Three things are all that are necessary to supply any family with the
purest and best water in the world for drinking, cooking and washing
purposes: a well-constructed cistern, a clean roof and a rain-fall.
[Illustration: CUT-OFF ATTACHMENT.
_A._ To connect with down pipe.
_B._ Outlet for waste water.
_C._ Leads to filter or cistern.
_D._ Is adjustable to fit box _C_.
_E._ Fastenings to wall of house.
_F._ Side view of _D_.
_G._ Handle to adjust _D_.
(Not patented; can be made by any tinsmith.)]
These are within the reach of every one able to own a home. By a cistern
we mean an excavation in the earth from twelve to twenty-five feet deep.
Dig deep if you want cold water all the year round. From eighteen to
twenty-five feet will produce it. If your cistern is dug in a clayey
soil, there is no use of brick lining; but if in gravel, sandy or rocky
soil, line the inside with hard, well burnt brick, and do the work well;
using for mortar equal parts of hydraulic lime and clean, sharp sand.
When completed, plaster the inside carefully with the same mortar. If
the walls are clay plaster immediately on the sides and bottom, without
lining with brick.
No roofing material is better for collecting chemically pure water than
tin, and none so bad as wood shingles. They hold dirt which no ordinary
shower will wash off, and furnish organic matter which is disagreeable
to the taste and smell; the porous nature of wood makes it the home of
myriads of insects, the remains of which are eventually deposited in the
cistern and poison its waters.
No such objections can be urged against tin roofing. A short shower
cleanses it thoroughly. Water-pipes leading into the cistern in every
case should have a cut-off attachment within easy reach.
There are several on the market, but those having no inside arrangement
to get out of order, or obstruct the direct passage of water into
either the cistern or waste-pipe, are the best. The water should be
strained before entering the cistern. This can be built of brick and be
underground, or a cask can be used above ground. A strong, iron-bound
linseed oil barrel answers the purpose. Its construction is very simple.
Take out one end of the cask and perforate it with a sufficient number
of one-inch auger holes; lay four brick on edge in the bottom of the
cask, and let the perforated cask head rest upon them. Then fill the cask
three-quarters full of charcoal, pounding it down on top pretty hard. Put
on top of the charcoal clean, coarse gravel to within three inches of the
top of cask; make a covering with an opening to receive the water which
flows from the roof, and convey the water from the bottom of cask to the
cistern. At least once a year this filter should be emptied and cleansed,
putting in new charcoal and washing the gravel carefully. Let no summer
months’ water run into the cistern. See that the first rain of a shower
is used to wash the dust and soot from your roof before it is turned into
the cistern, and you will have an abundance of water not equaled by any
well or spring.