.1338 
7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Sanitation and Water Problems 
Sewage Disposal 
I have a cottage in which the farmer 
who operates my farm lives, and I am 
desirous of improving the toilet facilities, 
which now consist of only an outdoor 
toilet and indoor chemical toilet. I have 
hesitated to drain an indoor flush closet 
into a stream which runs at the bottom 
of the hill, on which the house is located, 
as this stream runs through our hog pas¬ 
ture. This stream is perhaps 300 or 400 
feet in the line from the house. What 
might be recommended in the way of an 
inexpensive septic tank that will so purify 
or dispose of the output of the toilet that 
it will not contaminate the stream be¬ 
low ? j. w. E. 
Huntington, W. Va. 
If you can install an -indoor flush 
closet, there are two methods by which 
you can dispose of the waste from it: 
either by means of a cesspool or a septic 
tank. The former is simply a dry well, 
perhaps eight feet deep by five across, . 
stoned up dry and covered by a foot or 
more of earth. If this can he dug several 
hundred feet from any well, and below 
rather than above it, it may be considered 
practically safe. In a fairly open soil such 
a cesspool would care for the waste from 
a closet indefinitely. No cesspool, how¬ 
ever, can be said to be absolutely safe, 
since no one can tell to just what extent 
its contents may percolate through the 
soil. 
The second, and safer, method is to 
construct a simple septic tank, one of 
which was described in the Feb. 1 issue 
of this paper on page 172. The discharge 
from such a tank should not be permitted 
to enter a stream, as, while it may be 
clear, it has not been freed from possible 
contamination by typhoid, or other dis¬ 
ease germs. # This discharge may be puri¬ 
fied by being distributed through the 
upper layers of the soil by means of open- 
jointed drain tiling, which tiling should 
have but a slight fall, and no greater 
depth beneath the surface than the exi¬ 
gencies of cultivation above it might re¬ 
quire. M. B. D. 
Vicinity of Well and Cesspool 
How many feet from a well, on prac¬ 
tically level ground, should a cesspool be 
placed, in order that the drinking water 
may be kept perfectly safe from in¬ 
fection ? E. A. G. 
Westtown, N. Y. 
Since there is no way of knowing what 
the underground water channels in any 
particular place are. it is impossible to 
set any definite limits to a safety zone 
about a well. The distance which the 
fluid contents of a cesspool may travel 
depends both upon the nature of the soil 
in general and particular water channels 
which may happen to be present in that 
place. In clay soils, water seeps slowly 
through the mass, more rapidly through 
any thin sandy layers which may be 
present, and regularly through irregularly 
open passages, if such exist. In soils of 
sand and fine gravel, open passages are 
not apt to be found and fluids see]) but 
slowly and for comparatively short dis¬ 
tances. Coarse sands and gravels permit 
more rapid movement of fluids and move¬ 
ment of these for greater distances In 
sandstones, slates, and shales, the move¬ 
ment of water is largely along joints be¬ 
tween the rock layers and is of indefinite 
extent, perhaps but for a few feet, per¬ 
haps for many hundred. Limestone soils 
are characterized by numerous, and often 
large, water channels, which mav extend 
for great distances, not fe'>t but miles. 
Surface or underground pollution reach¬ 
ing one of these channels in limestone 
rocks may be carried to wells miles away. 
It will thus 'be seen that there is no such 
thing as “perfect safety” in connection 
with a cesspool, and. if a cesspool is to be 
used, one must be content with amiroxi- 
mate safety so far as nearby wells are 
concerned. This approximate safety dis¬ 
tance may be from 100 feet up and should 
always be as great a distance as it is 
practicable to secure. It should probably 
never be less than 100 feet and 200 feet 
is far better. M. n. n. 
Piping Water Up Hill 
I want to run the water from my 
spring to the house; there would be about 
25 ft. raise. I aim to try to run the 
water with an undershot water wheel. 
I have a stream of water about 0x12 in. 
to run the wheel with, and can get about 
18 in. fall. I cannot get fall enough to 
put in a ram. r. k. h, 
Chatham Ilill, Va. 
If there is no more fall available than 
you say an undershot wheel would 
scarcely give you enough power to de¬ 
pend upon for pumping. Would it not 
be possible to sink the ram in a pit where 
it would be protected from freezing, re¬ 
moving the waste water by an under¬ 
ground drain, and in this way securing 
the necessary fall for the ram? If this 
is not possible I would consider the next 
best thing to be the installation of a 
gasoline engine that could be used to 
pump the water, and if desired operate 
a lighting plant for the farm buildings as 
well. The various concerns advertising 
in the reliable farm papers will be only 
too glad to furnish you with their cata¬ 
logues for the asking, and many of such 
plants can be seen in operation at the 
local hardware stores. A windmill can 
be used as. pumping power, hut where 
the Avater is wanted for house use its 
uncertainty calls for too large a storage 
tank, making the water likely to be warm 
and brackish unless well protected from 
the heat. Some users have gotten around 
this difficulty by having the drinking sup¬ 
ply come through a coil of piping which 
is kept packed in ice. This of course 
calls for some attention and considerable 
ice during the Summer. r. h. s. 
