The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-08-07
IMPORTANCE OF DRINKING WATER

and boiled for a half-hOur before
washing, as directed by the physi-
aians, he had first washed the cloth
in warm suds, drawing his own rims
ing water at the open well. This
act of ca~relessness and ignorance
! cost the life of one member of the
family.
Another case showing the extreme
liability of open wells to typhoid
contamination occurred just across
the line from Gibson in South Caro-
lima. Another plantation home-an
open we'll with sweep, hand-pOle and
bucket-a bench adorned by a row of
tubs-a wash-pot, and a mudhole
with a few brickbats in it-all within
a radius of fifteen feet-the counter
part of many domestic water sup
plies in North Carolina today.
There had been no case of typhoid
fever here. During the winter of
1884 a married daughter died of ty-
phOid fever in another county. Her
I sick child was carried by its grand
mother to this home, some fifteen
miles away. The child died mem
bers of the household and neighbOrs
and friends who visited them in due
time began to have fever an cpl
demic broke out in the community
and if it were possible for anyone to
state the number of cases that were
carried directly and Indirectly from
the well, the cost of life and prop
erty to the community, it would
seem incredible. l know that some
families we're so reduced by sickness
death and debt that their homes
went in to other hands.
Where it is practicable only driven
wells should be used to obtain water
for domestic purposes. Where it is
necessary to dig wells, after an un-
failing flow of water is secured, ter
~ra-cOtta well pipe should be placed
in the we'll and the we'll filled in, the
top closed and the water raised by
suction. Where the terra-cOtta
pipe is too costly "a twO-inch iron pipe
al be carried to the bottom of the
we'll, this filled around with stones
above the level of the water, three
feet of chalk and, clay packed above
the stones and the well filled with
clean earth. This will prevent di-
rect contamination and lessen the
attraction for surface water. Indi-
rect contamination can be prevented
by a clean soil. A circle with a ra-
dius of 100 feet should be drawn
around the we'll and the perjmeter
designated the danger. line, and
nothing that would pOllute the soil
should be allowed within this circle,
not even an open we'll. 1 have seen
driven wells placed withina few feet
Of an open we'll to improve the water
supply. 1t is needless to say that
there was no improvement. AL
waste water from the well, wash
basins, ETC., should be conveyed be-
yond the danger line in ~water-tight
pipes.
Another important matter is sur
face drainage. The stables, pig-sties,
etc, should be so placed on the prem
ises hat the surface drainage will
be away from the well. One hun
dred feet nor any other reasonable
distance will not not protect a well
on a slope below polluted soil.
have seen a driven we'll twenty-eight
feet deep On IA slope 800 feet away
from IA basin polluted for a genera.
ton contain intestinal bacilli from
the first. Another instance is that
OF a factory village built on an cas-.
tern slope. Near the brow or the
hill is a row of outhouses. One
hundred feet or more down the
grade is a broad street, a row ot
houses on either side of the street
and driven wells along it's cente,
more than 100 feet from the ont
houses along the brow of the hill
For the first few years the village