Practical Talks With Home-builders 
VII. SECURING AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF GOOD WATER—THE PROCEDURE IN CON¬ 
TRACTING FOR AND DIGGING WELLS—GRAVITY TANKS AND AIR PRESSURE SYSTEMS 
by Alexander Buel Trowbridge 
[This is the seventh of a senes of intimate, helpful talks with those who are about to build. The aim is to offer untechmcal suggestions to prospective 
home-makers in the hope that many of the usual mistakes and difficulties may be avoided through foreknowledge. The talks are written for those of mod¬ 
erate means rather than for those to whom economy is no object .— Editor] 
HOSE who build in the open country, out¬ 
side of the water service of a town or corpo¬ 
ration, should take the matter of water 
supply into consideration even before the 
house plans are very far advanced. No 
building site, however alluring, is worth con¬ 
sidering if it is not supplied with plenty of 
good water. 
Unless the ground is very rocky the loca¬ 
tion of a well is not dependent upon any 
fixed rule. Driving a well consists in forcing 
a 4-inch, 6-inch or 8-inch pipe into the ground 
by means of special machinery not unlike 
that of a pile - driver in operation. An 
ingenious form of plunger is used to remove 
earth, sand and gravel from the interior of 
the pipe. The well is brought to the spot in 
sections 8 feet or 10 feet long, the separate 
lengths being screwed together as the pipe 
descends into the earth. The top of the 
pipe is protected from the blows of the hammer by a large wooden 
block. 
Generally it is impossible to foretell the depth at which water 
in abundance will be found. If wells have been driven in the near 
neighborhood a guess may be made which will enable a contractor 
to submit a definite figure for the work. Even then he takes 
chances, for the water-bearing stratum may slope downward from 
the neighboring property, thus giving him a deeper problem to 
solve. If a well-driver is required to give a definite bid, guaran¬ 
teeing to find plenty of water, in a locality not entirely familiar to 
him, he will put up his price to cover a possible loss. For this 
reason the most satisfactory method seems to be to ask for esti¬ 
mates per foot of depth. The contractor will drive the pipe 
until he reaches a water-bearing stratum of gravel. If, in his 
judgment, the stratum looks favorable, he will test with a pump 
the quality and quantity of the water. If, then, he believes the 
supply is ample he is ready for a 24-hour test. This consists 
first, in timing the operation of filling a 50-gallon barrel. The 
strokes of the pump are timed and counted. At the end of 24 
hours of continuous pumping the same operation of filling the 
barrel is tried. T his time the speed of the pump is carefully kept 
the same as it was during the first test. If there is no apparent 
diminution in the supply the test for quantity may be accepted as 
satisfactory. For quality a chemist should be engaged to analyze 
the water in a laboratory and submit a signed report. It is obvi¬ 
ously impossible for an owner or an architect to be present during 
the continuous 24 hours of pumping, so the word of the contractor 
must be accepted for a large portion of the test. It is to his inter¬ 
est to produce a good well, so it is not worth while to worry over 
the danger of being deceived in this test. The best way is to 
deal with a first-class contractor who has many references of sat¬ 
isfied owners to speak for him. 
In letting a contract the specifications should cover the addi¬ 
tional cost per foot of a brass screen which is placed in the bottom 
of the well to keep fine gravel and sand from getting into the water. 
Also it is wise to have some provision for extra pay in case rocks 
are encountered during the driving; otherwise you will pay a 
higher per-foot rate. The depth of the well may be readily 
measured by means of a weight and a cord, also the depth of the 
water in the well. In a recent case a well was driven to a depth 
of 70 feet and in the process the pipe went through two minor 
strata of gravel before the contractor believed it was time for a 
24-hour test. The third stratum was about 10 feet thick. The 
water rose in the well to a height of 30 feet, at which point it 
remained approximately stationary. These figures were necessary 
before the stroke of the pump and the horse-power of the engine 
could be calculated. 
The customary methods of storing the water supply are: a 
tank in the upper part of the house; a tank raised on a trestle or 
placed in a water tower; and an underground supply under air 
pressure. For large places, where the tank and trestle may be 
hidden among trees, or where a picturesque water tower may be 
built, the gravity system seems to be acceptable. The engine 
chosen to operate the pump is obliged to lift the water much higher 
in this system than in the underground storage system, and must, 
therefore, have greater horse-power. Windmills are still popular 
in some sections of the country, but their chief objection seems to 
be the danger of a protracted calm. For small places where the 
unsightly tank in the air cannot be considered, the pneumatic 
system is excellent. This consists of an air-tight iron storage 
tank, buried a few feet below the surface of the ground, joined to a 
machinery group consisting of a pump, an air compressor and an 
engine or motor. By means of belts, shafting, etc., the engine is 
coupled to the pump or to the air compressor independently or 
to both at the same time. When the tank is ready for use it has 
two-thirds of its capacity occupied by water and the top filled with 
air under a pressure of 40 lbs. to 60 lbs. A gauge gives the desired 
information as to pressure, and a glass tube tells how high the 
water stands in the tank. A cylinder 6 feet in diameter and 30 
feet long will hold, when two-thirds full, about 4000 gallons of 
water. The amount of pumping needed per day varies with the 
family life. In summer when shower baths are popular and the 
laundry work is at the high-water mark, it might be necessary 
to pump for an hour each day, whereas a half hour would suffice 
in winter. If, at the end of a day, the pressure weakens by a 
reduction of the stored water, the air compressor may be coupled 
to the engine and in a few minutes the pressure will be sufficient 
to hold through the night. This is worth while as a safeguard 
against fire. 
Some of the companies that make and install these pneumatic 
systems recommend the use of internal combustion engines in 
preference to electric motors. There are two sides to this question. 
If a house is to be used throughout the year and the pump room 
is not heated, there is great danger of injury to the engine through 
freezing of water in the cooling jacket. A draining cock must be 
inserted and the jacket completely drained each day. Also, the 
engine is hard to start in cold weather. The electric motor 
responds instantly to the closing of the switch and is affected by 
outside troubles only when the wires are down in a heavy storm. 
So the problem is governed largely by the character of the house, 
whether it is for summer use only or whether it is an “all the 
year’’ house. 
(184) 
