Village Sanitary Economy, 
229 
other duties besides ; and tliere is no doubt tbat much is to be 
done, bj the combination of owners and occupiers of adjacent 
wet lands, to convert water into a benefit which while resting in 
the land is an evil. 
But for one instance in which under-drainage furnishes a 
constant discharge, hundreds of cases occur in which the outlets 
cease to run after the month of May ; and in these cases, if we 
are to turn to account such an intermittent flow, the surplus 
of the winter must be collected in a reservoir, from which the 
supply of the village may be taken when the outlets cease to 
flow. The difference between a constant run of water and the 
supply to be gained from an intermittent discharge by the aid of 
storage is very great, both with respect to cost and quality ; for, 
as the supply to a village is comparatively small, and the oppor- 
tunities of collecting it in any deep natural receptacle rare, 
recourse must be had to comparatively shallow reservoirs, which 
are open to the objection that vegetable and animal life thrive 
in them, and when they decompose render the water less pure. 
This objection is, however, met by constructing the reservoir 
in such a manner as will allow of its being emptied every year 
and properly cleansed. The proportion of the rainfall discharged 
by under-drainage during the winter from clay lands will not 
be less than 3^ inches,* where the annual rainfall does not 
exceed 24 inches, and the proportion due to the winter is not 
less than 9 out of the 24 inches. This amounts to 79,183 gallons 
per acre. To supply a village of 400 inhabitants with 10 gallons 
each per diem, a total quantity of 1,460,000 gallons will be re- 
quired for the year' s supply, half of which (730,000 gallons) 
must be stored during the discharging period for use during 
the remainder of the year, with an addition of 50 per cent, for 
evaporation, waste, 6cc. By this means a village may be amply 
supplied with water all the year round, the quantity used during 
the winter being supplied direct from the outlets, and that of 
the summer from the reservoir. A reservoir capable of holding 
the quantity required would occupy about 4-lOths of an acre, 
assuming the depth of water not to exceed 10 feet. The whole 
expense of constructing such a reservoir, with supply-pipes, &c., 
would probably not exceed 400/. (putting a fair value on the land 
required), which, if repaid with interest in thirty years, would 
involve an average annual charge upon each dwelling of about 
8s. if 60 dwellings composed the village. This is rather 
lower than the minimum rate which it has been already stated 
the labouring cottager can fairly afford to pay. 
* See 'Journal of the Eojal Agricultural Society of England,' vol. xx. p. 273 
e.' seq. 
