[8] Health Bulletin, Va. State Board of Health, June, 1917, pp. 277-280.
Among deodorants some of the drying powders mentioned below possess more or less disinfecting power. Chloride of lime, though giving off an unpleasant odor of chlorine, is employed extensively. Lime in the form of either quicklime or milk of lime (whitewash) is much used and is an active disinfectant. To prepare milk of lime a small quantity of water is slowly added to good fresh quicklime in lumps. As soon as the quicklime is slaked a quantity of water, about four times the, quantity of lime, is added and stirred thoroughly. When used as a whitewash the milk of lime is thinned as desired with water and kept well stirred. Liberal use of milk of lime in a vault or cesspool, though it may not disinfect the contents, is of use in checking bacterial growth and abating odor. To give the best results it should be used frequently, beginning when the vault or cesspool is empty. Iron sulphate (green vitriol, copperas) because of its affinity for ammonia and sulphides is used as a temporary deodorizer in vaults, cesspools, and drains; 1 pound dissolved in 4 gallons of water makes a solution of suitable strength.
PREVENTION OF PRIVY NUISANCE.
The following is a summary of simple measures for preventing a privy from becoming a nuisance:
1. Locate the privy inconspicuously and detached from the dwelling.
2. Make the receptacle or vault small, shallow, easy of access, and water-tight.
3. Clean out the vault often. Do not wait until excrement has accumulated and decomposition is sufficiently advanced to cause strong and foul odors.
4. Sprinkle into the vault daily loose dry soil, ashes, lime, sawdust, ground gypsum (land plaster), or powdered peat or charcoal. These will absorb liquid and odor, though they may not destroy disease germs.
5. Make the privy house rain-proof; ventilate it thoroughly, and screen all openings.