The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-08-14
WATERWORKS
How Some Small Towns
and Private Residences
Are Supplied.
AS TO ARTEsIAN WELLS
Features of the Kearny Pure
Drink Movement-Summit and
Madison.
AS TO ARTEsIAN WELLS

rage in small communities for independent
water supplies. No wonder Kearny wants
| better water, for it has had no end of trouble
in the past, and it has had a growth of popu-
lation which requires a good supply of water
| to keep and continue. Kearny is not en-
| barrassed by the difficulties in other places
in regard to a place to empty sewage. In
| most towns in this State where there is need
| of water supply, the difficulty of drainage is
great. There should always be provision
made for sewage at the time when water is
| introduced.
The Kearny plan or artesian well water
does not meet with the approval of scientific
| observers generally although it is claimed
| that Kearny's wells would be all right. The
| experience witt artesian wells in this section
| generally is that the water is more or less
| i~mpregnated with mineral salts, or is "hard,"
as the women call it in washing. The report
made as to Kearny wells is that there is very
pure water to be obtained from artesian
| wells in that section, and it is true that the
water from such wells differs greatly in diff
| ferent localities 1t has the merit of being
/ free from all surface contamination, and,
| therefore, in no danger from sewage, with
| its typhoid germs, etc.
SMALL SUPPLIES.
There are several water supplies in New
| Jersey which furnish abundant quantities,
| vet are nothing more than ordinary wells,
bigger and deeper than those in the back
| yard of a farmhouse, but dependent on the
| same SOURCE of supply-the springs just be-
\ meath the surface-quite different from the
deep subterranean supplies obtained from
the artesian or driven wells. The East
| Orange well is one of the most remarkable
of these, being located in a densely popu-
| lated township, furnishing a very large sup
| ply, and being considered pure. 1t IS claimed
| for it that the supply is furnished through
peculiar strata of rocks, which make 1T
| probable that surface drainage would not
pollute it i'll any way. This supply is owned
| by a private company, like most OF those
| which depend upon wells. When the
| town owns a supply it is generally sought
from a source more plentiful and perma-
nent. Another large supply from ordin-
ary wells is that of Summit, where
the wells are located between hills which are
not only free from habitations but are likely
to remaln so. This supply. like that of
| South Orange. was located with never fail
| ing springs, which had long demonstrated
| that a large and abundant natural flow ex-
| listed there. The Summit Water Company IS
one of the largest in the State of its kind,
and furnishes water for Summit, and has
mains running as far as South Orange. 1t
| is estimated that there will be abundant sup
I ply to last the communities now furnished
! for q quarter of a century at least. The in
PRODUCTION of water in Summit was followed
by a sewerage system; but the system of dis
posing of the sewage is not satisfactory and
| is likely to cause trouble in the future.
Madison has q water supply, but Chatham
has none Chatham has a large number of
! springs along the side of Long Hill which
| might be utilized Tor furnishing water.
| Some of these springs are now used for pri-
] --o%o 11,,aoo hniun nyIInnod aithar nv email
| steam engines or by windmill power. In
such cases the water is distributed by tanks
| located in the tops of the houses, and is often
| supplemented by the rainfall from the roof.
The late Colonel Martin, who built the hand
| some house on Long Hill, occupied this sum
mer by Theodore +. Blanchard OF Newark,
had water pumped from a spring in the, val
lev to a tankhouse adjoining his home and
! thence distributed. 1t was he who, offered
| his guests their choice between champagne
and Observation-Disclosures you please; they
\ cost me just the same"
PRIVATE LIANT.
DR.. Leslie D.. Ward, at his country place
near Madison, has a water supply for his
| house which is a model of country home in
| dependent supply. A brook which flows
| through his grounds is damned to make
| small lakes. AT the dam is a turbine wheel,
and near is a never failing spring of admir-
| able water. This is forced to the house by
L the WaU6T power VI Ia OlOOhso III AC1uoh
| tity is fer in excess of needs.
Where.no spring is available the country
| house wAter supply depends upon cisterns
| supplied from roofs and forced into tanks
| by the common force pump This is labori-
Gus, and the supply being, of course. de-
| pendent upon rainfall, IS in danger OF being
! short. Large cisterns are the remedy for
droughts, but most builders do not appre-
| ciate the necessity of constructing these
| of sufficient size. For drinking water the
| supply is usually from a well, although the
filtered rainwater is probably more health
full.
important than it formerly was. because
| there has been a great advance in the re-
| auirements of people, not merely because
there is an increase in the population. The
| free use of the bath is undoubtedly far more
| universal than it was twenty-five years ago,
and there is a general demand for bath
| rooms and water closets even in remotely
located country houses. In providing
for house sewage the general rule is
to construct a cesspool. This should always
be constructed in the most porous soil avail
| able, and should never be cemented, as some
have done. Thomas I. Kinney of this city,
| whdhas had several different places at the
seashore, discovered a few years & that the
c~esspool near one Of bis houses filed rapidly
with water, although the soil was porous
enough to drain it properly. he found that
this was due to a coating of fatty deposits
from kitchen refuse, which cemented the
! sides of the cesspool as perfectly as if by
Portland cement He then had constructed
another cesspool near the first, and con
nected the two by a drain pipe, located two
or three feet below the surface. The second
excavation thereafter drained off the water,
leaving the first for the solids. The result
was that no further difficulty occurred from
Overlooking cesspools. The plan is one that
may be recommended to builders.
HOUSE DRAINAGE.
The value of good house drainage isunder-
stood. but none too well. A gentleman who
thought he had made every provision for
health al his country home found a serious
case Of m~alarial fever on hand. Investiga-
ton showed that the drain from the kitchen
had become stopped; that the soil was SO por-
Gus that it carried off the water, but left the
foul deposits near the kitchen sink, where
they distributed malarial poisons through
the house. Often localities get evil reputa.
lions as malarialsmitten, when the fault
may be traced to defective drainage in the
house.
The advantage of an abundant supply q
water in suburban districts in not merely the