Water Supply and Drainage Practices in Historical Homes

CHAPTER XXIX THE WATER SUPPLY, PLUMBING, AND DRAINAGE OF THE HOUSE. GARBAGE AND RUBBISH

1. Water Supply.— The water supply of the house should be first pure, and second, abundant. No exact figures can be given as to the amount required, but for kitchen and laundry use, bathing, and good drainage, it is safe to say that thirty gallons per day per capita are ample. An ordinary barrel holds this amount. Most families get on with very much less; but for the greatest convenience and cleanliness some such quantity, if not absolutely needed, can be used to advantage, and no domestic supply is a greater luxury than abundant water. The purity of the domestic water supply should be above suspicion. In a following chapter we shall emphasize (Chapter XXXII) the requirements as to purity of a proper public water supply from which the domestic supply may be drawn; but we may here consider briefly those private supplies, such as wells, springs, and brooks, from which many houses, especially in the country, must obtain their water. It is worth remembering that all water in or upon the earth was originally rain water (i.e. distilled water from the atmosphere). This, when it flows over the surface of the earth, or percolates through the ground, is known later as surface water, or ground water. Streams, such as brooks, creeks, and rivers, are composed largely, but by no means wholly, of surface water; deep wells, ‘dug or driven, and many springs, contain a mixture of surface and ground waters. Surface waters are particularly exposed to pollution by dirt and filth from roads, manured fields, and the surface of the ground generally. Ground waters, on the other hand, although subject to pollution by percolating through buried filth, and by surface waters mingling with them through cracks or fissures in the earth, are, in general, subject to great purification by filtration during their percolation through earth, which often acts as a porous filter (Fig. 116). <Callout type="important" title="Important">Always ensure your water source is clean and free from contaminants.</Callout>
2. Domestic Wells. — The well of water has an ancient reputation and has long been celebrated in song and story. As a supply more or less public it has often served as a meeting place and a social center, and has frequently been ornamented with decorated curbs or covers testifying to popular esteem. Until 1854 the common well was, with rare exceptions, regarded as a perfectly safe and satisfactory method of securing water for public as well as private water supplies; but in that year all wells began to be regarded with suspicion, because of a disastrous outbreak of Asiatic cholera in London, which was conclusively traced to a polluted public well on Broad Street in that city. It was found on investigation that a privy vault, probably infected by the discharges of a cholera patient, had leaked directly into the well; and immediately all * wells, especially those near any source of pollution, fell under suspicion. The truth, in brief, appears to be that many wells are absolutely innocent of all contamination and yield excellent water. Some wells undoubtedly contain water originally impure, but coming from a long distance through the soil before reaching the well and thoroughly purified by filtration. Others, however, are in more direct connection with cesspools, privy vaults, barnyards, stables, or similar objectionable and perhaps dangerous sources, and are utterly unfit to serve as water supplies for domestic uses. Still others, though receiving good water from the earth about them, yield bad water because objectionable matters find their way in at the top. Poultry should be prevented from walking over loose planking which only partially covers the well, and farmers whose boots have become fouled by walking in barnyards, or on fields heavily manured with stable manure, should be careful to avoid doing likewise. The danger of even worse contamination of wells from manure or other surface dirt washed in at the top during heavy rains is also very great (Figs. 116 and 117). <Callout type="warning" title="Warning">Be cautious when using a well near potential sources of contamination.</Callout>
3. Springs are usually sources of pure water, but a spring in a barnyard or a cemetery would be plainly objectionable, and care should always be taken to ask whence comes the water which the spring yields. Springs often occur on hillsides; in such cases they should be protected from the possibility of surface pollution, while sources of pollution of any sort higher up the hill should not be tolerated, since from these the spring may become contaminated. <Callout type="tip" title="Tip">Check your water source regularly for signs of contamination.</Callout> 4, Cisterns of Rain Water are often used for domestic supply in country houses and in some places, such as New Orleans and the Bermuda Islands, where wells are not available. There is no objection to this practice, which should secure a pure and very soft water, provided the roofs, cisterns, reservoirs, and other receptacles employed in collection or storage of the water are clean and suitable. Painted roofs, and pipes, roofs, or reservoirs containing any exposed metallic copper or lead should be avoided, since rain water may attack these metals, forming with them soluble and poisonous salts. After a long dry period in summer, roofs are often dusty and dirty, and the first washings of dirty roofs should be allowed to go to waste. Rain water collected in winter or spring, and subjected to long storage, is probably the purest and most desirable cistern water. <Callout type="important" title="Important">Ensure your rainwater collection system is clean and free from contaminants.</Callout>
