Home waterworks; a manual of water supply in country homes

Front matter

THE -YOUNG- FARMER'S

7*.

♦ HOME

Introduction

If I lived in the country without " water on tap in the house,' ' I would read this book again with care, use the information it contains and provide in an economical way this one of the important aids towards satisfactions in housekeeping. The volume in its subject matter and the manner in which that is presented is a valuable guide book to anyone who is thinking of installing a simple water-system or of improving one already in existence. The explanations are so clear and complete that the ordinary intelligent layman is enabled to understand the ways and means to be used to accomplish an end which is desirable for every home.

Water for drinking purposes is a necessity. Therefore that is always provided in quantity although sometimes doubtful in purity. For other household uses the supply is often scanty and not infrequently obtained with unnecessary

ix x INTEODUCTION

labour and in winter weather at the cost of comfort to the women. Want of thinking of the real advantages to the family, want of knowledge of the moderate cost and want of information as to how to go about it, are the chief reasons why this means of grace for health and good living has been neglected in the country. Water in the house, to use lavishly for all wholesome conveniences, seems at first thought beyond the means of frugal people, who have earned by hard labour all they have to spend. It looks to some, who have not closely considered the costs and the benefits, like an extravagance. Instead of that it is one of the greatest of house economies. Almost every farmer could afford the luxury of all water conveniences in his home. These are real luxuries, life their fellows, sunshine, wholesome food and fresh air, which do not weaken the muscular, mental or moral fibres of life. When one has been compelled to use any of these debased for a time how satisfying is the pleasure of purity and abundance.

As an investment for the home I know of nothing likely to yield so much in return in

INTRODUCTION xi

saving women's strength, in increasing house comforts, in preserving health, in imparting satisfactions in housework and in elevating the general tone of the material side of living. The vague impressions of cost which prevent action should be replaced by adequate knowledge of the essential facts.

The chapters on sources of water supply, and their protection against defilement, are illuminating and should help to prevent disease and what is perhaps quite as damaging. "The effect of impure water is much like that of a dilute poison; it lessens the body's power to resist disease."

The book is suitable for reading and study by children in continuation classes and in High Schools. Everyone would be all the better for having clearer ideas regarding water, its sources, its uses and how the house supply may be protected against dangerous contamination, as Dr. Lynde says in Chapter I, — "All of this tends to bring about that for which we are all striving, a better home and a better chance for the children.' ' The Bible says in the book of Eevelations, — "And he showed me a river of xii INTEODUCTION

water of life, pure as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."

An abundant supply of pure water in the home is one of the means within reach for bringing it nearer heaven.

Jas. W. Eobebtson.

Feby., 1911,

Ottawa, Canada.

Table Of Contents

CHAPTEE PAGE

I Value of Water Indoors 3

II First Steps in Kitchen Equipment .... 8

Chapter I Value Of Water Indoors

Thousands of men living in the towns, villages and rural parts of the United States and Canada, out of reach of a public water system, have equipped their homes with water-supply conveniences equal to any found in cities. Thousands more who could well afford to do so and who could do so advantageously, have not done so for various reasons — because the idea has not occurred to them, or because they do not know how to go about it, or because they mistakenly think the expense too great. It is hoped that this book will prove useful to many of these.

An abundance of water in the house is a comfort to every member of the family and a labor-saving convenience for those who do the daily recurring work of the household. This latter is the strongest reason for placing a water supply system in the home, — it is a labor-saving convenience for women.

This is the age of labor-saving machinery, and in no field of activity is this more apparent than on the farm. There the man's work is lightened by the use of the gang-plow, cultivator, disk harrow, horse rake, hay tedder, mower, binder, corn harvester, potato digger, root cutter, threshing machine, gasoline engine, etc. The advantage of labor-saving machinery in man's work is evident and easily reckoned in time and money saved. The advantage of labor-saving devices in the home is not so easily estimated. The mother's labor is so freely given that we are in the habit of considering it of no money value, whereas, when we think of it seriously, we realize that it is the most valuable asset of the home.

The energy a mother devotes to the work of the home and the care of her children is above money valuation, and anything that conserves this energy and makes it more effective is a gain to the whole family; labor-saving devices

VALUE OF WATER INDOORS 5

in the home are an aid in this direction, and a water supply system is one of the greatest of these labor-saving devices. With a supply of hot and cold water on tap, with a kitchen sink and set laundry tubs, much of the drudgery of work in the kitchen is eliminated, and the energy thus saved is free to be devoted to the better care of the children and to the enjoyment of life with them.

