24 SMALL WATER SUPPLIES. 



No doubt the most favourable position for a well is 

 a large synclinal (viz., dipping in opposite directions 

 towards a common line or plane) basin having a 

 good rainfall, the outlying strata being pervious, 

 while the underlying is impervious. Where there are 

 intersecting dykes of igneous rock outcropping, if a 

 boring is made on the side nearest the outcrop of 

 the strata intercepted, we shall be fairly likely to 

 produce a good yield of water. There is no cer- 

 tainty about any boring ; we can only be guided by 

 previous experience. Wells and boreholes sunk in 

 oolitic strata seem to have been the most successful, 

 one at Bourne, in Lincolnshire, being one of the most 

 remarkable, yielding (at only 92 ft. deep) half a 

 million gallons per day at the surface, and borings in 

 this class of rock need only be small ; but when we 

 come to sandstone and other similar rocks, we have 

 to make them larger, because of the slower rate of 

 percolation. Even then it is well known that where 

 pumping is resorted to the yield will gradually fall 

 off for a certain time after it has been in use, and it 

 is most essential to avoid too much pumping where 

 possible. 



DANGERS OF WELL WATER. 



The impurities from the soil, from defective drains 

 and cesspools, readily gain access to the well and 

 foul the purer water. It is therefore not surprising 

 to find that the majority of the wells to farmhouses 

 and in villages yield water which to make a plain 

 statement is always liable at any time to become 

 the means of spreading disease. 



It is astounding to listen to the ignorant speeches 



