BRIEF SANITARY MATTERS IN CONNECTION WITH ISOLATED COUNTRY HOUSES.[4]

BRIEF SANITARY MATTERS IN CONNECTION WITH ISOLATED COUNTRY HOUSES.^[4]

By E.W. BOWDITCH, C.E.

I am unable to tell you what is generally considered the best practice, for I am not sure there are any definitely established rules; therefore I can only explain my ways of doing such work, which, though I try to make as complete and at the same time as simple as possible, I know to be far from perfect.

Plumbing and drainage work has grown up unconsciously with my landscape gardening, and not finding any texts or practice that seemed wholly satisfactory, I have been forced to devise new arrangements from time to time, according to the requirements of the case in hand.

To give all the details of house plumbing this evening, or any one evening, would be impossible, for lack of time, and not worth while even if there was time, as much of it would prove matter of little or no interest. I will confine my remarks, therefore, to certain elements of the work where my practice differs, I believe, essentially from that of most engineers, and where perhaps my experience, if of no assistance to other members of the Society, may excite their friendly criticism in such a way as to help me.

There are two kinds of country places that I am liable to be called upon to prescribe for:

First. A new place where nothing has been arranged.

Second. An old place where the occupants have been troubled either by their outside arrangements or by fixtures or pipes within.

Under the first head let us suppose a small tract of perhaps two acres of land in some inland town, where the family intends to live but six months in the year, though they are liable to reside there the whole twelve.

There are no sewers and no public water. The soil is a stiff, retentive clay, rather wet in spring. The desire is expressed to have plumbing and drainage that shall be as inexpensive as possible, but that shall be entirely safe.

In considering the arrangements inside the house, I find myself in the same predicament as the French surgeon, a specialist upon setting the bones of the arm, who, when a patient was brought him with his right arm broke, expressed his sorrow at being unable to be of assistance, as his specialty was the left arm.

I have endeavored to post myself thoroughly upon house plumbing, but confess to only knowing partially about the wastes; the supplies I do not feel competent to pass upon.

One class of annoyance caused by plumbing, perhaps the principal one, is due to the soil pipe or some of its fittings.

Second quality of iron, poor hanging, insufficient calking, careless mechanics, putty, cement, rag, or paper joints—all these and a dozen other things are liable to be sources of trouble. Subordinate wastes are apt to be annoying, occasionally, too, to a less extent.

The mechanical work can always be superintended, and within certain limits may be made secure and tight; not so easy, however, with the materials.

There is seldom a valid excuse for ever making waste pipes, within a building, of anything but metal.

Earthen tile is frequently used; also, to a limited extent, brick, stone, and wood; twice I have found canvas—all these, however, are inferior, and should never be accepted or specified. The writer believes that at the present time, hereabouts, lead and iron are more used for wastes than any other materials, and are found the most satisfactory on the whole.

One or two arrangements, relative to the wastes, I have made use of that are not, so far as known, in general use, and that may not be the best, though they have served me many good turns, and I have not succeeded in devising any better.

Soil pipe, as it is usually put in, is apt to be of cast iron, four inches in diameter, and is known in the market as "heavy" or "extra heavy." For some years the tar-coated or black enameled pipe has been the favorite, as being the more reliable, the writer in common with others making use of the same freely, until one day a cracked elbow, tar coated, was detected. Since that time plain, untarred pipe has been specified, and subjected to the so-called kerosene test, which consists of swabbing out each pipe with kerosene or oil and then allowing it to stand for a few hours. A moment's thought will convince any one that when a pipe is asphalted or tar coated it is very difficult to detect either sand holes or small cracks, and the difficulty of proper calking is increased, as lead does not cling so well to the tar as to plain iron.

At present, the kerosene test, so far as the writer is concerned, is a misnomer, because raw linseed oil is used exclusively as giving more satisfactory results, and being less troublesome to apply.

I have here a length of the ordinary "heavy 4" commercial soil pipe, plain, and selected at random. Yesterday noon I had it oiled at my office, in order to be ready for to-night, and you see, by the chalk marks I have made, just where the leaks were and their area. I may say here that a sound pipe of this caliber and standard weight is the exception rather than the rule, and it was selected for this experiment merely to try and show the reaction a little better than the heavier pipe might.

Experiments of this nature I have carried along for the past two years, and I am glad to say that, since I began, the quality of the soil pipe furnished by the dealers for my work seems appreciably better than at first. Whether the poorer pipe is still made and sold to other customers I have no means of knowing; probably it is, however.

A large quantity of the pipe is now being tested at my suggestion by the Superintendent of Construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, at Baltimore. I have not yet heard the results from him, but doubtless they will be interesting. A brief summary of the results may be of some interest.

The different makers of soil pipe generally used by plumbers hereabouts are:

Mott & Company, Abendroth, Blakslee, Dighton, Phillips & Weeden, and Bartlett, Hayward & Co.