In the normal home there are two chief workers — the man and the woman. The man, by his labor, provides the raw material; the woman, by her labor, produces from this material the flower called home life. The advantage of labor-saving machinery in man's work, on the farm or elsewhere, is not that he does less work, but that he does more and better work and still has time and energy left for higher forms of work, for self -improvement, and for enjoyment in life. The same is true of labor-saving appliances in the home; the mother does the same work in less time and with less expenditure of energy, and the time and energy saved are devoted to the higher needs of her children, to self -improvement, and

6 HOME WATEEWORKS

to the enjoyment of life with her family. All of this tends to bring about that for which we are all striving, a better home and a better chance for the children.

The home in the country or small town has many advantages over one in the city; it has fresh food, pure air, plenty of sunshine, and God's good out-of-doors. In one respect, however, the average city home has an advantage over one in the country; it has a water-supply equipment. Happily there has been a great improvement in this condition of affairs in the last few years. Thousands of homes in the country have been equipped with water-supply conveniences; many others are being so equipped; and for still others, such an equipment is being planned. It is hoped that this book will be of service in aiding this good work.

When a man sits down to plan a water supply system for his home, he must decide a number of questions, namely: how to obtain pure water in sufficient quantity; how to bring the water to the house ; how to equip the house ; and how much it will all cost.

To help answer these questions, the problem

VALUE OF WATEE INDOORS 7

of water supply is dealt with as follows: — Chapter II takes up the equipment of the kitchen and shows that many of the comforts of a convenient water system may be had at moderate cost. In Chapters III to V, the sources of water supply are discussed, showing how pure water may be obtained and how it may be kept pure. Chapters VI to XVEI deal with the various pumping and water-supply appliances used in bringing water to the house and barns ; and in order to show not only how they work but why they work as they do, the appliances are explained from the standpoint of the laws of nature upon which they are based. When a man understands the "why" of the various appliances, he is able: first, to choose with intelligence the equipment best suited to his own needs ; second, to make any alterations needed to increase the efficiency of the system he proposes to instal; and third, to keep the apparatus in good running order after it is installed. Chapter XVIII deals with the equipment of the bathroom and water-closet, and with sewage disposal.

Chapter II Fiest Steps In Kitchen Equipment

In many homes a convenient water system would be installed at once, were it not for the impression that the cost is necessarily very great. From the illustrations given below it will be seen that this impression is erroneous and that many of the comforts of abundant water may be had for a small outlay in materials.

In the typical country or village home the drinking water is obtained from a well and the water for washing from a cistern. Both pumps are outside of the house and all the water used must be carried in pails. This is hard work and it is usually the women who do it. In all kinds of weather, fair or foul, in rain, snow and slush, this water must be carried and the women do it. A little money well spent will bring this water into the house and add much to the health and comfort of the women folk.

I

2 a

M

10 HOME WATEKWOBKS

Cistern pump and sink in the kitchen. If the cistern is just outside the house, as is usually the case, a few feet of piping will bring the water from it into the kitchen and allow the pump to be placed at one end of the kitchen sink. The cost of this is as follows :

From cistern to pump, 20 feet 1^4 inch galvanized iron pipe at 10 cents per foot $2.00

Pitcher pump, 3 inch, brass lined 1.85

Porcelain lined sink 18 X 30 inches fitted for

iy 2 inch lead trap 2.35

Lead trap, iy 2 inch, with iron pipe connections 1.40 From trap to drain 25 feet 1% inch galvanized

iron pipe at 12 cents per foot 3.00

50 feet 3 inch drain tile at $14 per 1,000. 70

The prices given throughout this book are for materials only, and do not include the freight or cost of installing. The freight is usually a small item and the work of installing the apparatus may be done by the householder. All the large dealers will cut and thread the piping to the required lengths, if measurements are sent to them. The charge for this is nominal, generally under five cents per cut and thread. Any man, then, who can use a brace and bit and a pipe-wrench can instal the apparatus.

The prices quoted were obtained partly by correspondence with dealers and partly from the catalogues of large retail-houses. For the convenience of those interested in water-supply equipment, a list of dealers in water-supply and plumbing materials is given at the back of the book. Catalogues and further information as to prices, etc., may be had by writing to these dealers, or to others.

The pitcher pump is described on page 96. It will lift water by suction fifteen or twenty feet. If the lift is greater than this, a wellpump such as that described on page 98 is used.

