Part 2

Even the surface of the soil when overloaded with sewage loses partially its power of purifying the organic matter. After sufficient rest, such an overloaded soil regains its original power. The purifying activity of the soil from a sanitary aspect is the same as that governing fertility from an agricultural standpoint, hence any further discussion of this subject is unnecessary.

A hint as to the proper disposition of waste, excrement, etc., is furnished by what is stated above concerning the purifying capacities of the earth's surface. Waste, night soil, etc., should be deposited with proper precautions on or immediately below the surface of the soil, where it may perform the double function of ridding the household of a nuisance and of enriching the soil itself. This leads us to a consideration of the best means of taking care of the household wastes. These are, in general, of three classes: First, fecal matter; second, kitchen and chamber slops; and third, miscellaneous rubbish and ashes.

NIGHT SOIL.

The proper disposition of fecal matter or night soil in the country has been one of the most pressing and vexatious problems of modern sanitation. Many plans have been suggested, much apparatus has been invented to meet the difficulty, but opinions not only differ but change from year to year and have led to different practices in different countries. Moreover, different climatic conditions and the divergent tendencies of rural populations in the various sections of our own country make it impossible to apply the same scheme to the whole country. Different degrees of prosperity and wealth, even in the same locality, will bring into use widely different schemes to accomplish the same end. There are in use several systems--

The privy.--The old-fashioned privy, at present still quite a common thing even in cities, is, perhaps, the most favored method of disposing of fecal matter in the country. A pit is dug and a small building set over it. The excrement deposited in it slowly fills it up. The fluids and the solids dissolved by them penetrate the subsoil and diffuse themselves in the ground. Rarely is such a pit cleaned out. Another is dug and the old one covered up. In this way the ground becomes overloaded with refuse organic matter. It is even stated on good authority that such collections of fecal matter have been found under the dwelling; also, that the privy vaults have been dug until the current of ground-water was reached which was to facilitate the removal of the excrement. It is difficult to conceive a more pernicious custom, or one more certain to pollute the drinking water. The privy vault is the most rudimentary way of getting rid of night soil, and its dangerous features are too plain to be referred to.

The cesspool.--Next comes the cesspool, which is usually connected with a water-closet, and may also receive the slops from the kitchen.

These are constructed in two ways, either as water-tight receptacles or as simple pervious pits differing in no way from the privy vault excepting, perhaps, in their more dangerous tendencies. All sanitary authorities agree in condemning the leaky cesspool as a most shiftless and dangerous method of getting rid of sewage. In most countries they are prohibited by law in populous communities. In exceptional cases, leaky cesspools may do no harm, as in an isolated house in the country whose cesspool is built at a considerable distance both from the house and the well. The safe distance from any well it would be difficult to state, because that would depend on the character of the subsoil and the general slope of the land. In any case, the cesspool should be on lower ground than the well, as the current of the ground water feeding the latter, usually but not always, conforms to the slope of the surface. A fair estimate of the least allowable distance between well and cesspool would be 100 feet. Soluble salts from sewage might still find their way into the well water, but it is quite improbable that disease germs could penetrate the soil for such a distance except where fissures and cracks may be present.

In villages, leaky cesspools are still of frequent occurrence. If the drinking water is taken from wells, such cesspools are a constant menace, and all that is needed in many such towns is a spark in the shape of some disease germ to kindle an epidemic. It is true that years may pass by without the occurrence of more than the usual amount of illness, but even then we have good reason to suppose that in many villages using cesspools the average amount of sickness and mortality is far too high, not to mention the occasional epidemics of typhoid-fever. We may sum up the matter of leaky cesspools by the statement that they may do no harm near isolated houses on farms, provided they are sufficiently far away from the source of water-supply. In small towns cesspools should be prohibited, or only very thoroughly constructed water-tight ones permitted, according to circumstances. The same holds true for the well-known privies.

The dry-earth closet.--The dry conservancy system is a much better method of disposal of excrement, and is extensively in use to-day even in certain large cities on the Continent of Europe where sewers have not yet been introduced. This consists in the main of the frequent removal of excreta in the country by some man servant or member of the family; in villages and towns according to some cooperative plan. This system has taken various directions, according to circumstances. Thus there are what is called the pail system, which consists in the daily or less frequent removal of a pail receiving the excreta; and the earth closet invented by the Rev. Henry Moule, of England, the chief feature of which consists in the covering of the excreta with some absorbent substance like dry-earth or ashes. In some places the excreta are received into a well-built brick or stone receptacle and covered with earth, from which they may be removed from time to time. Of these systems the dry-earth closet has received the greatest amount of attention and discussion. It consists, essentially, of a pail to receive night soil, which is covered either automatically or with a scoop with dry-earth (fig. 2). The earth absorbs the fluids and the odors and keeps the closet inoffensive.

The earth to be used should be a rather fine loam, sifted to remove coarse particles, thoroughly dried by spreading out in the sun or under a shed, and then stored in barrels. The drier the earth the better it is. The finer the particles of earth the greater the capacity for absorbing fluids. For this reason sand is not satisfactory. Goal or wood ashes are quite satisfactory, as they are, after proper sifting, of the requisite fineness and are thoroughly dry. The mixture of earth or ashes and night soil should be removed at certain times, depending on the location of the closet, the season of the year, and other conditions. The more frequent the removal the better. The mixture of soil and excrement is so unobjectionable that it has been used over a number of times after being dried each time. This can not be recommended, however, as it is generally accepted nowadays that disease germs may remain alive in such a mixture for some time.