4. Streams, such as brooks and creeks, are sometimes used as sources of private domestic water supply, and if the places which they drain are wooded and entirely uninhabited, i.e. not manured in tillage or pasturage, the surface water which they yield may answer fairly well for house use. But, even at its best, such water is exposed to pollution by wild animals and by passing tramps, fishermen, or gunners, and a carefully protected well or spring is, as a rule, a safer supply. Well water is often more palatable, especially in summer, but is sometimes very hard. For washing, surface or rain water is generally softer and of course unobjectionable. <Callout type="risk" title="Risk">Surface water can be contaminated by wildlife and other sources.</Callout>
5. Hard Waters and Soft. — Rain water contains few or no salts in solution, and is therefore called “soft” water. Many surface waters and some well and spring waters are also soft. All such waters readily dissolve soap, and because soapy waters are sticky and easily form air bubbles, a “lather” or “soapsuds” is easily made in soft waters with a very little soap. Other waters, and especially ground waters, contain salts in solution, some of which, notably those of calcium and magnesium, form compounds and even precipitates with soap, thus removing it from the water in which it is placed. Such waters, therefore, require more soap to make them soapy, lathery, or sudsy, and are known as “hard” waters, because they feel less bland, or soft, to the skin. In some parts of the United States the well waters (and sometimes even the surface waters) are so hard as to be almost or quite useless for washing, and even for drinking. It has never been shown that moderately hard waters are necessarily any more harmful for drinking than soft waters. Persons used to either kind are apt to suffer temporary disturbances, such as diarrhea, when they change suddenly from one to the other; but otherwise no great or permanent harm ordinarily happens. If, however, a drinking water is very hard and heavily charged with mineral salts so that it becomes essentially a mineral water, it may be unfit for regular use. <Callout type="important" title="Important">Be aware of the hardness of your water supply and its potential effects on health.</Callout>
6. House Filters for water are not needed if the water supply is pure and colorless, but in many places this is not the case. If the water supply is impure, it should either be carefully filtered by a germ-proof filter (several kinds of which are on the market, but all of which are costly), or else boiled for a few minutes and cooled before it is used for drinking. If the water is pure but colored or turbid, it may be made bright and attractive by filtering through a charcoal filter; but this also, if durable and effective, is sometimes costly. <Callout type="tip" title="Tip">Consider using filters to improve the taste of your water.</Callout>
7. The Ice Supply of the house is one of the greatest of modern conveniences. Ice in summer was formerly a luxury, but in northern latitudes ice is now generally harvested in winter and stored for the following summer. In warmer climates the so-called artificial or manufactured ice brings the same luxury within reach of persons of moderate means. Provided the water from which it is made is pure, manufactured ice is as wholesome as the best natural ice. The economical value of ice in preserving foods is very great, as is also its sanitary importance in hindering harmful decomposition and decay, for example, in milk. Ice water, so generally used as a beverage in America, is probably harmless enough when not drunk in too large quantities or too rapidly; although, as a matter of fact, thirst is normally slaked by cool water more effectively than by very cold water. The ice added to drinking water should be pure; that is, ice obtained from ponds, streams, or other waters unfit to serve as sources of domestic water supply, should never be used in water intended for drinking purposes, and all ice should be carefully washed before being so used. <Callout type="important" title="Important">Ensure your ice source is clean and pure.</Callout>
8. The Plumbing of the House. — Almost all houses have a sink of some sort; from this there runs a drain- pipe, which should be tight, and large enough to carry off readily the drainage from the sink. Many houses have in addition more or less complex systems of water supply and drainage, requiring piping and plumbing. The plumbing for water calls for brief comment only. Lead service pipes should, as a rule, be avoided, for experience has shown that if the water passing through lead pipes happens to contain an excess of free carbonic acid (CO2), this may attack the lead and form with it a very soluble bicarbonate which is a dangerous poison. In Massachusetts there have been several epidemics of lead poisoning due to this cause. Service pipes, i.e. pipes leading from street mains into houses, may often be made of lead without any bad consequences, and are usually preferred by plumbers because they are more easily worked; but it is much safer to use iron for all water pipes, although iron pipes are less convenient to install and sometimes get badly clogged with rust. The plumbing for drainage should aim to provide against escape or leakage of both liquids and gases. As drain-pipes are not usually filled with liquids or gases under pressure, leaky joints and even small holes may, and often do, occur without detection. If under such circumstances any stoppage happens, pressure may arise and the liquid or gaseous contents escape. It was formerly believed that great danger existed in defective plumbing, owing to the escape of sewer gas or gases by leakage, and particularly from the pressing backward, or “rising,” of sewer gas into bath rooms, or sleeping rooms provided with set bowls, etc. The present view is that while such gases may, and