The sink is an important part of the kitchen equipment. In a great many houses, not only is all the water for drinking and washing carried into the house, but all the waste water is carried out; this means more needless drudgery for the women. A kitchen sink attached to a good drain, saves all the labor of carrying out the liquid wastes, and at the same time disposes of these wastes in an inoffensive manner. An

S-shaped trap is placed under the sink to prevent the foul air of the drain from coming up into the kitchen. A little water remains in the trap after each discharge and makes what is called a water-seal, which keeps back the foul air.

A proper method of disposing of sewage is a very important part of any plumbing system. The drain shown in Fig. 1 is made as follows : A one and one-half inch galvanized iron pipe runs from the trap to about twenty feet from the house, where it empties into fifty feet of three inch tile set with open joints eight inches below the surface of the ground and at a slope of about three feet in one hundred feet; here the drain ends.

The operation of this drain or sewage disposal plant, as we might call it, is as follows. The liquid waste enters the tile drain and gradually soaks out through the joints into the soil. The water disappears, but the organic impurities are held by the soil grains and serve as food for the millions of bacteria which live in the soil near the surface. These bacteria turn the impurities into harmless substances.

The tile drain is placed with the top only eight inches below the surface in order to take advantage of the good work done by the soil bacteria, which are most numerous near the surface. If the soil about the house is a heavy clay, through which water does not pass readily, the tile should be placed in a trench, about two feet wide and one and a half feet deep, filled with sand or loam, the top of the tile being not over eight inches below the surface.

The drain should be placed on the side of the house opposite to the well, and where the ground has a gentle slope away from the house. It should be placed where it will not be plowed up, as under a lawn or under the grass at the side of a path or road.

This drain will take care of the wastes from sink, laundry tubs, etc., in the kitchen of a moderate-sized family of, say, six or eight people. For a larger family the tile drain may be lengthened to seventy-five or one hundred feet. It will not take care of the sewage from a water closet. Various methods of doing this are described in the chapter on sewage disposal.

In cold climates where such a drain might freeze in winter, it may be protected by a heavy covering of barnyard manure; or the wastes from the kitchen may be carried to a cesspool through fifty feet of three-inch glazed tile placed four feet underground at as steep a grade as possible.

This kitchen equipment, consisting of cistern pump, sink and drain, can be installed at a cost of less than twelve dollars for materials. It adds to the comfort of the home, by doing away with the drudgery of carrying the cistern water into the house, and the waste water out of the house. A further comfort is added to the home by bringing the well water into the kitchen.

II. Well pump in the kitchen. The labor of carrying the drinking water may be saved by placing the well pump at the other end of the kitchen sink. This also gives another source of water supply. If the cistern water fails in a drought, the well water may be used for all kitchen purposes until a fresh supply is on hand. The cost of this depends of course on the distance from the well to the house, and also on the kind of pump used. If the well is, say, iiiiiii||i|n ll'ili;m j '// seventy-five feet from the house, and the vertical part of the pipe is twenty-five feet long, one hundred feet of piping is needed. The cost is :

100 feet 1}£" galvanized iron pipe at 10 cents

per foot $10.00

1%" foot valve and strainer 25

•Well pump 3.00

The foot valve is placed on the lower end of suction pipe in the well and keeps the suction pipe full of water, so that the water comes quickly when the pump is started.

The equipment described under I and II above, decreases the work of the women in the home, since it saves them the heavy labor of carrying great pails of water into and out of the house. If the kitchen is supplied with running water, the work in the home is still further lightened, since the women obtain all the water needed by simply opening a tap, and the labor of pumping may be done by the men of the family or by some form of power pumping.

III. Running water in the kitchen. A supply of running water (Fig. 3) may be obtained by placing in the attic or on the second floor a storage tank into which water is pumped from the cistern or well. In many cases an oil barrel is used as a storage tank; the head is broken in, the oil drained out, and that which clings to the sides burned off. For a moderate-sized family, one barrel of water is ample for one day's use in the kitchen. When a larger supply is needed two or more barrels may be connected at or near the bottom by one-inch piping, or a wooden or steel storage tank may be used.

The water is pumped into the tank by means of a force pump at the sink, and may be drawn for use through a tap in the spout or through a separate tap. A small telltale pipe is inserted near the top of the tank and drains into the sink, to indicate when the tank is full.

If the cistern is not large enough to supply sufficient water for use at all times, the svstem should be arranged to use well water part of the time. This may be done, either by replacing the well pump, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, by a force pump with a pipe leading to the tank, or, by so arranging the force pump, shown in Fig.

