Disposal of Dairy and Farm Sewage, 

 and Water-supply 



By Oscar Erf 



The health of the public depends upon cleanliness. Since the 

 dairy products of the United States stand first as a food, it i& 

 essential that they should be produced under the strictest san.' 

 itary conditions. With this in view it is our purpose to give a few 

 suggestions as to the proper manner of disposing of farm sewage 

 from the cow barn, milk house, dairy, and from the dwelling, or 

 any other place that is closely situated to the dairy plant. 



This matter is of greatest importance on dairy farms, for if 

 conditions are kept filthy they very soon breed diseases which 

 affect not only people who live on the farm, but consumers as well; 

 for we now well know that many diseases are transmitted through 

 milk and other dairy products. 



Where many cows are kept in small places, and where the 

 population is large, sanitary improvements are most important to 

 health and prosperity. Where fewer animals are kept and where 

 the country is sparsely settled, sanitary precautions are not so 

 necessary, for nature usually takes care of these conditions. In 

 cities the sanitary conditions of homes and surroundings are 

 chiefly maintained by a system of cooperation and centralization 

 which brings into existence extensive sewage systems, water- 

 supplies, and the collection of house waste by public authority. 

 Rules are prescribed and enforced under which the individual 

 household must avoid all such conditions which are likely to prove 

 dangerous to the health of the immediate neighborhood, and to 

 the entire community. 



The principle underlying the disposal of the sewage on the 

 farm should be essentially similar to that of the cities. The 

 proper method of disposing the sewage on the farm eliminates a 

 great many dangers which constantly face the farmer. (Fig. 1.) 

 One of the most serious dangers is contamination of the water- 

 supply. If the water-supply on the dairy farm is contaminated it 

 will be impossible to produce sanitary milk, since utensils washed 

 in impure water will directly affect the milk. The cesspool, so 



