Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1920-01-13

R4@ HERE is Scriptural authority
~A 1 for the statement that bitter
81 waters and sweet do not flow
81 from the same fountain. The
- truth applies to wells on
the farm. The family that
FE7TWM1NSAH uses a well spring subjecT
EEE%S1SSNkaIs to contamination is almost
s@z1zSssszzzSsSg surely destined taste the
dregs of sorrow and suffering
for having drunk its disease-laden output. In
yestigatiOns made by the United States depart
nent of agriculture indicate that only a small
minority of farm-water supplies can be classed
as unqualifedy safe and desirable. On ne aver
age three out OF four farm wells located with
in Is feet of a back door of the house and in
the direction of the barDyard.
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 cesSpOoS, and areas rendered inSanitarv by
chickens, Stops, and other filth Too frequently
fhe seepage from these and other sources after
joining the ground water, moves to wells and
springs, impairing the water supply by impurity
and may be grossly poisonous
Sewage Disposal.
Popular Indifference to the effective disposa
Of sewage has existed so long and so universally
Ihat OnIy within comparatively recent years has
Il been realized that this waste product of hui
life is poisonous and must be kept from the
food and drink of man. From the specific germs
poison that may be carried in sewage at any
zine there may result typhoid fever tuberculo-
sis, hookworm disease. cholera, dysentery dar-
shea, or other ailments, and it is not improbable
that certain obscure maladieS may be traced event
aay 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 he unsuspectingIy received
into the human body Typhoid fever is peculiarly
rural disease. and many instances clearly indi-
cate serious neglect of responsibility with regard
10 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
auman filth is taken 90 10, 100 or $50 feet
away from well spring that it is
taken merely to lower ground. Given loose or
subsoil. seamy ledge. long-continued pollu-
ton of one plat of ground, the zone of contamina-
ton is likely to extend and readily rlay reach
quite distant wells. especially at such times Us
well waters lowered by drought or heavy
pumping Whatever the system of sewage dis
posal it should be entirely and widely sepa-
sated from the water supply. and, if possible,
she surface OF the sewage in any leaky privy,
vault or cesspool should be lower than the low
water in any nearby we'll The United
States department of agriculture has prepared
bulletin No. 49, from its 1916 Yearbook enti-
tied Sewage Disposal the Farm" which gives
details regarding various types of outhouses sug-
seStlOnS regarding plulnDlng. ceSSpo0lS SPrtic
tanks. and related subjects. This pamphlet will
be mailed free 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 a water
system in the farm house that will save labor
Continued pumping will not improve water in
well If the sources which feed II are permanent
y at fault. Wells cannot be located in all cases
to be wholly free from pollution. but the great
est safeguards clean ground and as wide sep
arations possible from the probable channels
Of impure drainage.
Water for domestic use should be clean Ius-
irOuS. ocorleSS, colOrlesS, wholesome soft neither
strongly acid alkaline, and its temperature
for general farm purposes should be about so de-
grees. These characteristics. however are never
proof of purity for 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 deep
we'll and who is uncertain of the depth and guam
fifty or quality of the water likely To be encoun-
tered. shOnld describe fully the location and
ditiOn of his project 10 national state geOlog
cal authorities and ask for advice. The use o.
the willow hazel or peach stick for locating I'M