Chalybeate Waters

Chalybeate Waters are those natural waters which contain iron in the state of protoxide or carbonate, or less frequently as sulphate or crenate. The quantity present is usually from .03 to .12 per 1000 parts of water, and the best chalybeates contain also sodium carbonate, chloride and sulphate, and free carbon-dioxide, to which some of the curative effects are probably due. Some are strongly sulphuric or aluminated, e.g. Oak Orchard, New York, which has 10 grains of free sulphuric acid per pint. These are astringent and can only be used diluted. Chalybeate waters are rarely thermal.