Sewage and sewerage of farm homes [1928] — John Shaqi
Sewage and sewerage of farm homes [1928]Warren, George M. (George Milton)
Science
Sewage and sewerage of farm homes [1928]
Warren, George M. (George Milton)
Sewage disposal, Rural; Sewerage, Rural
Previous discussion has dealt largely with basic principles of sanitation.
The construction and operation of simple utilities embodying some of
these principles are discussed in the following order: (1) Privies for
excrements only; (2) works for handling wastes where a supply of water is
available for flushing.
PIT PRIVY
Figure 6 shows a portable pit privy suitable for places of the character
of that shown in figure 1, where land is abundant and cheap, and in such
localities has proved practical. It provides, at minimum cost and with
least attention, a fixed place for depositing excretions where the filth
can not be tracked by man, spread by animals, reached by flies, nor washed
by rain.
[Illustration: Fig. 6.--Portable pit privy. For use where land is abundant
and cheap, but unless handled with judgment can not be regarded as safe.
The privy is mounted on runners for convenience in moving to new locations]
The privy is light and inexpensive and is placed over a pit in the ground.
When the pit becomes one-half or two-thirds full the privy is drawn or
carried to a new location. The pit should be shallow, preferably not
over 2½ feet in depth, and never should be located in wet ground or rock
formation or where the surface or the strata slope toward a well, spring,
or other source of domestic water supply. Besides standing on lower ground
the pit should never be within 200 feet of a well or spring. Since dryness
in the pit is essential, the ground should be raised slightly and 10 or
12 inches of earth should be banked and compacted against all sides to
shed rain water. The banking also serves to exclude flies. If the soil
is sandy or gravelly, the pit should be lined with boards or pales to
prevent caving. The standard galvanized or black enameled wire cloth
having 14 squares to the inch. The whole seat should be easily removable
for cleaning. A little loose absorbent soil should be added daily to the
accumulation in the pit, and when a pit is abandoned it should be filled
immediately with dry earth mounded to shed water.
A pit privy for use in field work, consisting of a framework of ½-inch
iron pipe for corner posts connected at the top with ¼-inch iron rods bent
at the ends to right angles and hung with curtains of unbleached muslin,
is described in Public Health Report of the United States Public Health
Service, July 26, 1918.
A pit privy, even if moved often, can not be regarded as safe. The danger
is that accumulations of waste may overtax the purifying capacity of the
soil and the teachings reach wells or springs. Sloping ground is not a
guaranty of safety; the great safeguard lies in locating the privy a long
distance from the water supply and as far below it as possible.
SANITARY PRIVY
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