600 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



abundance of pure, soft water, hot and cold, is 

 not a luxury, but a necessity. n. 8. t. 



Lawrence, Mass., Oct., 1870. 



For the Xew England Farmer, 

 FILTER FOR CISTERNS. 



ET B. LIVERM RE. HTDRAULIC CEMENT WATER PIPE 

 LATER, HARTLAND, VT, 



The common way of filtering water through 

 charcoal, sand, &c., as it runs into the oi--tern 

 from the eaves of the house, proves ineffec- 

 tual. 



Such a filter may arrest and separate some 

 of the impurities in the water for a fe.w gentle 

 showers, but when a rapid How of water is 

 produced by a hard hhower, a great share of 

 these impurities will be carried through this 

 filter into the cistern. 



The true way to filter water is to have it 

 pass :?lowly through a filter of such material 

 as will allow nothing but water or liquid to 

 penetrate it. Such a filter is made of brick. 

 The bri. 'ks should be well burnt, — not so hard 

 that water will not penetrate them, nor so soft 

 that time will crumble them in water. 



A filter which will contain a barrel or a 

 barrel and a half, will be found of sufficient 

 size for a common family. 



To make this filter, first wet the brick, and 

 lay up a filter, using a mortar made of clear 

 cement, being careful to make the joints per- 

 fectly tight, and keep the face of the brick 

 clean, because if bedaubed with cement, water 

 will not penetrate them. The brick should be 

 thoroughly saturated with water, as the ce- 

 ment mortar will immediately set on touching 

 a d-ry brick, and make it impossible to lay a 

 tight wall. 



Make this filter at the bottom of your cis- 

 tern with no outlet but the pipe which goes to 

 the pump, and no inlet but ihrough the body 

 of the brick, and a small pipe which reaches 

 above the water to admit air, as the water is 

 drawn out of the filter. 



About two pails of water will pass through 

 the walls of such a filter in an hour. This with 

 thn barrel and a half of water which it con- 

 tains is suflScieut for common families washing 

 days. A box 28 inches long, 16 deep, and 

 IGi wide, will contain a barrel. The filter 

 may be made without the air pipe, but I think 

 the water is better filtered with it. 



The water as it passes from the eaves to the 

 cistern, should go through a screen, to keep 

 the leaves, &,c , which lodge on the roof of 

 the house from enteri-ng the cistern. This I 

 make in the form of a box and place it near 

 the ground where I can handdy clean it out 

 when it needs it. The bottom of this box is 

 fine wire gauze. 



The box may hold about a pailful, and have 

 a lid that may be easily opened to clean the 

 screen. The conductor from the eaves to the 

 cistern should be so fixed that the water may 

 be prevented from running into the cistern 



during the first part of a shower, after a long 

 drj spell, and till the roof is washed from 

 smoke and dust. 



Such a cistern, so arranged, will afford far 

 more wholesome water than is furnished many 

 cities and villages from ponds and brooks, 

 and convejed through poisonous lead pipes, 

 and the interest on the money invested in such 

 a cistern will be less than the tax charged for 

 pond and brook water. 



PraWs Junction, Mass., 1870. 



Reilvrks. — In consequence of the great 

 trouble which many families have experienced 

 the past dry season from the failure of their 

 usual supply of water, we think the foregoing 

 articles, as well as that by Mr. Livermore 

 published some weeks since, will prove inter- 

 esting to many of the readers of the Farmer, 

 though in some particulars both writers give 

 nearly the same directions. As the form and 

 situation of the brick filter are not essential, 

 each one may adopt such plan as his individ- 

 ual preferences may suggest. 



Perhaps the aunesed cut, which shows the 

 old style of passing the water through char- 

 coal and sand, at A B C D E, also a brick 

 wall through the centre of the cistern, may 

 illustrate the arrangement of pipes, «S;c., on 

 the plans recommended by Mr. Livermore and 

 N. S. T. G is the pipe for conducting the 

 water from thg roof to the cistern ; and F 

 shows the pipe for drawing out the filtered 

 water, on the opposite side of the partition. 

 Now suppose this partition removed, and the 

 dark portion of the cut to represent one side 

 of Mr. Livermore's brick box, or N. S. T.'s 

 circular partition, the pipe F would enter 

 that, instead of the water above, as is repre- 

 sented in the cut, and consequently there- 

 would be no need of the partition, or of the 

 charcoal, &c., as the water for use would be 

 drawn only from the inside of the filter. 



