See to it that the well stands on high ground 
and is deep 
Picturesque, but the wind usually fails 
in dry seasons 
Sink new wells only where contamination 
is impossible 
The Water Supply for the Country Home 
VARIOUS METHODS BY WHICH ONE MAY HAVE PURE WATER IN ABUNDANCE 
FOR THE KITCHEN, THE BATH, THE GARDEN, THE LAWN AND THE LIVESTOCK 
by Harold Whiting Slauson 
Photographs by Thomas D. Sears, J. T. Beals and others 
T HERE is nothing which more facilitates comfortable living 
than an abundance of clean, fresh running water always 
at hand and supplied directly throughout the house by means of 
well arranged systems. Not only is it needed inside the house, 
either, for unless you have a plentiful supply of water, espe¬ 
cially during dry seasons, you cannot hope to keep your lawn 
looking well. Often too little water on the lawn during droughts 
is positively more harmful than none, because it causes the 
growth of the roots towards the surface, and consequently the 
grass plants are weakened. Therefore in dry seasons the lawn 
must be thoroughly wetted, so that a sufficient quantity of water 
will reach the lowest roots of the sod. Thus, it will be seen that in 
planning the water supply for the house that is to have a lawn, 
this important requirement must not be overlooked. 
The water supply for the stable should be as pure as that for 
the house. Do not for a moment suppose that animals can thrive 
on dirty water. 
One should always be suspicious of old wells that he knows 
nothing about, but it is just as important that the new ones 
should not be sunk in positions that subject them to the least 
possibility of contamination. If one has the least doubt as to the 
absolute purity of the water supply he should send samples of it to 
the agricultural experiment station of his state, to state boards 
of health, or to anyone authorized to analyze waters. Well 
aerated basins of sand- and brick-filtered rain-water hold the safest 
water supplies. While great depth in the well generally insures 
against objectionable matter of an organic nature it may lead to 
the introduction of mineral elements that make the water hard or 
even unhealthful. Shallow well-water is almost never safe from 
a well of only fifteen to twenty-five feet in depth, for surface 
water invariably flows instead of filters into it, after a drought 
has dried and cracked the soil. So the well should be placed 
on high ground when possible, and one should remember that 
man’s dependence on a pure drinking-water supply makes any 
avoidable economy connected with obtaining it an absolute folly. 
Happy is the possessor of an artesian well. He who drills 
through solid rock from high ground to the base of the water supply 
will find, in the long run, that his drilled or artesian well is one 
of the least expensive methods of obtaining water when one 
takes into account a perpetually adequate supply. 
Although springs, wells and streams of clear, pure water abound 
in the country, many of the houses there are without equipment for 
any running water supply; consequently they are without one of 
the chief conveniences which add so much to the advantages 
of living in town, where water-taps in several rooms and a bath 
on every floor have come to be considered as necessities of modern 
living. 
Of course, windmills have been used for centuries, their prin¬ 
cipal work having been to pump from wells for the purpose of 
supplying water for cattle. However, in late years their field 
of utility has been enlarged, and the windmill is now often 
erected for the purpose of pumping a supply of fresh running 
water into the house-tank for family use. Nevertheless, owing 
to its dependence on a brisk wind for performing its duty, 
and to the fact that in summer, which is not the season of 
frequent winds, the greatest amount of water is needed, and 
as the capacity for pumping by this method is at times limited 
and uncertain, entire dependence upon a windmill for household 
water supply on a large estate is apt to be somewhat precarious, 
although it may do very well for the smaller place. 
When, at all seasons of the year, a stream of running water is 
available near the house, an hydraulic ram is an economical 
means of obtaining a private water supply. The ram is entirely 
automatic in action, and requires no fuel or outside source of 
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