Raising Water for Irrigation 
Enclosed is a rough sketch of a water 
system on which I should like your 
opinion. The object is to use the water 
from the creek, which is three feet below 
the surface of the place where I should 
like to have the water for use. Some 
have suggested a siphon with a hydraulic 
ram, and others other ideas. I should 
like to use the water in the creek for 
watering my garden and fruit trees with¬ 
out the use of a pump jr gasoline engine, 
and be able to turn ft off without too 
much trouble. The idea is to water the 
posit through. It was driven through a 
stratum of clay 40 ft. to soft water, and 
has been a delightful spring, soft as rain¬ 
water. The pipe does not fill with sand 
and interfere with the flow, and it is 
two years or more since it commenced to 
be this way. Is there any strainer that 
could be attached to cylinder to hang in 
pipe for water to pass through and be 
cleared, or a filter attached to nozzle of 
pump? As everything is so expensive 
I do not feel I can afford a new pipe 
driven, as the plumber tells me it might 
cost $50 or $60 to bore through the clay, 
as he cannot drive, although when this 
pipe was driven, 45 years ago, I know it 
was driven by hand, and good material 
must have been used to last all these 
years. Do they not use different points 
for harder soils? Can you g’.ve me any 
information that w’ould help me out in 
this difficulty ? J. A. A. 
Southold, N. Y. 
As I understand your trouble, the well 
water is turbid or cloudy because of the 
presence of minute particles of clay or 
sand in it. If this is the case no strainer 
will remove them, because of their fine¬ 
ness, and filter beds are not to be recom¬ 
mended because they usually give trouble 
and are a source of danger when used 
under farm conditions. They require too 
much attention. Turbid water is some¬ 
times improved by allowing to stand for 
several days in a reservoir where it is 
undisturbed, permitting the fine particles 
On the Way Home from School 
trees and garden at a minimum expense, 
as the profits derived are too small to 
afford any expenditure, such as windmill, 
pump or gasoline engine. Should a hy¬ 
draulic ram be used at the foot of the 
hill, there is no way of draining the sur¬ 
plus water off, and the drain would be 
impossible. The water is not wanted at 
the top of the hill, but at the bottom, 
where it is to be used to water about 
two acres of ground. T. J. c. 
Illinois. 
As I understand your problem from 
(be description furnished you wish to 
raise water to your garden from a brook 
three feet below and 1,000 feet distant 
horizontally. Such a description indicates 
a very level contour, one in which there 
would be but little current in the creek, 
and if such is the case very little can be 
done. Water will not run up hill unless 
forced to do so by some agency, and 
cannot be obtained under the conditions 
outlined without pumping by some means. 
If the stream will furnish from two to 
three feet fall and a satisfactory way 
can be obtained to dispose of the waste 
water, a ram might be used to pump the 
water, or if fall enough could be provided 
a wheel could be used, but barring these 
conditions, which I am led by your letter 
to think do not exist, a gas engine, wind¬ 
mill or some other form of motor would 
be the only means available for pumping 
the water. A siphon will not operate 
..iiless the point of discharge is lower than 
the supply. Aside from the cost of the 
pump and motor the necessary pipe to 
conduct the water 1,000 feet would be 
quite an expensive item, so that if it were 
desired to keep the cost as low as possible 
this alone might be considered excessive. 
R. ir. r 
Clarifying Turbid Water 
I am having trouble with my driven 
well. While it still gives a good flow of 
water, it is no longer clear. The plumber 
here says there must be a break in the 
pipe somewhere, and it lets the clay de- 
that are in suspension to settle. Some¬ 
times they are so extremely fine, however, 
that this treatment does not remedy the 
trouble. If you have a good cool cellar 
or other means of keeping the water in 
a condition suitable for drinking the above 
method might be experimented with, and 
if found successful a permanent reservoir 
for settling put in. 
Mr. Fuller, specialist on underground 
waters and formerly in charge of the 
Underground Waters of Eastern United 
States for the U. S. Geological Survey, 
states that much may be accomplished 
in tin* clearing of turbid waters by the 
coagulation method. Aluminum sulphate 
is added to the water to be treated in the 
ratio of one grain of the chemical to each 
gallon of water, or to put it on a more 
readily workable basis one ounce to every 
60 cubic feet or 450 gallons of water. 
