152 DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLIES FOR THE FARM 



running water at the kitchen sink, with flush closets and bath- 

 rooms, and, perhaps, with a hot-water supply for washing, the life 

 of every one on the farm will be made easier, pleasanter, and more 

 healthful. 



Methods of Supplying Running Water. When the well, 

 spring, or reservoir furnishing the farm water supply is situated 

 considerably above the buildings to be supplied, and is not 

 separated from them by intervening hills, the water may often 

 be brought to the points of utilization by gravity. Unfortunately, 

 however, the sources of supply are commonly lower than the 

 buildings, and to make the water available at the latter some 

 one of several forms of water- works systems must be installed. 

 The systems in most common use are gravity systems supplied 

 by elevated tanks and pneumatic systems delivering the water 

 at the points desired through the agency of compressed air. 



Gravity Supplies from. Wells. Where a flowing well is sit- 

 uated at a point higher than the building to be supplied, or where 

 the head of the water is sufficient to lift it, when confined, to the 

 desired point, the supply may be conducted to the house or barn 

 by means of pipes attached directly to the well casing. 



With tubular cased wells that do not flow, but in which the 

 water stands at a point higher than that at which it is to be 

 delivered, the pipe may be attached to the casing as before and 

 laid to the house or barn. In dug wells, a pipe may be conducted 

 from a point below the water level upward to the top and thence 

 to the buildings as before. To start the water in the siphons 

 thus formed, the air must first be withdrawn ; usually this is most 

 conveniently accomplished by attaching a suction pump to the 

 lower ends of the service or discharge pipe. 



The principle on which the siphon works is as follows: The 

 pump temporarily attached to the lower end tends, when worked, 

 to create a vacuum in the pipe, and the water, under the influence 

 of the atmospheric pressure at the well, is forced upward until 

 the pipe is filled. If the pump is now removed and the water 

 allowed to discharge, the latter, by its own suction, will draw more 