probably sometimes do, escape into houses, they are usually greatly diluted before they are breathed and, at the worst, are much less harmful than was formerly supposed. They are, nevertheless, highly objectionable, and it is likely that they occasionally produce serious poisoning. If breathed for a long time, even in small amounts, they probably lower vital resistance and increase susceptibility to infectious disease, and are thus not merely objectionable but also dangerous. Pains should be taken to ventilate thoroughly all places, such as sleeping rooms, bath rooms, and water-closets, into which sewer gases may find their way, and it is advisable and customary to seal up the various drainpipes by water seals, or traps. If, in addition, the main drainpipes are provided with vents to allow the escape of any gases accumulated in the pipes, the essentials of sanitary plumbing have been secured. Good workmanship is, however, indispensable in all water and drain pipes, as well as in all gas pipes, in the house, to prevent serious damage from breaks or leaks. The main drainpipe in the house is called the soil pipe. This usually empties into an underground drain or sewer outside the house, which discharges its contents, now known as sewage, into a cesspool, or a stream, or upon a sand bed, a sewage filter, a cultivated field, or some other place of sewage disposal. <Callout type="warning" title="Warning">Ensure your plumbing is well-ventilated to prevent the buildup of harmful gases.</Callout>
9. Drainage and the Disposal of Household Wastes. — The consumption of the solid and liquid supplies of the house—water, ice, coal, food, etc.—is accompanied by the formation of various wastes which for sanitary as well as aesthetic reasons must be promptly got rid of. Waste water and melted ice necessitate drainage; the dust and ashes of fuel remain to be disposed of, and from food, putrescible remnants, known as garbage. Dirt, bottles, papers, boxes, tin cans, old clothes, worn-out mattresses, broken furniture, crockery, and glass must also be removed. Among all the wastes of the house, however, the discharges of human bodies are of the first importance, not only because of their putrescible and disagreeable character, but also because they frequently contain the germs of dangerous diseases. Drainage is often necessary for a house merely to carry off rain water from the roofs, and to keep the cellar dry. It is very important to remove all surplus water from the house and its vicinity in order to prevent dampness—this being one of the most unfavorable conditions in the environment of mankind. If the drains of houses or lands carry water only, they keep the name of drains, and the water in them is called drainage; but if such drains carry household wastes, and especially human or animal excreta, they are more often called sewers, their contents being known as sewage. The process or act of removing sewage from a house or a city, and the systems of sewers, are both known as sewerage, although this same term is sometimes popularly applied to the sewage itself. <Callout type="important" title="Important">Proper drainage prevents dampness and mold growth in your home.</Callout>
10. The Disposal of Drainage and Sewage. — Cellar drains, and drains for the removal of roof water, usually discharge, especially in the country, upon the surface of the ground at some distance from the house, and give little trouble; but sink drains, since they contain dish washings, soap-suds, and the liquid wastes of the kitchen, are apt to become choked with grease. Grease is dissolved by alkalies, and common lye (potash), allowed to dissolve and flow down the sink waste pipe, will often remove greasy obstructions and give at least temporary relief. The final disposal of sink water, however, is more difficult, and a greasy, slimy, malodorous, and unsightly channel or area behind a country house too often tells of trouble. The only complete remedy is a large waste pipe, as straight as possible, going to an equally large or larger (underground) drain, which ends in a covered pit or tank placed in porous or gravelly soil. This pit must be cleaned out from time to time, and if no open porous soil is available, a tight tank or pit must be used and frequently emptied. Sewage disposal is a more difficult matter, for sewage contains not only the sink wastes just mentioned but also washings from the human body, human excreta, and other putrescible matters, all in comparatively large volume. We shall discuss beyond the problem of the disposal of the mixed sewage of numerous houses combined into communities (p..519), and therefore at this point need consider only the disposal of the sewage of separate houses, such as country homes or farmhouses. If these are so placed as to be readily drained or sewered into the sea, or into some large lake or stream nowhere used for drinking purposes, the solution is simple. If not, the cesspool or disposal upon land, as described in the next following paragraphs, are among the best expedients. <Callout type="warning" title="Warning">Proper sewage disposal prevents contamination of nearby water sources.</Callout>
11. The Cesspool is a receptacle or tank in the earth, at some distance from the house,—not less than one hundred feet away, and the farther off the better,—into which sewage is conveyed by a drain or sewer directly connected with the soil pipe of the house. The cesspool may be either water-tight to prevent leakage, or loosely built to favor it. A common construction is one in which the cesspool is water-tight and has an outlet pipe just below the surface. This outlet pipe may run into a drain, loosely laid to facilitate leakage from its joints and thereby the escape of liquid sewage into the earth. <Callout type="important" title="Important">Ensure your cesspool is properly constructed and maintained.</Callout>