In place of the movable earth closets, a water-tight, concreted area may be built in an annex to the house, which is to receive the night soil from a closet on the floor above with the necessary quantity of dry soil (see fig. 4). Poore, from whose book the illustration is taken, recommends, in addition, the construction of the floor of such a pit with an inclination sufficient to carry away the urine into some gutter outside filled with absorbent soil. The area should have suitable openings for inspection and for removal of contents, as well as for ventilation. Waring recommended a similar system many years ago. The closet described by him discharges into a water-tight vault in the cellar, which requires emptying only occasionally. The contents remain inoffensive, provided sufficient thoroughly dry earth is used.

In cold climates, indoor closets are especially desirable to obviate the exposure which can not be avoided when closets are out of doors. For invalids there should be a carefully managed earth closet kept in a well-aired room set apart for this purpose. In warm climates, earth closets should be frequently cleaned. To prevent the attraction of flies and insects and the too rapid decomposition of the contents a little unslacked lime added with the earth to the excrement will be of value. The discharges of persons suffering from typhoid-fever and bowel troubles should be mixed with thin slacked lime (milk of lime). One-half to one hour after the mixing, such discharges may be put upon the soil, always at some distance from a well or spring, a stream, or a field under cultivation.

Lime, to be used for disinfection, should not be air-slacked, but kept in tightly covered receptacles to prevent this from taking place.

In Europe, the use of earth and ashes has been superseded by peat dust. The upper layer of peat is dried in the air and ground in a suitable machine. The coarser particles are removed by sifting and used for bedding in stables. The fine portion, which has a very high absorbing power for fluids and is also capable of preventing odors, is used in dry closets. In Germany there are at present about thirty factories engaged in the preparation of peat moss for the purposes mentioned. Its great advantages over dry earth should bring it into use in our country. (See fig. 5.)

It does not matter from a sanitary standpoint which one of the dry-earth systems is adopted, provided the necessary attention be given to it. Every system which can be recommended is bad if not properly attended to. The conditions to be observed are:

The night soil should be received in water-tight receptacles.

It should be frequently removed.

It should be utilized in the garden or field by being placed under a thin layer of soil.

To excreta from the sick, milk of lime or unslacked lime should be added before disposal in the soil.

The water-closet.--There can be no doubt that to-day the water-carriage system, as it is called, or, in simpler language, the indoor water-closet, is preferred to all other contrivances. This is true for the open country as well as for villages and the suburban territories of cities. There is much to be said in favor of the present-day perfect contrivance for the rapid removal of excreta and the exposure thereby prevented. But for all rural inhabitants the cost should be carefully weighed before a water-carriage system is introduced into a house, for none but the best will answer, as all others are likely to become nuisances.

The supply of water must be sufficient to flush the water-closet thoroughly and keep all the pipes clean; the plumbing must conform to that in vogue in cities, with its traps and ventilating pipes to prevent the odors of the pipes from escaping into the house; and the disposal of the large quantity of liquid sewage, the most difficult problem, must be properly attended to or it is likely to prove more dangerous to the water-supply than the old dry privy pits.

LIQUID SEWAGE.

The methods available to dispose of liquid sewage in the country are water-tight cesspools and irrigation.

Vaults.--Water-tight cesspools should be constructed of hard-burned brick, laid in cement, and having a similar brick or a concreted bottom. The inside and outside surfaces of the brick wall should be coated with a thin layer of cement, and clay rammed in around the wall, to increase its imperviousness to water. It should be vaulted above, and topped by a square or round central opening, covered with stone or iron plate. Cesspools are also made of cast or wrought iron, the joints being made water-tight. Cesspools must be ventilated by two pipes, one rising several feet above ground, the other carried to the roof of the house, barn, or other structure near by. The current will, in most cases, tend down the short and up the long pipe. The latter may be dispensed with and the soil pipe of the house act as a flue, provided all branches are perfectly trapped.

Irrigation.--The disposal of sewage by irrigation is by far the best method now within reach. Two methods are in use, viz, surface and subsoil irrigation. The first in its most complete form consists in carrying the liquid sewage to a piece of ground set apart for the purpose and carefully underdrained. The sewage is allowed to flow over the ground in shallow channels. The fluid slowly disappears in the soil and enters the drains as comparatively pure water, which may be allowed to flow into a stream. For villages this is the best means of disposing of sewage. Those who as village officials may be interested in this method will find plans of such sewage farms, together with faithful accounts of their operation and the results obtained, in the annual report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts for 1892, page 559, and same report for 1893, page 563. Suggestions for its application to country houses are given farther on.

For isolated rural homes, or village homes commanding a certain amount of ground around the house, the liquid sewage from water-closets, the kitchen and chamber slops may be disposed of by the simple means of subsoil irrigation, first described by Mr. Moule and subsequently elaborated by Colonel Waring.

The system as used at present in its most successful form consists, outside of the house, of the following parts (see fig. 6):

Two adjoining water-tight receptacles of brick. One of these receives the sewage from the house and is intended to act as a settling chamber for the coarser particles, paper, etc. This communicates with the second receptacle, which receives from it the fluid sewage. This chamber is called the flush tank and is provided with a siphon. When the fluid has reached a certain level, the siphon is set in operation and discharges the contents of the chamber at one time into the subsoil pipes.