Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 181, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1916 — HOME TOWN HELPS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOME TOWN HELPS

GUARD THE WATER SUPPLY Bubject That Is of Immense Importance in Every Home in the Country. In thousands of farm homes it is now possible to find up-to-date water systems, providing both hot and cold water for the bathroom, the laundry, the kitchen sink, and various other parts of the house and barn. When a water system is once installed the farmer and his family usually wonder how they ever managed to get along without it before, and seldom regret the cost. Yet, in spite of the comparative ease with which the average farm home can be equipped with many of these conven-

A Well Properly Protected From Surface Water. Brick Laid in Cement and Backed Up With Puddled Clay Makes a Practically Impervious Casing. rieaces, how often do we find the country household still depending upon the distant spring, the open well, or at best the out-of-doors lift pump to supply the hundreds of tons of water required fojr each household every year? Inquiry usually develops the fact that the old methods are still retained for one or the other of the following reasons, namely: The cost of sewer systems is assumed to be prohibitive, or else the possibilities of fully utilizing the existing water supply have never been carefully explained and brought to the farmers’ notice. A well can be protected from pollution by extending the tight casing or lining six or eight inches above the ground and covering with a watertight concrete curb having a slope away from the center in every direction. This cover should extend at least one foot beyond thb edge of a dug well, and should never be less than seven feet in diameter for a driven well. A drain trough should, of course, be provided to catch the drip and convey it away to a safe dis-

Sand-Bo* Filter for Cistern. All Water Entering the Cistern Must Pass Through the Filter. The Sand Can Easily Be Removed and Replaced With Clean Sand. tance. An open drain passing around the well at a distance of four or five feet from this curb and leading off to the drip drain tile will help prevent the entrance of surface waters that wash down from a higher point. In many cases, however, the difficulty is of a more serious nature. The stratification of the clay, gravel and rocks through which the well is sunk may be such as to cause percolating water from a nearby source of infectiaa to be led directly into the well. In other instances the soil surround* ing the well may become so thoroughly and so constantly saturated with polluted seepage waters that it will no longer perform its function as a filter, and germ-laden waters are allowed to pass into the well. For these -reasons the location of the well is of prime importance. Considered from the standpoint of convenience, the well should be located as near the kitchen as possible. But whenever such location would Involve any danger of contamination due to surface drainage or to an inadequate kitchen sewerage disposal system, a location on higher ground and above this source of contamination should be selected. Select a site where drainage and seepage from bamy&rds, stock pens and manure pits lead away from the well rather than toward it.