32 



dairies, producing milk for the supply of large populations, the polluted 

 water supply becomes a serious danger and a menace to the public 

 health. 



I shall allude to this phase of the subject more at length in another 

 connection. 



The peculiar regard which each householder or house owner has for 

 his own well is sometimes marvellous when a single glance at its sur- 

 roundings would convince even a casual observer that the owner's esti- 

 mate is far from correct. The water looks clear and transparent; it 

 has a sparkling taste ; very likely the owner prefers it to any other 

 water in the world. But clear and good tasting water is not necessarily 

 pure water, and may be exceedingly polluted, as an ordinary chemical 

 analysis often shows. It is necessary, therefore, in locating a well, to 

 place it in such a position that no foul drainage from any source can 

 possibly enter it, either by filtration through the ground or by surface 

 flow over the ground. The cow yard, the back yard of the house, the 

 barn cellar, the house cellar, the neighborhood of the hogsty and the 

 cesspool, neither of these places is suited for the site of the well. As a 

 general rule it would be preferable to place the well above the house 

 and barn, in higher rather than in lower ground, unless some neighbor's 

 house, and consequently his drainage system or want of system, hap- 

 pens to be on still higher ground above the well. In hilly and moun- 

 tainous regions it is a common .and an excellent practice to draw the 

 water for the farm from a spring at an elevation on the mountain side, 

 above the house and away from all possibility of contamination. 



In connecting such springs with the house there is, however, an ele- 

 ment of danger which deserves a moment's notice. I refer to the use 

 of lead pipe. Under certain conditions and with certain waters lead 

 pipe is used continuously and without harm ; but this is not always the 

 case. It is only quite recently that I have investigated a serious epi- 

 demic of lead poisoning in a small village furnished with a public water 

 supply where some thirty or forty people were poisoned with lead and 

 some of them quite seriously. In all these cases of poisoning I found 

 that unusually long lines of lead pipe were used to connect the houses 

 with the street mains. I also found that little care had been taken to 

 draw off the water which had stood in the pipe over night before using 

 it in the morning. With this precaution the danger is greatly diminished. 

 It is much safer, however, to use no lead pipe at all. Iron is entirely 

 safe and the added cost of occasional i*enewal of the pipes does not im- 

 pose a serious tax upon the house holder. 



Drainage. — Having considered the water which enters the house, let 

 us now spend a few moments upon another and a similar question, the 

 water which goes out of the house, that is to say, the drainage or sewage 

 of the house ; in other words, the water which has entered the house 

 with the addition of such refuse as the household may add to it. The 

 location of farm-houses at a distance from densely settled communities 

 usually prevents their connection with public systems of sewerage. 

 Hence it becomes necessaiw to take care of the house drainage upon the 

 farm itself. 



