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Home Sanitation and Hygiene: Just

Just House Drains and Soil Pipes.- The main feature of a house drainage system is a 4-inch cast iron pipe calked with lead at all joints so as to be completely water-tight. Start this soil pipe at least 5 feet outside the house and support it from being crushed where it passes through the foundation wall by means of a suitable arch. Just inside the cellar, insert a running trap to exclude sewer gas and supply this trap with an inspection hole closed with a tight cover but easily accessible. beyond this trap insert a fresh air inlet pipe of the same size and material as the soil pipe. Extend this outward through the foundation wall, by means of a suitable arch, and bring it above the surface of the ground, but not near any doors or windows. Now carry the soil pipe upward by as straight a course as possible to a point 4 or 5 feet above the roof. Cover it only with a wire screen to exclude twigs, leaves and the like. The warmth of the house will cause a current of air to be drawn through the soil pipe from the fresh air inlet. This will help to destroy and carry away the organic matter that clings to its inner surface. In cold climates increase the diameter of the soil pipe to about 6 inches from a point just beneath the HOME SANITATION AND HYGIENE roof to the top. This prevents the upper end from being closed with hoarfrost. If the soil pipe opens into a sewer, or if there is provision for drainage below the level of the cellar bottom, it may be carried along the cellar wall or rest upon the cellar floor exposed to view in an open Plan of soil pipe for house sewage disposal system. Courtesy State Board of Health of Maine. trench. Or, if there are no plumbing fixtures in the cellar and the outlet of the drainage system is at a higher point, the soil pipe may be carried under the cellar floor and fastened to the rafters by wire or other supports at suitable intervals. - Arrangement of Fixtures. The bath room, sinks, and other fixtures should be located as nearly as possible over one another and in close proximity to the soil pipe. The cost of plumbing will be much less and the system will work better. Both the bath room fixtures and kitchen or pantry sink should be adjacent to an outer wall and near windows to insure abundant light and ventilation. But the soil pipe must be sufficiently far from the outer wall to avoid danger of freezing. When practicable it should be placed on the east, south or southeast side of the house. The soil pipe and all other plumbing fixtures should be entirely open. They will not be objectionable in appearance if painted to correspond with the woodwork in the different rooms. It is a fixed rule of modern sanitation to admit sunlight freely to every part. Sinks. The sink should be of slate, enameled iron or porcelain. It should not be boarded up. An open sink is not only more sanitary but more convenient for use. There is an open space beneath it for the toes when standing and for the knees when sitting. Thus great relief may be had while doing certain work by using a stool of proper height.

Equip the sink spout with a brass strainer screwed in place and provide a trap to exclude sewer gas. - Water Closets. The choice of water closets should be confined to those which have the bowl and trap in one piece, are simple in construction, self cleansing and provided with a safe water seal. None should be considered except the short hopper, the washout, the washdown, the syphonic and the syphonic jet styles. The last of these is the best, and they are to be preferred in reverse order.

The washout closet has too shallow a pool of water to receive the soil.

Nor do the trap below and portion above the trap receive a sufficient scouring from the flush. The washdown closet is an improvement over the former. It has a deeper basin and water seal, a smaller surface uncovered by water and a more efficient scouring action.

The syphonic closet differs from the washdown style chiefly in having a more contracted outlet. The filling a C d Types of sanitary water-closets; (a) washout, (b) washdown, (c) syphonic, (d) syphonic jet. of this outlet when the closet is flushed forms a syphon. The resulting pressure of air upon the surface of water in the basin drives the water into the soil pipe with much force.

When the syphon is broken enough water remains in the trap to preserve the seal. In the syphonic jet closet there is an additional jet of water which helps drive the water in the bowl more rapidly into the outlet.

The last mentioned styles are also more nearly noiseless than others and should be preferred. The flush tanks should be well built, ample in size and connected with the closet by means of pipes large enough to insure thorough and efficient flushing.

