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Home Sanitation and Hygiene: Never

When cleaning old wells not thus protected, the skeletons of these animals are frequently found. a Never lay a sewer pipe or waste drain near a well. Never dig a new well in their vicinity. Such pipes and drains are seldom watertight. Or if a sewer pipe must be run near a well, use cast-iron pipe and seal all joints watertight. Never locate cess-pool, open vault or drain or throw slop water on the ground anywhere on the same piece of ground as a well. Otherwise in the course of time the well water is almost certain to become contaminated. The only means of insuring the purity of the water supply is to take adequate steps to keep the soil in the vicinity free from pollution.

Springs. Spring water is usually pure and good for drinking purposes, but often contains minerals in solution. It is then known as hard water. But springs may become contaminated in the same manner as wells if located near possible sources of pollution. Hence a spring intended to be a source of water supply should be carefully tested. If the water supply is to be piped from a spring as a permanent source of supply, first find out two things: Is the spring high enough above the house? Is the quantity of water sufficient? You can measure the overflow of the spring by pailfuls. The house alone for a family of ten will need about 600 gallons in twenty-four hours. To get this, the spring should flow fast enough to fill a 10-quart pail in five minutes. If the spring is high above the house and near at hand, -inch pipe may be sufficient. But if the spring is not high, or if the pipe is long, inch pipe is safer and better.

The spring should be dug out, walled up, and covered with wood, brick, stone or concrete-to be preferred in the order mentioned. The pipe may be either iron, lead, wood or sewer pipe. Sewer pipe costs about six cents a running foot, and -inch wrought-iron pipe about the same.

If the pressure is high-especially at the lower end, it is better to use iron. Wood or lead pipe is nowadays rarely used.