The addition of this chemical is supposed 
to coagulate the clay particles in some¬ 
what the same way that rennet coagulates 
milk, making them collect together and 
become too large to be supported by the 
water and causing them to settle to the 
bottom. Tbfc use of a chemical of this 
kind is not to be advised, however, when 
its use can be avoided, and if used as 
small a quantity as experiment shows is 
necessary should be the greatest amount 
used. A sample of the water sent to your 
{"state Experiment Station might bring 
you more definite directions as to its best 
treatment. 
This well has certainly given you good 
service, but it would eeein likely that your 
plumber’s statement as to the cause of 
the present trouble is correct. If this is 
so there seems little that can be done 
toward the repair of the well as it now 
stands. Farmers’ Bulletin No. 041, 
“Water Systems for the Farm Home,” 
will give you more detailed information 
about driven wells than I have the space 
for here. It is obtainable from the Gov¬ 
ernment Printing Office, Washington, 
D. O.. or through your Congressman, and 
I would think would be of great interest 
to you. R. h. s. 
September 13, 1919 
Homemade Water Wheel 
I would like to make a ram, to force 
water 40 feet up hill. The creek is about 
four feet wide and two inches deep, and 
runs rapidly. It could be dammed up five 
feet. Could you give a diagram of such 
a ram ? l. f. t. 
Eau Claire, Mich. 
A ram could be installed under the con¬ 
ditions outlined that would work very 
nicely, but it would not be practicable to 
attempt to build one in the farm shop. 
While the ram is a very simple machine 
it is one requiring great strength and 
finely fitted parts. The water at the time 
of the ramming stroke exerts great pres¬ 
sure on the lower end of the drive-pipe 
and under compartment of the ram, mak- 
A jromemade Water Wheel 
ing strong aud unyielding construction 
necessary, any elasticity here hindering 
or stopping the action of the rain by 
cushioning and absorbing the energy of 
the ramming stroke. At the same time 
the valves must be watertight aud work 
freely and easily if the full force of the 
water is to be utilized. 
If a fall of five feet or more is obtain¬ 
able by damming as you state a small 
overshot wheel could be made and in¬ 
stalled which would furnish sufficient 
power to pump the water. This scarcely 
needs description, being simply a wheel 
fitted with a watertight rim and buckets 
similar, to those in an elevator, as indi¬ 
cated in the sketch. The wheel used 
should be somewhat less in diameter than 
the fall obtainable, to provide a free 
escape for the waste water from below it, 
and may turn on a shaft made from a 
piece of 2-iu. gas pipe revolving in oil- 
soaked hardwood bearings, a crank being 
fitted at one end to operate the pump. 
The greater the fall obtainable by the use 
of a dam or by carrying the water down 
stream in an open trough or flume the 
more power may be obtained from the 
water. There are a great many small 
streams that would furnish sufficient 
power for light work scattered about the 
country, and where they are so located 
that their power may be utilized they 
should be developed, as their use adds 
to the convenience and pleasure of coun¬ 
try life. r. h. s. 
Mortar Cement 
1. Can you tell me how to make a ce¬ 
ment for “pointing up” where sill of 
dwelling rests on split stone underpin¬ 
ning? I want something somewhat sticky. 
Lime mortar is not satisfactory to apply. 
There is no cellar, barely room to crawl, 
and lime mortar will fall off before I can 
smooth it down. 2. I am obliged to keep 
my cows in the barn on plank floor all the 
time; living in the village I cannot turn 
them out at all. What can I do to keep 
their feet in proper shape? E. d. g. 
Ashburnham, Mass. 
1. A mortar much used for brick and 
stone work is made from Portland cement 
and clean, sharp sand, one part of cement 
to two or three of sand. Cement manufac¬ 
turers recommend as a still better working 
mortar, though one not quite as strong, a 
mixture of one bag of cement, one barrel 
of sand and one-half pail of lime putty, 
the latter being made by thoroughly slak¬ 
ing quicklime and allowing it to stand 
some time before using. A precaution to 
be observed in applying any kind of mor¬ 
tar to stones is to have the latter thor¬ 
oughly wet. Failure in this may have 
been the source of your trouble with lime 
mortar. 
2. A horseshoer’s rasp will enable you 
to trim down overgrown hoofs, if need be, 
though you will probably have little 
trouble with their feet if the cows are not 
compelled to stand in manure and filth. 
M. B. D. 
Catching a Weasel 
In answer to II. O.. Norwich, Conn., 
buy No. 1 Victor steel traps, two or three 
of them. Set them around the head of 
one of the chickens killed the night be¬ 
fore, cover lightly with dust. I just had 
that experience about two weeks ago; got 
him the first night. j. m. 
Maryland. 
“Of course, you would never think of 
deserting your party!” “Never!” said 
Senator Sorghum. "‘On the contrary, it 
sometime*! takes quick work on my part 
to keep my party from deserting me.”— 
Washington Star. 
