The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-11-05
SEWAGE DISPOSAL,
EHE HEALTH of the family, Of
the community and even of the

bEWAUE DlSPOSAL.
THE HEALTH Of the family, Of
the community and even of the
neighboring city, depends large
ly on the drinking water of the farm.
Every baby in the city is dependent
on milk from the farm. Where wa
ter, contaminated from cesspools and
outhouses, is used to wash the milk
cans and to cool the milk, bacteria
cannot help but gain entrance to the
milk In greater or less quantities.
To milk contaminated by sewage on
the farm most of the cases of
typhoid and dysentery are traceable.
Yearly hundreds, yes, thousands of
babies lose their lives due to this
we'll nigh criminal negligence to-
wards sewage disposal on the farm.
But more universal than the harm
done by milk contamination is the
injury to the farmers own family
through the contamination of their
drinking water, says P. B. Paxon.
Not so long ago people thought that
running the sewage into a cesspool
prevented the fouling of their drink
ing water. This is not the case, the
contamination still goes on but is
not so readily apparent and conse-
quently gives less concern to the un-
thinking. The only protection yet
devised is disposal plant in which
the bacteria Of the soil purify and
render the sewage harmless.
Sewage Disposal.
There are three systems for its dis
posal, the sub-surface and the sur
face irrigation systems, and the filter
bed type. In the first two systems
the benefit of the sewage as fer
tilizer is obtained, in the last it is
not. However the principle of purifi-
cation is the same.
If the organic matter in the sew
age Is deposited in the upper few
feet of soil and if air is not pre-
cluded, the bacteria will be killed.
To accomplish this the bacteria in
the soil must be surrounded by an
abundance of air. This means that
the soil cannot become water-logged,
but must be open and porus. In
order to prevent continual soaking
of the soil, an intermittent flow of
sewage is necessary. This Is OBJ
tanned by storing it in a receptacle
for IS or "a hours before sending to
the filter beds, thus giving the bac-
terra time to oxidize the sewage pre-
viously deposited ON the field or fill
ter bed.
The house drain of cast iron pipe,
should extend at least five feet out
side of the foundation wall. From
here to the septic tank vitrified tile
with cemented joints is used. A fall
of from one foot in 100 to one foot
in 40 is most, effective. The tile
must be laid below the frost line.
A careful joint can be made by put
ting piece of packed oakum be-
tween the tile ends, then covering
joint with a mortar of one part Of
Portland cement to one part Of sand.
Inspection and cleaning holes should
be left every SO feet.
Septic Tank.
The septic or flush tanks are
usually built Of brick or concrete
and large enough that they need be
emptied only once in 1S or "a hours.
A tank 9x4x2 feet deep is large
enough for a family of five.
The house drain enters at one end
Of the tank. 1t Is best to cover this
with screen, one-inch mesh, to
prevent paper and extremely large
particles from entering the tank. At
the opposite end Of the tank a siphon
connects with a four-inch tile The
siphon is at such height that 1t
begins to draw the water out when
1t is one foot. three inches deep and
stops when the tank Is empty.