A text-book on hygiene and pediatrics from a chiropractic standpoint

by J. H. Craven

Water from the subsoil is obtained, as has been stated, from wells. Wells are classified as shallow and deep. By a shallow well is commonly meant one that is dug and not more than thirty feet deep. This type is usually walled up with brick or stone and is from five to six feet in diameter. Shallow wells may also be driven. That is, a gaspipe with a sand point is driven into the ground until the water-table is reached, the water being pumped out with an ordinary suction pump.

Shallow wells must never be considered a satisfactory source of water supply where there are conditions existing which would result in such pollution of the ground that the water percolating through can not be more or less filtered. Sewage polluted soil never is satisfactory for shallow wells.

Showing a properly constructed well in unsanitary locations.

Deep wells are drilled and are from six to eight inches in diameter. The water from deep wells may be free from contamination but may contain a great deal of mineral in solution and different salts which render it permanently or temporarily hard. This decreases its value from a sanitary viewpoint and more particularly from an economic standpoint.

Special attention should be given the construction of the well. The casing or walls should be as tight as possible. Special care should be exercised against the possibility of surface water percolating through the casing as this drainage will bring impurities.

The casing should project far enough above the surface of the ground to insure against water running from the surface. It should extend at least eighteen inches above the ground. The well should have a tight covering.

The ground possesses great filtering qualities and therefore great quantities of impurities will be taken from the water as it filters through. The danger is when the ground becomes so filled with impurities that its filtering qualities have been destroyed or when there is not sufficient distance between the source of pollution and the water level; also when the soil is of a limestone formation and the water, instead of percolating through it, passes through cracks and crevices, in which event it will in no sense be filtered.

It was at one time considered that wells should be ventilated and a great deal of stress was laid upon it. When it is taken into consideration that the water under ground is in no way ventilated except through the natural means, it will readily be understood that it is not necessary to provide ventilation merely because the water has been tapped by a well.

If the origin of pollution, such as cesspools, is too near the well or the well is too shallow, not allowing enough distance for purification, there will be great danger from such sources. The greatest danger is in the shallow wells. However, these are entirely satisfactory as a source of domestic supply, providing the soil is of a sandy or gravel formation and there are no barnyard or cesspools, for example, too near the wells. A shallow well in a limestone region is not satisfactory and should be discarded when at all possible. If it is necessary to use such, every precaution possible should be taken to eliminate the possibility of contamination.