The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-11-28
VIEWS OF TWO DIsTIN.
GUISHED AUTHOR.
ITIES..
DR.. T. Grange sinons and Sur
geon-Qenersl Wyman

0E. l. 0r6USS Gl-OOuS auQ our
geon-Genersl Wyman
l8 Montague Street,
Charleston, s. c., Nov 25, 1900
E | Resrdon, Esq. Secty aud Heath
Officer Board of Health, Sumter.
S G
Dear Sir =: | have received a letter
of the same purpors as yours from
DR. John 8. Hugbson | weuld have
preferred to have had more tine for
reply on subject of such import
arce, and would have been more
concise if time allowed me to be
more explicit l will send the same
reply to both of you
The authorities all are unanimous
in condemnation of the dry we'll and
privy, and advocate sewers as the
only safe method of dispo.ing of
household waste. As chairman of
the board of sewer commissioners of
Charleston, have been impressed
with the great dangers to our com
munities from the use of dry wells
and leaky privy vaults, for with a
porous soil and slight elevation
above tide water we have stored up
the foul contents Of these cess poole,
and as result OUT wells and cisterns
are polluted with sewerage and
human eEecreta, and thus disease is
engepdered when such human exc
creta has the typhoid or other disease
bearing germs The water seems
pure, but from laboratory iuvestiga-
tion shows the presence of bacteria
from the human intestiues
You ask for suggestions Of
course the construction Of a good
system of sewers with an abundant
supply Of pure water to flush them
and all house connections and thus
remove the household waste before
decomposition occurs. such sewerage
is comparatively innocent of danger.
and clean sewers are free from gases
and foul odors
Yoar water supply is. I believe,
from driven wells, bu: how remote
from the town such supply is derived,
and as to the nature Of the soil of
your water shed, am not familiar.
bat with porous coil aud water
bearing CO quick sand as you call it,,
10 to l2 feet below the surface. l
can we'll understand the danger of
your drv wells penetrating to this
depth q ,cnarging their contents
into this strata If the dry we'll was
not 80 deep, this danger would
perhaps he lessened. but not remov
ed, for filtration to be effective should
be intermittent. SO that proper aera-
ton of the soil car be performed !;
also that the chemical processes of
oxidation and ni.rifcation may also
contribute to the proper publication
of the water. But with populous
centres super saturation of the soil
mus. result, and through this filth
no proper publication of ground
water car occur. If your source OF
water supply is remote from habita.
tions and can be brought to yoa
through we'll built water mains. and
if DO welTs are used in the town then
the danger from dry wells of the
teaching sort is lessened, and even
this would be rendered less objec.
tionsble by the use Of tightly built
dry wells, made of vitrifed brick
laid with hydraulic cement. and
cemented on the interior with Port
land cement /; then proper ventilla-
ton should be made to the we'll By a
vent pipe Of two or more inches
calibre, and soil pipe of good cast
iron four in diameter. running we'll
above the roof aud away from the
the windows, all house connections
should be separately Trapped nesr
each fixture and each back cir vent
arranged SO as to avoid espionage or
breaking of the water seal Even
these water seals are of sewage and
are miniature GEES poole and are
often broken by the discharge Of
large volumes of hot water into the
pipes. foz the expapse of hot air ie
immense, and thus few water seals
remain
The dry we'll should be often
disipfected, emptied and cleaned |
admit that with no sewers the
problem is most difficult to solve,
and the choice between leaky privy
vaults and dry wells 10 but small !;
soil and water pollution must ensue
from both, but the tight dry we'll, as
described. is the safest in the absence
of sewers
/ will now try and answer the
queries sent me by the secretary of
the Board of Health. As several of
them ere embraced in the aDoye. 7