5 



PARKS 



use in public parks and reservations. As the name signifies, this privy con- 

 sists of a pit in the ground over which is erected a building containing a 

 privy box and seats. The pit or vault is of varying width and from four to 

 ten feet in depth, depending on the nature of the subsoil and the level of 

 the ground water table. The length depends upon the number of seats, 

 about twenty to twenty-four inches being allowed for each seat, exclusive 



of partitions. In suitable earth 

 the pit may be made without re- 

 taining walls, but if placed in 

 ground that tends to cave in- 

 ward, walls of masonry, con- 

 crete or wood must be provided 

 (Plates 327, 329 and 330). 

 Where retaining walls are used 

 the bottom of the pit may be 

 left open to the soil or a water- 

 tight vault may be made. 



The privy building and box 

 is essentially the same as that 

 described for the sanitary privy 

 (Plates 318, 3 19 and 328), except 

 that the privy box has no bottom 

 but opens directly into the pit. 

 The building is ventilated and 

 fly-proofed and the seats are sep- 

 arated by partitions. 



When the pit is filled to 

 within eighteen inches of the sur- 

 face, the building may be re- 

 moved and the pit filled to above 

 the level of the ground with sol- 

 idly tamped earth. If practica- 

 ble the contents of the pit should 

 be removed, carted away and 



buried, or otherwise disposed of and the building replaced. If a pit privy is 

 to be used over a considerable period of time it should be built so that the 

 contents can be removed without moving the building. In this type, the 

 rear wall of the pit slopes backward so that access can be had to the pit from 

 behind the rear wall of the privy building (Plates 328 and 330). The pit can 

 then be cleaned by dipping or scooping out the contents. All pit privies 

 should be at least one hundred feet distant from any stream or body of 



PLATE No. 327 

 PIT PRIVY WITH RETAINING WALLS OF WOOD 



(Wisconsin State Board of Health.) 