Sewer Connections. The connection between the end of the soil pipe and the public sewer or other point of disposal should be made with a good vitrified sewer pipe of the same dimension as the soil pipe, or an inch larger in diameter, laid as shown in the illustration. Or, if a sewer pipe must be carried near a well, use cast iron pipe and take care that the joints are absolutely water-tight. In any case the joints of the sewer pipe should be carefully cemented so that there may be no leakage into the ground near the house. Otherwise sewer gas will find its way through the soil into the cellar and thence to all parts of the house. It is also important to exclude the ground water from the sewage in certain systems of local sewage disposal, since it increases the bulk of the waste to be disposed of.

Sewage Disposal. - Since the danger to health of soil pollution from cess-pools has been clearly recognized, sanitary engineers have given a great deal of attention to the problem of sewage disposal for farmhouses, summer cottages and other isolated dwellings. Various plans have been devised whereby liquid household wastes may be disposed of either on or beneath the surface of ordinary soil, or upon artificially prepared filtration beds. All of these methods are in practical operation and either may be chosen according to local conditions. The working principle is the same in all cases. The upper layer of the earth's surface teems with millions of bacteria which have the power to convert organic matter into earth again. The effect of these changes is to improve the soil both from the agricultural and hygienic standpoint. It becomes more porous, the oxygen of the air penetrates it more freely, and its capacity for holding moisture is improved.

These bacteria are active only in the presence of the oxygen of the air.

They cannot work if the air is permanently excluded, as when the soil is saturated with water. Hence it is necessary to dispose of sewage near the surface of the ground by what is known as the "intermittent" system.

That is, the household wastes must be collected in some suitable receptacle and emptied upon the soil only at intervals sufficiently far apart to permit the liquids to leach away and allow the soil to become dry enough so that the bacteria can perform their function. These facts emphasize the danger from leaking sewer pipes, deep vaults, or cess-pools, located so far below the surface of the ground that the air is excluded.

Here the bacteria which purify the soil are unable to live and work.

Septic Tanks.-If the liquid household wastes consist only of kitchen slops they may be discharged directly upon the soil, provided they are first collected in a suitable tank so arranged as to release them at regular intervals. But if solid excreta are present it is better to provide what is known as a septic tank. Here the sewage is liquefied and to some extent purified before being discharged.

The work of purifying organic matter is done in two distinct stages by two different kinds of organisms.

One of these is called anaerobic bacteria. They work in the dark and do not require the presence of oxygen.

They break down the particles of insoluble organic matter or sludge in the sewage and convert them into a form such that the second set of bacteria may complete the process of purification. The latter are called HOME SANITATION AND HYGIENE aerobic bacteria. These must have an abundance of oxygen supplied by the air. A septic tank interposed between the house and the patch of ground which is to do the work of filtration greatly assists the process, especially for a system of sub-surface irrigation, by eliminating the grease and dissolving the solid matter which tends to clog the pipes. Ad 9 pipe p 6pipe ケ B pipe Section of septic tank. Courtesy State Board of Health of Maine.

A septic tank consists of two chambers. One receives the sewage and retains it while the anaerobic bacteria are doing their work. The second receives the overflow from the first chamber (when the process of liquefaction has been completed) and thence discharges it at suitable intervals upon the filtration beds. This may be accomplished either by hand -by means of a gate valve as shown in the illustration-or better by means of a syphonic device of which there are several styles upon the market.

To build a septic tank such as that shown in the illustration, first determine the size which would be required. The volume of sewage is practically equal to the water consumption. The solids, exclusive of garbage and kitchen refuse, which should, of course, be otherwise disposed of, will amount to not over 1 pound to 120 gallons of water. An average family will consume from 60 to 100 gallons a day for each person.

Hence a flush tank for a family of six, to empty every twenty-four hours, must contain at least 360 gallons of liquid matter, or have a capacity of 48 cubic feet. In the style of tank here illustrated, this applies only to the second chamber. The first chamber must be sufficiently large to retain the total sewage for a number of days-say a week-which would require a capacity of 336 cubic feet.

Thus, a tank having the first chamber 6 feet wide, 6 feet deep and 10 feet in length, and the second chamber of equal width and depth but only 3 feet in length, would accommodate the sewage of a family of 6 persons and would require to be emptied only every forty-eight hours. To make such a tank build the walls and partition between the two tanks of concrete or brick set in Portland cement mortar. Carefully cement the inside to prevent leakage.