I9ii.] 



Labourers' Cottages. 



109 



rounded with 12 in. of clay puddle. They should never be 

 less than 50 ft. deep, and the deeper they go the less likely 

 is the water to be contaminated. With regard to shallow 

 wells, it is no uncommon thing when the weather is very 

 dry, for the water-supply to become scanty and sometimes 

 to cease altogether. This is a proof that the water is derived 

 from surface drainage after passing through a few feet of 

 soil and collecting in the hollow made for it. The one great 

 objection to shallow wells is that the water is liable to pollu- 

 tion to a greater degree than in deep wells. Wells, if 

 removed from all likely sources of pollution, are better than 

 surface streams. 



It frequently happens, more particularly in the fen 

 districts, that the sources of water-supply already enumerated 

 are not available, and cottagers have to depend upon the 

 storage of the rain-water for domestic purposes, or the water 

 is pumped and carted from the dykes and drains which are 

 so common in that part of the country. Water from the 

 latter sources is frequently of a brownish colour owing to the 

 fact that it has drained through peaty land ; it has been proved 

 by analysis that it is not deleterious for drinking purposes 

 on that account, but there are risks of its being polluted by 

 other causes. 



Rain-water collected from the roofs of houses and stored 

 in underground tanks frequently becomes polluted, and 

 should be boiled and efficiently filtered. The tanks should 

 be constructed of substantial concrete or brickwork in cement, 

 and should be rendered in cement 1 in. thick or lined with 

 pure bitumen sheeting, and should be thoroughly cleaned 

 out three or four times a year. On no account should tanks 

 for the storage of rain-water be lined with lead, as the lead 

 becomes oxidised by the action of rain-water, and persons 

 drinking the water are liable to lead poisoning. 



The frequent occurrence of wells and cesspools in close 

 proximity, and the use in villages of surface streams, make 

 it absolutely necessary that great care should be exercised in 

 the use of water. Unfortunately, the provision of a suitable 

 water-supply sometimes involves considerable expense to a 

 landowner, a recent case in Buckinghamshire working out 

 at 22 per cent, of the actual cost of the cottage. 



