Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-09-10
The water supply of Farms.

During the past few years much attention
has been devoted to the matter of supplying
large towns with an abundance of pure water.
In some instances the water has been conduct
ed twenty or thirty miles, in order TO obtain that
which contains few impurities. Great atten-
ton has also been given to its distribution, so
that the poor may have it in abundance and
at small cost. Numerous filters have been
invented and brought into general use.
Special pains have been taken to furnish pure
running water, not only for horses but for
dogs. In many cities, costly fountains have
been erected in parks and along the streets
where there is the most travel, so that horses
dogs and men may at any time quench their
thirst without trouble or loss of time On
most farms, however, there has been little
improvement in the matter of supplying wa
ter for domestic purposes or for the use of
stock The pump has generally taken the
place of the old-fashioned well-sweep and
bucket, and the number Of wind-mills for the
purpose of raising water for stock has increas-
ed, particularly in the best dairy districts
Little attention, however has been given to
utilizing the water afforded by springs and
streams. A large proportion of the wells on
rural farms are in poor condition. Their
walls are formed of round stones, and a space
exists between the wall and the platform on
which the curb rests. Through this leaves,
grass dust, and small animals enter, and con-
taminate the water. These wells are seldom
cleaned out till their contents become so of
fensive as to attract general attention. The
filth that is allowed to accumulate in farm
wells, that supply water not only to stock but
to the members of tue household is too sick
eniDg for consideration. 1t consists of all
kinds of decAying vegetable matter, includ-
ing manure, rs well as of animal matter in all
stages of decomposition. Rabbits, rats, mice,
aud various sorts OF reptiles are not unfre-
quently drowned in wells, and remain there
many months.
The location of most wells that supply wa
ter for household purposes is most unfavora-
Bile for the purity Of their contents. They are,
in many cases, near the centre of space that
has privy, pig-pen, cOw-yard, and the out
let of a sink-spout on the several corners.
There is no drain for carrying of the surplus
water, saturated, as it is, with every
variety of filth. The earth through which
the well passes may be tenacious clay, and in
that instance it may be so nearly impervious
TO moisture that little of the surface water
with the various substances dissolved in it,
ever enters il. In many cases, however, the
earth through which the well passes is sand
or largely composed of sand and gravel, which
allows surface water TO pass through it with
the greatest readiness.
The location of wells from which water i.
drawn for the supply of domestic Mlilnals it
infinitely worse than that of wells for furnish
ing water for human beings. These wells
are ordinarily in some portion of the barn
yard, and arc often in the centre of it. On
every side of them are pools of stagnant sur
face water, the urine of cattle, horses, hogs