526 



Water Supply for Villages. 



[dec, 



It may be of interest to note, in passing, that as a consequence 

 of the water-greed of trees, shallow wells situated in the vicinity 

 of woods are usually the first to " give out " during a period of 

 scarcity. 



Happily for the persons chiefly concerned, such periods are 

 rarely of long duration in this country, but the inconvenience 

 and insanitation resulting from them are not the less regrettable, 

 in view of the fact that with a little more initiative and enter- 

 prise most village communities could not only insure against 

 such ills, but could positively add considerably to the amenities 

 of village life. 



Although much has been done under the provisions of the 

 Public Health Acts by rural district councils to provide the 

 communities within their jurisdiction with good water services, 

 much still remains to be done in this direction. 



Most villages in England and Wales are still dependent 

 for their inconstant and sometimes polluted supplies upon their 

 series of shallow wells which, perhaps, represented the summum 

 bonum of a century ago, but for which the only excuse to-day 

 is the cost in money of a better system. 



As this matter of cost may, owing to lack of data, operate 

 as a deterrent to the due consideration of individual water 

 schemes, a few estimates, based upon actual experience, may 

 be of service to those interested. 



It should, however, be premised that these estimates would 

 only apply to average conditions, which may be taken to 

 comprise a moderately compact village of 500 inhabitants 

 (100 houses) situate in an ordinary agricultural district where 

 (owing to a liability to surface pollution) the impounding of 

 a stream is , inapplicable and where, therefore, water must be 

 pumped from a deep well into a service reservoir. 



The sites of the well and reservoir and the means of service 

 would, of course, in all cases need to be decided by an expert 

 engineer after due consideration of the geological and other 

 conditions of the area to be served, but it may be stated that the 

 choice of a means of pumping is limited to (a) the windmill, 

 (b) the oil engine, (c) the ordinary gas engine, and (d) the 

 suction gas engine. 



Taking the cost of a tube well at £8o, then, for a windmill 

 installation the cost of well, mill, pumps, reservoir, mains, sluice 