3, that it may be used to pump either well water or cistern water. To do this the well suction pipe is joined to the cistern suction pipe by means of a lateral "Y," and a gate valve is placed in each suction pipe below the (< Y." When cistern water is needed the gate valve in the cistern suction pipe is opened and that in the well suction pipe closed ; when well water is needed, the reverse. When both cistern and well water are available, the tank may be filled with cistern water on days when washing and scrubbing are to be done, and with well water on other days.

The cost of the whole equipment shown in Fig. 3, including tank, sink, force pump, well pump, etc., is approximately as follows. (Some of these prices were given under I and II, but they are repeated here to avoid confusion) :

Cistern to force pump, 20' l 1 ^" galvanized

iron pipe at 10 cents per foot $2.00

Force pump, 3" brass lined with tap in spout 5.50 Pump to tank, 18' 1" galvanized iron pipe at

iy 2 cents per foot 1.35

Oil barrel . 50

Telltale pipe, 20 feet %" galvanized iron pipe at 3% cents per foot 70

Porcelain-lined sink 18 X 30", fitted for 1%"

lead trap 2.35

1%" l ea< l trap with connection for iron pipe. . 1.40 Drain pipe, 25 feet l 1 /^' galvanized iron pipe

at 12 cents per foot 3.00

50 feet of 3" drain tile at $14 per thousand. . .70

Well pump 3.00

Suction pipe for well pump 100 feet l 1 /^" galvanized iron pipe at 10 cents per foot 10.00

Foot valve for suction pipe .25

A few minutes' pumping each morning by the men of the family will fill the storage tank and provide an ample supply for the day's use.

Methods of pumping the water by windmill, hydraulic ram, gasoline engine, etc., are described in later chapters.

With the equipment shown in Fig. 3, the well water is brought to the kitchen sink ; the cistern water is to be had by opening a tap; and all waste water is removed by the sink and drain. These are great aids to work in the kitchen. This equipment is good, but it may be made better by adding to it the appliances necessary to provide a supply of hot water on tap. A convenient and abundant supply of hot water in the kitchen, is probably the greatest comfort of a water supply system.

IV. Hot water on tap. As soon as the kitchen is supplied with water under pressure, from a tank in the attic or otherwise, the comfort of an abundant supply of hot water on tap may be had at a small additio'nal expense. The extra equipment needed, as shown in Fig. 4, is a hot-water tank, a waterfront for the kitchen range, and piping to connect the cold-water supply to the hot-water tank, and to deliver the hot water at the sink.

The cost of this hot-water equipment is approximately as follows :

Fig. 4. Running hot water added to kitchen equipment.

From cold-water pipe to hot-water tank 10 feet %" galvanized iron pipe at 5% cents per foot $ .55

30-gallon galvanized iron hot-water tank with stand and brass couplings 6.00

Hot-water front with connecting pipe 3.00

From hot-water tank to sink 12 feet %" galvanized iron pipe at 5% cents per foot .... .65

Hot-water tap .50

The working of this hot-water system is described on page 244 below. In Fig. 4 the telltale pipe is shown projecting from the side of the building beneath the eaves. It is so placed that the water drops in front of a window through which it may be seen from the sink. This arrangement of the telltale pipe may be used in southern houses where there is no danger of its freezing in winter. In northern houses the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, should be used.

With hot and cold water on tap, but one convenience more is needed to make the kitchen equipment complete, namely r a pair of set laun dry tubs.

I

V. Set laundry tubs. The work on wash day is the hardest of the week, and when the ordinary round wooden tubs are used, involving, as they do, the heavy labor of lifting, filling, and emptying them, the work comes under the category of heart-breaking drudgery.

The women may be saved all this unnecessary labor b y installing a pair of laundry tubs, as shown in Fig. 5, each tub being fitted with hot and cold water taps and a drain pipe ; all the labor of filling and emptying them is entirely done away with.

The cost of adding laundry tubs to the equipment of the kitchen is approximately as follows:

PIPES TO WATER FRONT

PIPE TO WELL

Fig. 5.

Set laundry tubs added to kitchen equipment.

