A Daring Venture by Elizabeth Camden

Author:Elizabeth Camden [Camden, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;FIC042030;FIC042040;FIC027050
ISBN: 9781493414802
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2018-04-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Thirteen

Rosalind watched the rain create rivulets on the laboratory window. It had been raining for two solid days, a gully wash that overwhelmed the sewers as water backed up into the street. Her boots and the bottom three inches of her gown were soaked from slogging through puddles to get to the lab this morning. The wet shoe leather was uncomfortable, but Rosalind welcomed the discomfort, for the rain gave them the test they’d been waiting for.

This was it. These were the conditions under which traditional filtration systems could fail. As rain soaked the farmlands, it washed waste and contamination into the streams and eventually into the reservoir, making it hard for filtration systems to keep up. It was in rain-saturated conditions like these that waterborne disease was most likely to crop up in cities.

Unless the chlorine worked. This was the two-pronged attack she and Dr. Leal had envisioned all along. Filtration could handle the worst of the debris, but chlorination could treat the surge in bacterial contamination. Within the week, they would know if their plan had worked.

Dr. Leal paced before twelve newly hired lab assistants from the local college who would help with the increase in testing. They all specialized in chemistry and were eager to embark on their first venture into real science in action. The young men sat at the lab tables, hanging on Dr. Leal’s every word.

“I will send you samples collected from each distribution point in the city,” Dr. Leal said, walking to an oversized map tacked to the wall. “I will be taking water samples at the city’s public buildings here, here, and here.” He made marks with his pencil at points throughout the city. “Dr. Werner will be gathering samples from the area surrounding the reservoir. The chlorination feed has been working for the past three weeks, but it hasn’t been put under pressure yet.”

Excitement gathered in Dr. Leal’s voice. His enthusiasm was contagious. Rosalind had never been prouder to work alongside this daring and innovative man, and the students looked just as excited.

“For decades I have worked, and planned, and prayed,” Dr. Leal continued. “Our analyses must be flawless, for this is the first experiment of its kind, and we cannot afford a mistake. If it works, this model will be emulated across the nation, and someday, all over the world. You are part of the team that is going to make it happen.”

Most of the students looked spellbound, but the youngest man, so slender he couldn’t even fill the collar of his shirt, raised a timid hand. “Dr. Leal? If you’re so confident this will work, why didn’t you just wait for permission from the judge?”

The other students blanched at the blunt question, but Dr. Leal was not offended. The barest hint of a smile twitched his mustache. “Why? Because if I waited the ninety days, the judge might rule against us, and this opportunity would be closed forever. I acted because it was physically impossible for me to sit back and do nothing.

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