Milford chronicle., 1915-08-20


Add Greatly to the Comfort of the
Farm Household.
No questions are of greater Importance
TO the farm family than the farms water
supply and the disposal of its sewage.
The prospective builder should make
certain that these problems are solved
before he does anything else, for they
lie at the foundation of the entire house
hold s health and comfort.
Purity and abundance are the two
essentials of water supply. Ordinarily,
it has been calculated, each person on a
farm will require 80 gallons day, each
horse from 10 to 13, each COW from 10 to
IA, each hog from to 3, and each sheep
/ ! gallon. If greater quantities are OBJ
| tainable, so much the better.
Wells and springs are the usual sources
of farm water. Both may easily be con-
taminated, and the vicinity should, there
/ fore, be inspected for possible sources of
pollution. In some cases typhoid cpl
/ denies have been traced to springs which
have become polluted through assures in
the rock strata. Contamination may also
reach well water through uncemented
Joints in the masonry, and for this rea-
son it is always we'll to cement the joints
for a considerable distance from the top.
Surface contamination can be guarded
against by the erection of a suitable con-
crete curb.
Once an abundance of pure water has
been secured there is no single improve
ment which will add so much to the COM
fort of the household as some mechari-
cal system of making it readily available.
Where the supply is obtained at an ele-
vation above the house the matter is
comparatively simple. A tank or reser-
voir can be built and pipes run down
from it. through which the water will
flow by gravity and from which it can be
drawn at will. In the majority of cases
however, before the force of gravity can
be utilized it will be necessary to pump
the water into an elevated tank. Unless
this is in the house itself it is likely TO
freeze during severe weather and cause
trouble.
of the various methods of elevating
water the windmill is perhaps the most
satisfactory in the majority of cases. Its
first cost may seem rather high, but after
it is once erected it costs little to operate
and maintain. On the other hand,
large storage tank is a necessity as pre-
caution against long periods of calm
weather when no wind blows and the
mill stands idle. Water stored in this
wav becomes warm in summer and in
winter is ofen too cold to give to stock.
The storage difficulty does not exist
when the gasoline engine is used, but
the engine has its own drawbacks. AL
though it does not cost as much to in
stall as a windmill, its operating cost is
considerably greater, depreciation is more
rapid, aud expensive repairs are required
more frequently. A II to 2 horsepower
engine, however, such as is generally used
for pumping water, may be used advan-
tageously for many other purposes on
the farm as we'll. Air cooled engines
are recommended when the pumping is
intermittent, for they will not freeze in
winter. When steady, uninterrupted
work is expected, and there is, there
fore, no danger of freezing, water-cooled
engines are to be preferred.
The pressure or pneumatic tank has
the great advantage of enabling modern
bathrooms with good water pressure to
be located in any part of the premises.
The tank also can be placed in the cellar
and thus protected from danger of freez-
ing Under this system, water is pump
ed in against air pressure of 40 to so
pounds a quare inch. The chief objec-
ton is the initial cost, which is always
high.
Under favorable circumstances a ram
is an economical and convenient means
of elevating water. The ram, however,
is not what in mechanical language is
known as efficient, and, in conse
quence, there must be large surplus of
water before it is a feasible device |
Under this system the necessary power |
is derived from the downward flow of
the water itself which is so controlled |
that it enables the ram to elevate a GER |
tain portion of it into a storage tank !
Much is wasted in the operation, how |
ever. Under certain circumstances this |
may he partially remedied by having the
power furnished by the flow of other |
water.
On the ordinary farm, unless the sew !
age is disposed of properly, there is dan /
ger that the water supply may be pollu- |
ted. Where privies are in use, they |
should be located so that no drainage |
from them can reach the source of water
supply, but they should also be readily |
accessible. The ultimate disposal of |
the sewage may be accomplished in sew
eral ways.
A common out dangerous pIdCllCe IS 10 |
discharge it into a convenient stream.
This may easily start typhoid epedemic
farther down the stream and should not |
be encouraged. Surface irrigation over
the land is better, but here again care
must be taken to prevent the infection
of articles of food, such as lettuce, which .
are eaten raw. More satisfactory results
are usually obtained from cesspool,, and |
the Teaching cesspcol, " in which the
sewage percolates gradually through por
GUS material has often proven success
full. Such a cesspool may, however, be |
extremely dangerous if located in the
path of ground water flowing toward the
we'll Septic tanks also have a number |
of important advantages, but it is usually |
desirable to use filters in connection with |
them. Subsurface irrigation is also COM
mon in connection with a septic tank.
Water supply and sewage disposal are
most important factors in the comfort of
the farm dwelling. Where these permit,
however, it is desirable to have the farm
house stand in an open location facing