Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 255, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1911 — Dug-Drilled Wells very Dangerous [ARTICLE]

Dug-Drilled Wells very Dangerous

a number of combination dug and /twillmA wAlla Tha nwnftHt rAnFratiilate themselves on their wisdom in utilising ah old dug well fifteen, twenty or thirty feet in depth, and drillgood flew of deep water. The cost/of drilling that twenty or thirty feet has Deen saved, certainly an economy worth considering. V - : ' As a matter of fact this combinetion dug ana annea weii is a parucuarly dangerous type. It may readily ' ireed malarial or even typhoid fever, which is more prevalent in the country than even in the over-crowded cities, in spite of the supposed pure water supply of nearly all farming sections. Such a well is all thd more dangerous because it is fancied to be safe. Although the water encountered by the deep well may be perfectly pure at the start, contamination may take place almost immediately by the entrance, especially after rains, of sewage water into the open well and thence into the casing of the drilled well. The remedies are obvious: ..Either the casing should be carried to the surface of the outside ground, or at least to the highest level ever reached by the water, or the open well should be converted into a water-tight cistern by applying a thick coating of cement over all sides and the bottom.—(From Water Supply Paper 223, United States Geological Survey.)