An adequate water supply is most essential for any camp, and should be
one of the first things to be considered in selecting a site. Springs
and wells generally supply the camper with drinking water; lakes and
streams with wash water. Few springs or wells can supply enough water
for all purposes when a camp is large.
Whatever the source of supply the drinking water should be tested by the
Health authorities before camp opens, and at any time there is any
question concerning it. Springs and wells should be cleaned out and the
former protected with boards or screening if necessary.
Too much thought cannot be given to the question of the water, as to its
purity and quantity. Children drink a great deal in hot weather and much
has to be used for cooking and washing. If there is any danger of the
drinking supply giving out, to prevent waste, allow only one or two
people to draw water and then only when necessary.
Keep covered tanks or coolers of drinking water in shady places,
convenient for the campers. Caution all as to wastefulness and if in
case of an emergency there is only a very little, place a counsellor in
charge of it and deal it out by the cupful, seeing that all have an
equal share. Of course, only individual cups should be used.
Should there be any doubt as to the purity of the water, boil it for
twenty minutes, place in earthenware or agate vessels, cool, cover and
lower the vessels down the well, or put them in the ice box, or some
cool place for the water to get cold.
Water for cooking can be taken from a lake or stream. It is generally
boiled.
If the only source of supply is a brook or stream, water for drinking
should be taken above camp. All vessels in which it is carried or kept
should be thoroughly washed each day.
No camp should remain open if the water supply is not what it ought to
be.
If a camp is supplied with running water and plumbing has been installed
the location and covering of the tank and the cesspool are important
things to consider.
The drain pipes connected with sinks or tubs should be flushed
occasionally with disinfectants, the sink drain cleaned daily with
boiling water and washing soda.
Marsh land near a camp site which is otherwise desirable, if treated
with crude oil or the water drained off by ditches, will not prove a
menace.