Water for the Garden and Home — By Geo. L. Robinson, 
MAKING USE OF A NATURAL SUPPLY BY BRINGING SPRINGS, ETC. INTO PROPER CONTROL- 
QUESTIONS OF COST, AS COMPARED WITH THE PUBLIC SERVICE SUPPLY WHEN AVAILABLE 
S OME time ago a man in New 
Jersey bought a property on 
which, at the foot of a wooded 
hill, there was a strip of very 
damp ground. Before the location of his 
new house and outbuildings was deter- 
mined he was advised by his engineer to 
try to develop in this wet spot a plan for 
creating a spring. Following this sug- 
gestion a trench some five hundred feet 
long and four feet deep was opened and 
four-inch porous field tile was laid leading 
to a concrete spring house. This house was 
located in the centre of the line and the 
tile had a pitch of about three feet in each 
direction. At the end of ten days after 
the tile was in place a flow of fine water was 
received in the spring house at the rate of 
about fifteen gallons per minute. 
The topography of the property was such 
that his house, barns and gardens could be 
placed to receive their water supply from a 
distributing and storage reservoir fed from 
the spring house above. A four-inch vitrified 
pipe was laid at a very light grade in a 
trench about four feet deep to the reservoir. 
The reservoir was designed to hold 20,000 
gallons of water. It was built of reinforced 
concrete and divided into two compart- 
ments, and the outlet placed to draw from 
either or both compartments. An over- 
flow extended to the ground surface to take 
care of any excess flow beyond the daily 
consumption. Each compartment was 
provided with a floor drain and outside 
valve so it could be drawn off and cleaned 
if that should ever prove necessary. The 
concrete roof was covered with two feet of 
earth which kept the water at a very even 
temperature of a most pleasant coolness. 
Manhole openings were brought to grade 
and provided with properly screened, 
framed ventilator covers locked in place. 
This entire plant cost complete $4,000. It 
has been in use for nearly five years, through 
dry and wet seasons, and has given continued 
satisfaction and ample supply of water. 
Not far from this same property there 
was a stream of such size and fall that the 
owner was able to install an hydraulic ram. 
The water had been given a series of tests 
for its purity and was found to be excellent 
although the stream passed through quite a 
large drainage area. 
A survey and levels disclosed the fact 
that by putting a very small concrete dam 
across the stream the drive pipe could be 
carried along the bank to the ram below. 
The hydraulic ram is a machine working 
automatically to use the power of water 
Concrete construction may be used effectively in making an ornamental well head. 
The superstructure of wood is designed to carry trailing vines which will drape the whole 
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