The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1919-12-19
Keep Farm Water Supply Free Contamination

sweet do not flow from the same
fountain. The same truth applies
to wells on the farm The family
that uses a well or spring subject TO
is almost surely des-
tined to taste the dregs OF sorrow or
suffering for having drunk its dis
ease laden output. Investigations
made by the Uuited States Department
of Agriculture indicate that only a
small minority OF farm-water sup
plies can be classsd as unqualifiedly
safe and desirable. ON the average
three out OF four farm wells are To-
Gated within Is feet OF a back door
of the house and in the direction OF
the barnyard.
That convenience and first cost. not
safety have heen the deciding factors
in such cases Is made evident by tn.
nearness OF barnyards. pig pens. pas
lures fertilixed zelda sink drains.
privies. cesspools and other filth. Too
frequently the seepage from these and
other sources. after joining the ground
water. moves to wells and springs.
impairing the water supply by inn
purities that may be grossely poison
GUS.
Sewage Disposal
Popular indifference to the effec-
tive disposal of sewage has existed so
long and SO universally that only
within comparatively recent years has
| Ii been realized that this waste pro-
duct Of human life is poison and must
be kept from the food and drink OF
man. From the specific germs %.
poison that may be carried in sewage
at any time there may result typhoid
fever, tuberculosis, hookworm dis
ease cholera, dysentary, diarrhoea, OF
other dangerous ailments. and 1t Is
not improbable that certain obscure
maladies may be traced eventually tt
the poisonous effects of drainage from
human waste. The poison Is invisibl
to the naked eye and 1t may be car,
ried by many agencies. by devious
routes. and be unsuspectingly received
into the human body Typhoid fevel
is PECULIARLY a rural disease. and many
instances clearly indicate serious ne
glect of responsibility with regard Il
sanitation by people who live in tn,
country.
Not to dispose of sewage promptl,
invites nuisance, but not to dispose o
sewage Clearly and completely invite
disease. 1t is not enough that human
filth Is taken. So 10. 100 or $50 fee
away from well or spring, or tina
1T Is taken merely to lower ground
Given loose or open subsoil. seam
ledge or long continued pollution o
one plat of ground, the zone Of con
tamination Is likely to extend an
readily may reach quite distant wells
especially at such times as well wat
ers are lowered by drought or heav
pumping. Whatever the system o
sewage disposal. 1t should be entirel
and widely separated from the waite
supply, and. II possible the surface @
the sewage in any leaky privy. vaul
or cess pool should be lower than tn
lowest water in any nearby vel
The United States Department OF Az
lriculture has prepared Separate n,
712, from it's 1915 Yearbook, entitie
Sewage Disposal on the Farm. whic
gives details regarding various typ
of outhouses. suggestions regardin
plumbing, cesspools, septic tanks, an
related subjects. This pamphlet wi
be mailed free on request.
One of the first and obvious neeG
of American farms is pure water sur
plies. From the standpoint Of tt
housewife, second only in important
to purity, Is the installation of
water system in the farm house tn;
will save labor.
Continued pumping will not In
/ prove water in well if the sourc
which feed it are permanently
fault. Wells can not be located
all cases to be wholly free from 30
luton, but the greatest safeguards a