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Key Takeaways

• Ensure water sources are clean and free from contaminants.
• Use appropriate plumbing materials to avoid health risks.
• Proper drainage prevents dampness and mold growth in your home.

Practical Tips

• Regularly check your water source for signs of contamination, especially if you rely on wells or springs.
• Use filters to improve the taste of your water, particularly if it is hard or colored.
• Properly ventilate plumbing systems to prevent the buildup of harmful gases.

Warnings & Risks

• Be cautious when using a well near potential sources of contamination.
• Surface water can be contaminated by wildlife and other sources.
• Ensure your cesspool is properly constructed and maintained to avoid contamination of nearby water sources.

Modern Application

The principles outlined in this chapter, such as ensuring clean water supplies, proper drainage, and the use of appropriate plumbing materials, remain crucial for modern survival preparedness. While some technologies have advanced, the basic hygiene practices described are still vital for preventing disease and maintaining health in emergency situations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can I ensure my well is safe to drink from?

Always check your well regularly for signs of contamination, such as unusual odors or colors. Avoid wells near potential sources of pollution like cesspools, barnyards, or heavily manured fields.

Q: What are the risks of using hard water for washing and bathing?

Hard water can be less effective at producing lather with soap, which may lead to skin irritation. However, it is generally safe for drinking unless it contains extremely high levels of minerals that could pose health risks.

Q: How should I dispose of household waste in a survival situation?

Properly dispose of waste by using methods like composting or burying it away from your living area. Ensure that any sewage is disposed of in a way that does not contaminate nearby water sources.

Q: What are the signs of a contaminated water source?

Signs of contamination include unusual odors, colors, or tastes. You should also be wary if your well is n