BULLETIN OF THE 
UOTlITOFAiOJLW 
No. 57 
Contribution from the Office of Experiment Stations, A. C. True, Director 
February 21, 1914. 
WATER SUPPLY, PLUMBING, AND SEWAGE DIS- 
POSAL FOR COUNTRY HOMES. 
By Robert W. Teullingeb, 
Rural Engineer, Office of Experiment Stations. 
INTRODUCTION. 
It is the purpose of this paper to treat in a simple manner that 
portion of the subject of farm home sanitation relating to pure 
water supplies, the safeguarding of the same against contamination, 
and the safe disposal of sewage. A few suggestive drawings and 
illustrations are given to fit average cases, together with information 
intended to aid the farmer, if necessary, to modify the designs in 
order to apply them to his particular needs. 
The greater part of this work is based on accepted scientific and 
sanitary principles, and many facts have been drawn from the works 
of authorities, to whom due acknowledgment is given. 
THE FARM WATER SUPPLY. 
DANGERS FROM CONTAMINATION. 
Without doubt many of the germ diseases may be transmitted by 
means of water; and some of the diseases are so uniformly trans- 
mitted by water that they are known as "water-borne" diseases. 
Typhoid, dysentery, and other intestinal disorders are such diseases, 
and if they may be carried by water it is of the greatest importance 
that every precaution be taken to insure a pure water supply. 
Farm water supplies may be divided into three classes, which in 
the order of their liability to pollution are surface supplies, shallow 
underground supplies, and deep underground supplies. The surface 
supplies are obtained from streams, ponds, reservoirs, and cisterns; 
both shallow and deep underground supplies are obtained from dug, 
bored, driven, or drilled wells, and from springs. 
That farm water supplies are very subject to pollution is evidenced 
by the investigations of various authorities. The investigations of 
K. F. Kellerman and H. A. Whitaker, 1 of this department, in coopera- 
i U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. 154. 
19Hll°— 14 1 
