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Home Sanitation and Hygiene: Build

To Make a Simple Filter.-Build in an 8-inch partition wall, after the bottom has been paved, to a point a few inches higher than the outlet of the overflow pipe. Lay up the first 10 or 12 inches at the bottom of this partition (4 or 5 courses of brick) without cement for the water to pass through. Plaster the upper portion of the partition with cement. Or build the entire partition with soft porous brick laid in cement but without cementing the outer surfaces. The water will be filtered very well for a while by passing through the brick, but in time they will become foul and clogged. It will then be necessary to tear out the partition and rebuild it. Hence, it is better, if the first cost can be afforded, to provide a separate chamber containing proper filtering materials.

To Build a Double Cistern. - Construct a small compartment (A) into which the water from the roof is to be received. Build next to this the filter chamber (B). Fill this from the bottom upwards, 4 feet in depth in all, first with pebbles the size of the fist, then with very coarse gravel, then fine gravel and lastly sharp, clean sand. Screen these materials to HOME SANITATION AND HYGIENE proper sizes and wash them clean and free from loam and other impurities.

Carry the wall between the inlet chamber (A) and the filter (B) to the top or above the level of the overflow pipe. Plaster it on both sides with cement to prevent the water from seeping through and fouling the brick. But leave in the bottom of this partition a number of openings the size of a half brick to admit the water from the inlet chamber (A) into the bottom of the filter.

Thence it passes upward through the filtering material and overflows into the storage tank (C), its fall being broken by the ledge of projecting bricks at F.

Build the floor of the inlet chamber (A) and the filter (B) so as to slope to the outer side of A. Much of the coarse dirt and sediment will then settle at this point and may be readily removed. This relieves the filter and facilitates cleansing. Occasionally on a very rainy day, pump or bale out the inlet chamber and shift the inlet pipe from the inlet chamber (A) over to the top of the H E FIG. A.

C FIG. B.

M A Plan of brick cistern. Courtesy State Board of Health of Maine. filter (B). This will reverse the filtering process and flush out the filter chamber. (D) is the inlet pipe which brings the water from the roof and (H) is the overflow from the cistern.

The linear arrangement of the three compartments in Fig. A is to show a cross section of the filter chamber, but in actual construction the ground plan of the filter should be as shown in Fig. B. This cistern may be built of brick laid in Portland cement mortar, or of concrete. It should preferably be arched over or covered with reinforced concrete leaving a good-sized manhole to serve as a common entrance to all three compartments. Or, it may be provided with a perfectly tight plank cover to keep out small animals, insects and the like.

Equip both inlet and overflow pipe with a fine strainer to exclude insects and vermin.

Water Pipes. To avoid friction and loss of power in pumping lay all water pipes in straight lines and free from elbows and sharp turns.

Also increase the size of the pipe in proportion to the distance the water must flow in a horizontal line. This lessens friction.

To prevent the freezing of water pipes in winter, when leaving a house unoccupied in which there is a regular water supply, always turn off the water from the house by turning the stopcock leading to the street main.

Open all faucets and allow pipes to drain thoroughly. Always empty the kitchen boiler. If this is not done the boiler may collapse. To empty the boiler attach a garden or other hose to the top and let the water run into the sink. Do this every spring and fall to clean the tank.

To prevent freezing in pumps, lift the trap in the valve and allow the water to run back into the well.

Do not put kitchen sinks against the outer wall of a house. If this has been done and the sink cannot be changed, purchase circul tubes of asbestos and fit over the pipes, or line the wall with asbestos. But on cold nights it is safer to turn the water off.

Frozen Water Pipes. - While the pipes are frozen take care not to build a fire in furnace or range. Direct heat from the pipes will generate steam and severe explosions may follow. At the very least pipes will burst and the plumbers' bills for repairs will be heavy. Pipes that are slightly stuck may be thawed by wrapping around them flannel or other cloth and pouring on hot water. Plumbers use gasoline or kerosene gas in lamps which blow around the frozen pipe. They move the lamp back and forth so as not to apply too much heat at any one spot.

To Soften Water.-Boiling hard water from twenty to thirty minutes is the best way to soften it for drinking purposes. This also has the effect of killing all germs of disease it may contain. Carbonic-acid gas passes off with the steam, and carbonate of lime is left as a sediment. A clean oyster shell put in the tea kettle will attract this and other sediments that are deposited from boiling water and will thus prevent an unpleasant crust from gathering on the inside of the tea kettle.

