HOUSE AND GARDEN 
January, 1910 
power, inasmuch as the energy necessary for its operation is 
obtained from the water of the stream on which the apparatus 
is situated. By this means a comparatively large amount of 
water falling a short distance is made to force a much smaller 
stream to a far greater height, and is a convenient method of 
utilizing water which otherwise would be wasted. The ram 
practically requires no attention, and may be kept out-of-doors 
in all kinds of weather in the summer months, but is ordinarily 
unavailable for use in the winter owing to the probability of 
freezing. 
Probably the simplest and most economical source of power 
for pumping purposes the year round is the hot-air engine, which 
can be adapted for any kind of fuel from wood and inflammable 
refuse to gasoline and alcohol. The working principle of this 
engine, briefly stated, is that air, when heated, will increase in 
volume and in so doing is made to force up the piston which 
operates a flywheel to which the pump is connected. Such an 
engine is generally installed either in the barn, the cellar, or in 
some small outbuilding near the source of supply, and pumps the 
water into a tank located in the top of the building or elevated 
on a framework nearby. An engine of this sort can run all day 
with no other atten¬ 
tion than the sup¬ 
plying of fuel at 
proper intervals, 
practically lasting a 
lifetime, and requir¬ 
ing but a small 
expenditure for re¬ 
pairs. One design 
of hot-air engine is 
made especially for 
pumping from arte¬ 
sian wells where the 
height from the 
source of supply to 
the ground exceeds 
twenty feet—a dis¬ 
tance above which it 
is difficult to obtain 
a satisfactory vacu¬ 
um sufficient for 
raising the water. 
1 n one model the 
pump itself is placed 
on a long rod, and 
can be operated much nearer the surface of the water than the 
location of the engine would ordinarily permit. In consequence 
of this, various styles of this engine are adapted to almost any 
kind of pumping that might be required in city or country. 
Another convenient water pump is of the centrifugal form, 
which can be operated at a comparatively high efficiency when 
connected directly to a small electric motor. In case no electric 
current is available the pump may be belted to a gasoline or 
kerosene engine, and although a certain amount of power will 
be lost by this system of transmission, the decreased efficiency is 
probably overbalanced by the increased economy obtained by 
the use of these fuels, unless a private electric lighting-plant is 
installed. 
The amount of power required for supplying an ordinary house 
with water is so small that many persons who have given the 
matter but little thought are greatly surprised when they come to 
study it. One horsepower expended for one hour will easily 
raise 100 gallons of water to a height of 100 feet, and as half of 
that distance furnishes enough pressure for the ordinary country 
house, 200 gallons would be available at the end of an hour’s 
pumping. This is a sufficient amount for the daily domestic 
There are few successfully designed water towers, 
one of which is this example near Philadel¬ 
phia—Price & McLanahan, architects 
!9 
Building a windmill as part of the house is not common but it is 
well worked out here 
use of an ordinary household, and in this manner an ample water 
supply could be obtained for a small family at a cost not exceeding 
three or four cents a day for fuel and oil, plus the proportionate 
cost of installation, attention, housing and wear and tear. The 
height to which the water would be raised is taken as the distance 
from the surface of the main supply to the top of the tank. 
Another private supply system which is becoming very 
popular obtains its pressure without the use of an elevated tank. 
In this system the tank, pump and engine may be situated in 
some out-of-the-way place—under the cellar stair, in the barn, 
or in fact in any convenient location where there is no danger of 
freezing. The pressure is obtained by forcing the water to be 
used into a heavy steel tank, having no air outlet. As the water 
is pumped into this tank the air is compressed in proportion to 
the increase in the volume of water. The service water outlet 
is at the bottom and the tank is so designed that the pressure is 
sufficient to raise the required amount of water to the desired 
height as needed. 
This supply system entirely does away with the danger of a 
collapsing tank, and furthermore has the advantage of furnishing 
abundant pressure to the upper floors of the building, which 
would be located ordinarily, at such a short distance below the 
elevated style of tank as to make a sufficient flow of water 
impossible without the use of excessively large pipes. 
A plentiful supply of water will make possible many desirable 
garden features 