Two compartment granitine laundry tubs 48 X 24 X 16", with iron legs, zinc rim, brass plug, strainer and waste connection . . $ 5.70

4 taps at 65 cents each 2.60

Pipe from cold-water pipe to cold-water taps, 10 feet %" galvanized iron at 5% cents per

foot .55

Pipe from hot-water pipe to hot-water taps, 10 feet %" galvanized iron pipe at 5% cents

per foot .55

Trap l 1 /^" with iron pipe connections 1.40

Iron pipe to drain, 10 feet 1%" galvanized iron pipe at 12 cents per foot 1.20

The laundry tubs take up little room in the kitchen, and if they are covered by a pine top, hinged at the back, they serve as an extra table when not in use as tubs.

In cold climates it is well to place the tubs, the sink and all piping on the side of the kitchen not exposed to the weather. At the same time it should be remembered that a great deal of the cleaning work is done at the sink, and therefore it should be placed in a good light. The kitchen table, range and sink should be close together, and all should be near the pantry, because in preparing the food and washing the dishes for a family, three times a day, a woman walks miles, and if the distances are greater than need be, a great deal of unnecessary labor is involved.

The water-supply equipment described in this chapter is a labor-saving device for women, and as with any other labor-saving device the gain is two-fold: first, the same work may be better done, in less time and with less expenditure of energy; second, the time and energy saved may be devoted to higher work. A woman has just so much energy to give to the care of her family. If a great deal of it is used up in such unnecessary drudgery as carrying great pails of water, there is just that much less left to devote to the higher needs of her children.

If we consider the question from the money standpoint — from which standpoint all things must be considered — the total cost of all the appliances shown in Fig. 5 is less than fifty-four dollars. The material will last as long as the house, but if we place the time at forty years, the cost amounts to less than one and one-half dollars a year. This is not a great price to pay for the increase in comfort; and when we take into account the saving in doctor's bills, and the gain in health and happiness to every member of the family, the outlay must be looked upon as an investment bringing in the finest kind of returns.

CHAPTER m SOURCES OF WATER SUPPLY

UNDERGROUND WATER

In Chapter II we dealt with the question of water supply in its relation to the home, and it was shown that many of the conveniences of running water might be introduced into the home at a moderate cost. In this and succeeding chapters the general question of water supply will be considered; beginning with the sources of water supply, then taking up the various methods of pumping water, and ending with a chapter on plumbing and sewage disposal.

Sources of water supply. In the beginning the earth was stored with water, just as it was with air, rock, minerals, etc.; this great store of water is the ultimate source of all water supply. It is made available to us by the heat of the sun which causes water to evaporate (turn to water vapour) from the surface of land, rivers, lakes and oceans ; this vapour mixes with the air and moves with it over the earth's surface; in time it cools, condenses to water, and falls as rain or snow. The water which falls on the land in the form of rain or snow is the source of the water in cisterns, wells, springs, rivers and lakes, and these in turn are the immediate sources of water supply for mankind. There are then three factors involved in water supply: first, the original store of water on the earth; second, the sun which makes this water available in the form of rain or snow ; and third, cisterns, wells, springs, rivers and lakes, which are the immediate sources of water supply for mankind.

When rain falls on a field it does not remain there for all time, but leaves in one or all of three ways: it may evaporate, run off over the surface, or sink into the ground. That which evaporates, mixes with the air and in time falls again as rain; the part which runs off over the surface, drains into brooks, rivers, lakes or the ocean, and is subject to evaporation all along its course; that which sinks into the ground, also finds its way underground to brooks, rivers, lakes or the ocean, and is known as underground or ground water.

Underground water. We are particularly interested in underground water, because the great majority of homes in the country obtain their water supply from wells, and the wells in turn receive their water from the underground supply.

A great deal of the earth's surface is made up of great layers of soil one on top of another, underlaid by further layers of rock. For example, if we should dig down in a field we might find the following: a surface layer of loam; under it a layer of sandy or gravelly soil ; then a layer of clay, then a layer of limestone, and under it a layer of sandstone, etc. These layers are called strata and vary greatly in thickness and extent. A pervious or porous stratum is one that allows water to move through it more or less readily, as for example a sandy or gravelly layer. An impervious or non-porous stratum is one that does not allow water to flow freely through it, such as clay and rock strata.

When rain-water falls on a sandy or loamy soil it sinks down until it comes to a non-porous layer ; it then moves along on top of this non-porous stratum very much as surface water does on the surface of the ground. There are hills, plains and valleys in the underground strata which as a rule follow more or less closely the contour of the surface stratum, although not always. The underground water flows down the sides of these hills, over the plains and either comes to the surface in the valleys in the form of springs, or flows down the valley through underground brooks, rivers and lakes, until it empties into surface brooks, rivers or lakes farther down the valley.