Or baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) in small quantities will soften hard water by removing the excess of lime.

Or, for the laundry, hard water may be softened by the addition of a little borax.

Or quicklime is also recommended.

Dissolve ounce in 10 quarts of water, and pour this solution into a barrel of hard water. The whole will be softened.

To Make Boiled Water More Palatable. The flat taste of boiled water is objectionable to many. This may be obviated by pouring the water rapidly from one pitcher to another, holding the two pitchers some distance apart. This process aerates the water, renders it sparkling, and restores its natural flavor. A few drops of lemon juice contribute to this effect.

To Keep Water Cool Without Ice. -In summer or in warm climates drinking water may be kept in unglazed earthenware pitchers. Place the pitcher on a board lying across a tub or pail containing water. Wrap several folds of cheese cloth around the outside of the pitcher and let the ends hang down into the water.

Place this contrivance in a draught.

The evaporation of the moisture from the cheese cloth tends to cool the contents of the pitcher.

To Test Water. - Fill a number of tumblers half full of the suspected water, and employ the following tests:

To test for lime, use a small quantity of oxalic acid. The lime will be revealed in a white precipitate.

To test for carbonate of iron, use a tincture of galls. This will yield a black precipitate.

To test for vegetable and animal matter, use a small quantity of sulphuric acid. The water will become black.

To test for copper, dip a penknife in the water. The copper will be deposited in a yellow coating. To Purify Water. - When water in wells or other receptacles smells bad, suspend in it lumps of charcoal in a basket or net, so that they can be removed and replaced at intervals. To Clarify Water. - Water in springs, wells and streams often becomes muddy after heavy rains, and the water of some streams always holds a lar e amount of liquid mud and other mpurities in solution. In such case it becomes important to clarify t water. This not only makes it more palatable and attractive. It is imperative when filters Otherwise the filter soon are used. clogs up and becomes useless.

Alum is the universal agent for precipitating impurities in suspension or even in solution. It is very commonly employed along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and other muddy streams.

To quickly clarify a pitcher of drinking water, tie a lump of alum to a string and swing it about in the water. The sediment will settle.

Or, for larger quantities, use 1 teaspoonful of pulverized alum to 4 gallons of drinking water. Stir the water before putting in the alum.

After the water has settled draw it off in such a way as not to disturb HOME SANITATION AND HYGIENE the sediment. A tablespoonful of alum will settle the contents of a hogshead of water. The alum itself, if too much is not used, will settle and be carried off in the sediment.

Or lime is recommended, used in the form of certain salts of lime, either chloride, nitrate, or bicarbonate of lime, or caustic lime. Use 1 part of any of these salts of lime to 1,000 parts of water.

Or sulphate of alumina is recommended for clarifying water containing vegetable or animal matter. The formula is as follows: Bisulphate of alumina (neutral solution), 1 ounce; water, 435 gallons.

Or dissolve 2 ounces of saltpeter in 1 quart of warm water and throw the solution into the cistern or well.

Or, to purify putrid water: Water, 1 pound; sulphuric acid, 8 drops.

Mix and filter through charcoal.

Or water, 8 gallons; powdered alum, 1 ounce. Dissolve with agitation, then allow it to rest for twentyfour hours, decant into another vessel, and add a solution of carbonate of soda until it ceases to produce a precipitate.

Or instead of alum add 7 or 8 grains of red sulphate of iron, then proceed as before.

Or add a little aqueous chlorine to the foul water.

Or arrange a suitable pipe at the end of a pair of bellows (double bellows are best), and force the air through the water for a time, then allow it to settle for use. - Water Filters. - The ordinary household appliances for filtering water are rarely preventives of disease. Such filters are not ordinarily cleansed often enough. Hence they become receptacles for disease germs instead of means of prevention.

The better practice is to boil drinking water from twenty minutes to half an hour when there is danger of contamination. The following are a number of devices that may be recommended to make muddy or otherwise contaminated water clear for appearance sake. It must be borne in mind, however, that these processes and all other filters merely strain the water in a mechanical way. They do not remove or destroy the germs of contagious diseases. These cannot be destroyed without boiling the water, as just recommended.

Homemade Water Filters. - Rainwater collected in barrels from a roof or otherwise is a necessity in some localities, and is often more wholesome for drinking purposes than hard water. The following is a cheap and easy way to make a filter just as good as a patent filter costing ten times as much: