Page 16 - Pharmacy History 34 February 2008

• They entirely removed the poisonous salts of lead and other bases even when in solution
• They imparted freshness to flat water
• They had purifying properties, which were ‘unerring and continue undiminished’
• The filtered water has no tendency to produce animal or vegetable organisms
• They materially reduced water hardness
• They were free from derangement, and general economy ‘as experience has satisfactorily proved that
they do not become softened
by continued use like moulded charcoal’
• No water could pass except through the silicated carbon because as it was securely held
in the filtering vessels by ‘a pure, impervious, and insoluble cement’, while with other filters where tubes or corks were used, much of the unfiltered water passed ‘by capillary means between the tubes or corks and the carbon’.
Because, with the sole exception of salt water, there is none they do not render sparkling, wholesome, and agreeable.
JH Graham & Co of 25 Finsbury Place, London, produced carbon block filters for household and bedroom use which ‘received high commendation from medical authorities’. The Berkefeld Company in Germany were producing ceramic filters in 1891. They had an office at 121 Oxford Street, London. In 1985, Doulton acquired the rights to the Berkefeld trademark, later changed to British Berkefeld.
Advertisement for the Mawson filter in Chemist & Druggist Diary; 1895
The Mawson Filter Co, 137a Pilgrim Street, Newcastle-on-Tyne, produced gravitational filters adapted for ‘Dwelling-houses, Schools, Hospitals, Soda-water Factories, etc., giving
a continuous supply of pure water without attention ... Perfected with the aid of exact analysis, tested by experts and Medical Officers of
The Mawson Filter
Health, and adopted after rigid trial by the highest authorities in Sanitation in the world.’
The main problem with filters is that they need cleaning. Deposits would build up and it was possible for bacteria to grow on this deposit or even through the filter. Cleaning with a brush was recommended every three days. This period was extended in the 20th Century by impregnating the outside of the filter with silver which renders bacteria unable to reproduce. The ceramic candle-type of filter is still used today and they can be scrubbed up to 100 times.
By the 1930s Britain’s tap water was regarded as safe to drink, although it was not always suitable for dispensing. In 1955, the BP Addendum introduced purified water, which was produced by distillation or treatment with ion-exchange resins. This was water of BP standard and from then on, had to be used where ‘distilled water’ appeared in a formula.
In Australia and New Zealand some manufacturers produced water filters similar in style to the Berkefeld model, One maker, Abbotts, held a patent
for a filter that was widely used in households and pharmacies
Melbourne was home to quite a few water filter makers in the late 1800s and early 20th Century. A popular brand was that of W Candy who
is listed in 1892 as operating from premises at 119 George Street, Fitzroy. His business seemed to be in the midst
Abbott filter
Candy filter
16 Pharmacy History Australia
volume 4 no 35 September 2008