236 The Country House 



the open well. The cost of the driven well is but slight, being mostly in the 

 cost of piping and labour. This might be considered roughly as from $10 to 

 $20, outside of the pump. 



Authorities seem to differ as to the relative merits of springs and wells; some 

 prefer one, some the other. This point being in dispute, it is safe to assume that 

 their merits are about equal. It is common to consider the "sparkling spring" 

 as the personification of purity. Appearances are deceitful, however. It is fully 

 as open to contamination as any other source of water supply. Rain water in 

 its passage through the lower atmosphere is liable to absorb gases, which are not 

 always eliminated by its passage through the soil. As impurities are very numerous 

 and their effect upon the water varied, the most complete analysis alone will settle 

 the question of its purity. 



It is perhaps well to consider the spring as a source of supply for a well, and 

 acting on this basis to excavate and wall up in the manner of a well, to the end 

 of the better protection and preservation. Ordinarily the spring comes to the 

 surface in some depression of the ground, and when left thus in its normal con- 

 dition cannot fail to suffer from the fouling influences of surface inflow. There 

 are frequently cases where a false stratum of clay may be constructed about it 

 and under the top soil, to protect it from surface water which would otherwise soak 

 into it through the latter. 



If a spring is copious enough to overflow after being harnessed to the general 

 supply, measures should be taken to save at least a portion of the surplus for 

 purposes of fire emergency, hose supply and general reserve. This can often 

 be accomplished by collecting it in a suitable reservoir by means of a ram. If 

 an overflow still exists, it can be utilised in various ways as an aquatic feature of 

 the garden or general outlay. 



Under ordinary circumstances the ponds and streams are not particularly 

 desirable as supply sources for the private system. This is due to the presence of a 

 considerable amount of undesirable surface drainage from the surrounding water- 

 sheds. The washings from barnyards and farms in general are not calculated 

 to add to the standard of purity, while swamps and decomposed animal matter 

 are anything but wholesome. Of the two, the stream is perhaps least desirable, 

 owing to the vast and varied amount of surface drainage it receives. To be of 

 any use as a source of water supply, it should be kept free from dead trees and 

 animal impurities as far as practical. In the case of a small pond situated on a 

 considerable estate, it is sometimes possible to make it an ideal supply system. In 

 this case it is treated in the same manner as the public one. 



Wherever the source of supply is lower than the height to which it is desirable 

 to carry it one must resort to a storage system. Its height in any case should ex- 

 ceed that of the highest outlet desired, so that the water may run with some free- 

 dom and force. As a protection against fire, where a hose is to be used, this extra 

 height should be considerable (say two or three times the height of the house), as 

 water ejected from the nozzle of a hose depends for its carrying power on the 

 amount of pressure back of it. In other words, it will not rise to near the height 

 if flowing free that it would if confined in a pipe. This will be readily understood 

 when we consider that the fire department of a large city uses an engine to pump 



