Chattahoochee River Ball

These river balls were part of an aqua filter for the Atlanta Water Works in the late 1800s. They were a base layer for an artificial aqua filter used to filter the mud from the Chattahoochee River. The filter consisted of layers of smaller marble balls, 3” marble balls, gravel, charcoal and sand to remove the silt from the river water for drinking purposes. This type of system was used for many years in the South. After years of use, these balls were discarded. Antique bottle hunters and relic collectors would recover them as they dug around Georgia.