Water in abundance for the domestic animals should be provided by means of artificial pools or lakes, situated on land higher than the barns, but if they must be placed below the level of the buildings, aermotors or windmills may be easily made to elevate it to any reasonable height. It is difficult to explain why more miniature lakes, in which to store water for all except culinary purposes, are not constructed. In [Fig. 7] it is shown how easily these pools may be made without expensive stone dams, and after the fashion of those constructed in many of the southern states.
Wells, in many places, must be deep, and then often furnish but a meager supply of water, while cisterns large enough to supply all wants are expensive. In addition to artificial lakes, wells, and cisterns, there are often streams, or best of all, springs, to be drawn upon. In any case, a full and continuous supply of water should be provided before buildings are constructed if annoyance, loss, and unnecessary labor are to be obviated and the best sanitary conditions secured in the house. Unless the water is brought into the house under a constant pressure, one or more storage tanks should be provided. They should be placed at such elevations as will secure at least some pressure on the first floor above the cellar. The storage tank may have a capacity of from one to five barrels, and may be constructed of rough or planed two-inch planks and lined with galvanized iron, if the water is to be used for culinary purposes; if not, it may be lined with lead. The tank, which may be of any shape desired, may be placed on supports near the ceiling of the bath-room, or the room which contains the commode, or at one end in the upper part of the clothes-press; provided, however, that the discharge pipe is made so large that under no contingencies will the tank overflow. If the house is fairly large and the cistern capacious, sufficient water may be pumped into the tank from the cistern in a few minutes to supply all wants for the day. From the tank it will flow by gravity into the hot water boiler and to all other points desired which are not above the tank. If water be raised by means of an aermotor, a storage tank will still be necessary, as the wind may fail to operate the motor for an entire day. By whatever means water is secured, the supply should be ample at all times. Springs and wells in the middle and northern states, and cisterns in the southern states will, in most cases, serve to supply the potable water needed, but these are too often inadequate to supply the large demand for water made by the animals, and the extra demand for water in the house made by cleaner and more sanitary methods of living.
In using water in the household, it becomes mixed with a great variety of organic substances which pollute it, and which tend to putrefaction and decay. As these various organic substances break down, numerous compounds are produced, many of which endanger not only health but life itself; it is therefore evident that all soiled water should be removed from the house immediately and by the shortest practical route. But what to do with the polluted water after it has been removed from the rooms, becomes one of the most difficult problems of modern civilization. The first thought is to empty this sewage into streams and lakes; but those living on the streams and in the cities must secure their water-supply from these sources. It is evident, then, that the streams should not be polluted. The next thought is to distribute the sewage over the land, but this method is usually an expensive one, and seldom can enough sandy land be secured to absorb and filter the vast quantities of sewage which modern conditions make necessary.
On the farm the same difficulties are presented, and the problem to be solved differs in degree rather than in kind. If dry-earth closets are used on the farm, there is still the kitchen and laundry sewage to be provided for. While disposing of this, provision may also be made for the night-soil, thus obviating two systems of removing waste from the house. However, the earth-closet will reduce the amount of liquid sewage and increase the temptation to discharge it into the streams which, above all things, should be avoided. If porous or sandy lands can be found within reasonable distance of the dwelling, and yet not too near to it to endanger health or pollute the water supply, a cesspool may be constructed. A hole some ten feet in circumference and ten to twelve feet deep, dug in the earth, walled with stone without mortar, may serve for catching and filtering the sewage. On top of the wall, which should not reach the surface of the ground by about two feet, lay two pieces of railroad iron, and on these place large flat stones, covering all with dirt, providing, however, for ventilation by means of a 4-inch iron pipe, which should be long enough to reach a little above the surface of the ground when all is completed.
Fig. 87. Plan of a cesspool.
If the soil is not as porous as is desired, lay several tile or stone drains at a depth of three to five feet, and extend them from the cesspool some distance out into the field or grounds beyond. ([Fig. 87].) These drains should have free outlets, and the longer they are the better. At the outlet of the drains plant willows or some other water-loving, fast-growing trees. These will take up and utilize vast quantities of liquid and decomposed solids, and if the household is of only ordinary size no nuisance will result.
If water is limited and the dry-earth closet must be adopted, then the cesspool for the kitchen and laundry liquids need not be made so large as described, but may be built in the same manner. The dry-earth closet may be built as follows: Construct a privy of suitable size, 5 to 20 feet from the most convenient rear door, and connect it by a covered walk to the house. The small building should be placed not less than two feet above the ground, on a good, tight wall, which should extend under three sides of the building, the other side to be furnished with a hinged door. Secure a large, iron-top, dump wheelbarrow, which may serve to hold all fœcal matter. This may be emptied weekly or monthly into a nearby trench, previously prepared. A few shovelfuls of earth thrown upon the excreta will effectually arrest any offensive odors which might otherwise arise. Before the ground freezes in the fall dig a trench of sufficient length to contain the fœcal matter during the winter. In cold weather the barrow may be inverted over the trench, and by the application of a few quarts of hot water to the iron bottom the frozen material will be released. When the ground thaws, the accumulated matter may be covered. While the material is frozen there will be no danger from it. It should be said that this trench would better be dug near a row of trees or other strong-growing perennial plants. These will quickly take up the products of the night-soil which might, in rare cases, tend to contaminate the soil-water. If but little of the night-soil be deposited in one place, the earth and plants—two most efficient disinfectants—may be trusted to preserve good sanitary conditions. However, pains should be taken to discover if, by any possible means, the sewage may find its way into the well. An intelligent inspection of the soil, the stratification of it and the rocks, will reveal the direction which the soil-water takes; but if the cesspool and the drains are placed some distance from the dwelling, no contamination will take place under any circumstances, since the amount of sewage is so small and the power of plants and soil to take up the dangerous products of sewage is so great.
CHAPTER XIII
HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION, ECONOMY, AND COMFORT
In colonial times, before so many of the household operations were transferred to shops and manufactories, women were producers almost as much as men; but in modern times women are more and more concerned with how money shall be spent. The woman is still a producer when she cooks an egg, mends a garment, or sweeps a room; but the question of how much or how little can be had out of the family income has become relatively more and more her concern. In Europe, far more than in the United States, attention is given by the women to the economical expenditure of the family resources. A provincial French girl is trained from her childhood for household duties. She assists her mother not only in order to learn the finer arts of housewifery, but especially the judicious expenditure of money. The French husband leaves the apportionment of the family income almost wholly to his wife’s discretion.