The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-01-16

dregs of sorrow and suffering
for having drunk it's diseaseladen output. In
vestigations made by the United States depart
ment of agriculture indicate that only a small!
minority of farm-Water supplies can be classed
as unqualifcdly safe and desirable. On the aver
age three out Of four farm wells are located with
in % feet of Il back door Of the house and in
the direction Of the barnyard.
That convenience and first cost, not safety.
have been the deciding factors In such cases is
made evident by the nearness Of barnyards, pig
pens, pastures, fortified fields, sink drains, priv
les, ~cesspoOls, and areas rendered insanitary bv
chickens, Stops. and other filth. Too frequently
the seepage from these and other sources, after
joining the ground water, moves to wells and
springs, impalring the water supply by impurity,
and may be grossly poisonous.
Sewage Disposal.
Popular Indifference to the effective disposal
Of sewage has existed so long and so universally
that only within comparatively recent years has
it been realized that this waste product Of hui
man life is poisonous and must be kept from the
food and drink Of man. From the specific germs
or poison that may be carried in sewage at any
time there may result typhoid fever, tuberculo-
sis, hOokworm disease, cholera, dysentery, diar-
rhea, or other ailments, and it is not improbable
that certain obscure maladies may be traced event
ually to the poisonous effects of drainage from hui
man waste. The poison is invisible to the naked
eye, and it may be carried by many agencies, by
devious routes, and be unsuspectingly received
into the human body. Typhoid fever is peculiarly
a rural disease, and many instances clearly indi-
cate serious neglect of responsibility with regard
to sanitation by people who live in the country.
Not to dispose Of sewage promptly invites nui-
Sance, but not to dispose of sewage Clearly and
completely invites disease. 1t is not enough that
human filth is taken 80, IS, 100, or 80 feet
away from Il well or spring, or that It Is
taken merely to lower ground. Given loose or
open subsOil, seamy ledge, or lOng-continued pollu.
ton Of one plat Of ground, the zone of contamlna-
ton is likely to extend and readily may reach
quite distant wells, especially at such times US
we'll waters are lowered by drought or heavy
pumping. Whatever the system Of sewage dis
pOsal, 1T should be entirely and widely sepa-
rated from the water supply, and, if possible,
the surface of the sewage in any leaky privy,
vault or cesspoOl should be lower than the low
est water in any nearby well. The United
States department of agriculture has prepared
bulletin No. 712, from it's 1916 Yearbook, enti-
tied Sewage Disposal on the Farm" which gives
details regarding various types of outhouses, sug-
~gestions regarding plumbing. c~esspools. septic
tanks, and related subjects. This pamphlet will
be mailed free on request.
Pure Water the Need.
One OF the first and obvious needs of Ameri-
can farms is pure water supply. From the
standpoint Of the housewife, second only in i'm
pOrtance to purity, is the installation of q water
system in the farm house that will save labor.
Continued pumping will not improve water in
a well II the sources which feed it are permanent
ly at fault. Wells cannot be located In all cases
to be wholly free from pollution. but the great.
est safeguards are clean ground, and as wide sep
~arations as possible from the probable channels
Of impure drainage.
Water for domestic use should be clean. lus-
trous, ocorless, colOrless, wholesome, soft, neither
strongly acid nor alkaline, and it's temperature
for general farm purposes should be about so de-
grees. These characteristics, however, are never
proof Of purity, for d glass of water may pos
sess them all and yet contain millions Of disease
producing germs.
Ground water is the ideal supply for the
farm. Any farmer who Is about to have a deep
well, and who Is uncertain of the depth and guam
tity or quality Of the water likely to be encoun-
tered. should describe fully the location and con-
dition Of his project to national or state geologi-
cal authorities and ask for advice. The use o.
the willow. hazel. or peach stick for locating un-