Water Supply and Drainage 



243 



Fig. 45. Blind and combination drains. On the left the 

 blind drain, broken stone affording passage for water. On the 

 right a combination of blind and pipe drains. Both sorts are 



The gasoline affair is a quick and effective worker and reasonably safe; its work- 

 ing will be readily understood by the automobile and motor-boat enthusiast. While 

 this type has the advantage in speed and size, the hot-air is extremely simple, and 

 can be run by anyone with perfect safety. It is possible, too, that one after 

 getting the "hang" of it can fire up and start the thing, close up the house and go 

 fishing, with the reasonable assurance that the tank will be about full when the 

 pump stops. One would hardly care 

 to do this with the gasoline type, and 

 yet both are very satisfactory workers 

 and small consumers of fuel. The cost 

 of a two-horsepower pumping engine is 

 about $285. A hot-air pump of the same 

 power is about the same price. 



For obvious reasons it is not advis- 

 able to "store" drinking water; it should 

 be pumped through a small bored pipe 

 into the house direct. In this way it 

 can be drawn when wanted, and can 

 be had reasonably cool and fresh. 



Where the land is over-wet and it 

 becomes necessary to drain it, three sys- 

 tems are employed, viz., surface, under 



i j j T" 1 ! C right a combination of blind and pit 



and deep drainage. The system of usable in subsoil and deep drainage 



surface drainage is a primitive one. It 



consists in making channels through the surface of the ground for the flow of surface 



water. Though effective, it is unsightly and hardly to be considered in connection 



with the ordinary country estate. Its disadvantage, where used, is its tendency 



to fill up, and to disfigure the land, making it an object for constant repairs. 



Under drainage consists of a number of small drains placed parallel to one 

 another and opening into a larger discharging drain, which carries the water to 

 the point of disposal. These drains should extend in the direction of the slope 

 of the land, and be numerous enough to dispose of the accumulation. When 

 located under permanent soil they can be laid within several inches of the grade, 

 but in land used for tillage their depth should be sufficient to escape the plough, 

 spade and the like. The drain pipe used is of the porous, open-joint variety, or an 

 ordinary blind drain of small and broken stones may answer if the flow of water 

 is not too great. A combination of the two is even better. 



While the surface and under systems take care of the surface water, the 

 existence of excessive moisture, which is commonly caused by hidden springs or 

 other subsoil discharges, makes the use of the deep drain imperative. The source 

 should be located and conditions studied before the drains are dug, otherwise much 

 labour may be wasted. Its principle is that the sources should be intercepted in 

 their passage to the gathering place and carried off out of the way. Frequently 

 the growth of alders, willows and the like indicates the location of the greatest 

 moisture, but this is not to be implicitly relied upon. The drains should be 

 lower than the source of supply, and are ordinarily of the simple blind drain or 



