if end when this question takes the form of a project, we will likely sit in on it and p * Lt. Colonel Gentzkow - (2) - November 15 19^1 I will keep you apprized of what is going on as soon as I learn about it, `The lobster tails sound very good indeed* I have been existing on West Coast food for the last two weeks and would certainly enjoy another such meal in Washington in your good company. I shall be in the last the latter part of this month and will call you if it is possible for me to stop off in Washington. In the meantime, if you are in the vicinity of Cincinnati, please let me know. Cordially, WM: vr Wiiiard',,lB a c h i e ,"'U. D.