Disposal of Spoil.
3. The spoil from the excavations should be placed on the outside of the embankment formed round the tank when originally made, and should be deposited in such a position to preclude, as far as possible, its being washed back again by rain water.
Dressing and Turfing.
The crest of the embankment should be dressed off to a slope of 1 in 12 away from the tank, with side slopes on the outside of 2 to 1. This will prevent direct contamination of the tank by spill water from the crest, where persons or carts, may have encamped.
All slopes should be neatly dressed off; all those above highest water-level being turfed during the commencement of the ensuing rainy season. This is very important as it prevents the chance of a considerable quantity of the excavated earth being washed back into the tank.
Water-supply for Municipal and Rural areas is a subject which is, at the present day, receiving much attention. It is being encouraged by contributions from Government and from Local Authorities, by gifts from wealthy Indian gentlemen, and by loans from Government redeemable in a fixed period. For rules for the preparation of projects in the Province of Behar and Orissa see Appendix F, page [69], and for the table of instalments for the repayment of loans, Appendix E, page [68]. The comparative death-rate from Cholera and Intestinal diseases in Municipalities which possess a pipe water-supply, and those without, need only be glanced at to prove the vital importance of a pure water-supply, and even these figures do not adequately indicate the true position, as further loss of life due to water-borne diseases, cannot be traced out from the statistics published. Major S. A. Harris, I.M.S., Sanitary Commissioner, United Provinces, in his paper on the effect of a pipe water-supply on the reduction of Cholera in urban areas, read at the Second All-India Sanitary Conference at Madras, in November 1912, quotes the reduction of death-rate per mille before and after the provision of a pipe water-supply for the following places:—
| Before. | After. | |
|---|---|---|
| Dehra Dun | 10·19 | 2·25 |
| Meerut | 7·49 | 3·02 |
| Naini Tâl | 10·19 | 2·86 |
and stated that the number of years in which the Cholera death-rate rose above 1 per mille is seen to have been reduced by the filtered water-supply to about ½ in Dehra Dun, Meerut, Benares, Lucknow and Naini Tâl.
The cost of Water Works must vary considerably according to local conditions. Where the supply is derived from a source not liable to contamination, from spring wells, tube wells and infiltration galleries, where subsequent filtration is unnecessary, the capital expenditure may vary from Rs. 3 per head for a tube well, Rs. 4–8 from an infiltration gallery supply, such as Congeeveram (Madras), to Rs. 10 and over for a filtered water-supply derived from a river. The cost of the distribution system must necessarily vary according to its size, and the density of population in the area served, but this, under normal circumstances, may be assumed at 50 per cent. of that of the Water Works. As each Province in India has a Sanitary Engineer, and as the subject of the preparation of a Water Works project is a highly technical one, it is beyond the scope of this work to go further than to impress its importance. Any efficient Water Works started means a large saving of human life and of much misery.