On 4" extra heavy pipe my results have been as follows:

Percentage passed as good, single hub. 60 per ct. to 70 per ct.

Percentage passed as good, double. 20 per ct. to 80 per ct.

Percentage passed special castings, including Y's and T's. 60 per ct.

5" pipe extra heavy:

Percentage passed as good, single hub. 25 per ct. to 35 per ct.

Percentage passed as good, double. No record.

Percentage special castings, including Y's and T's. 60 per ct.

It has been stated to me by dealers that the tar coating does away with the necessity of any such test as the oil; while I am not prepared to acknowledge or deny the statement, it is well known that much poor pipe is tar-coated and sold in the market as good, and when coated it is almost impossible to detect any but very defective work.

The price customers are obliged to pay for soil pipe, either "heavy" or "extra heavy," is very high indeed, even taking off the discounts, and amounts (as I figure it) to $70 per long ton for 4" pipe. The present rate for the best water pipe of the same caliber is about $38 (now $29) per long ton, and the additional charge for soil pipe should guarantee the very best iron in the market, though it appears to be rarely furnished.

It is asserted that all soil pipe is tested to a 50-pound water pressure. I beg leave to question the absolute truth of this, unless it be acknowledged that pipe is sold indiscriminately, whether it bears the test or not, for more than once I have found a single length of soil pipe (5 feet) that could not bear the pressure of a column of water of its own height without leaking.

Having obtained a satisfactory lot of soil pipe and fittings, the next trouble comes with the lead calking. Unfortunately, it is frequently found that very shallow joints are made instead of deep ones, and hard lead used instead of soft. My rule is, soft lead, two runnings and two calkings. By soft lead I mean pig lead, and by hard lead I mean old pipe and scrap lead that may have been melted a dozen times. Incidentally it may be remarked that it is quite difficult to calk a tight joint on the heavy pipe; the process will crack the hub.

The fixtures used in a house are of minor importance—there are dozens of good patterns of every class. If they are carefully put in, and provided with suitable traps placed just as close to the fixture as possible, the result will usually be satisfactory.

Very few instances occur where traps are placed as close to the fixtures they serve as they might be, and yet a very short length of untrapped pipe, when fouled, will sometimes smell dreadfully. A set bowl with trap two feet away may become in time a great nuisance if not properly used. A case in point where the fixture was used both as a bowl and a urinal was in a few months exceedingly offensive—a fact largely (though not wholly) due to its double service.

I have never met two sanitarians who agreed upon the same water-closets, bowls, faucets, traps, etc.

Of course, the soil pipe will be carried, of full size, through the roof, and sufficiently high to clear all windows.

Avoid multiplicity of fixtures or pipes; cut off all fixtures not used at least twice a week, lest their traps dry out; have all plumbing as simple as possible, and try and get it all located so that outside air can be got directly into all closets and bath-rooms. As far as possible, set your fixtures in glass rather than tiles or wood. Carry the lower end of the main drain at least five feet beyond the cellar walls of the building, of cast iron.

Let us now look at the outside work. The main drain (carrying everything except the kitchen and pantry sinks) goes through a ventilated running trap. An indirect fresh air inlet is provided on the house side of the trap (example), to prevent annoyance from puffing or pumping, or, better still, a pipe corresponding to the soil pipe is carried up on the outside of the house.

The running trap ventilator should be of the same diameter as the main drain (4 inch), and serve as a main drain vent also. Carry this pipe on the outside of the house as high as the top of the chimney.

A grease-trap should be provided for the kitchen and pantry sinks. Formerly my custom was to put in brick receptacles; it is now to put in Portland cement traps (Henderson pattern), though perhaps I may succeed in devising a cast-iron one that will answer better. The brick ones were occasionally heaved by the frost, and cracked; the Portland cement ones answer better, and when thoroughly painted with red lead do not soak an appreciable quantity of sewage to be offensive, but are too high priced ($28 each). I have made one or two patterns for cast-iron ones, but none as yet that I feel satisfied with.

Beyond the running trap an Akron pipe should convey the sewage to a tank or cesspool.

Our supposable case is the second most difficult to take care of. The worst would be ledge. We have to contend with, however, hard, wet, impervious clay.

The best way undoubtedly is to underdrain the land, and then to distribute the sewage on the principle of intermittent downward filtration. This is rather expensive, and a customer is rarely willing to pay the bills for the same. I should always advise it as the best; but where not allowed to do so, I have had fair success with shallow French drains connecting with the tank or cesspool.

Siphon tanks, such as are advised by many sanitarians, that were used first in this country, I believe, by Mr. Waring, I have not been very successful with. Obstructions get into the siphon and stop it up, or it gets choked with grease. I prefer a tight tank, provided with a tell-tale, and that is to be opened either by a valve operated by hand, or that is arranged with a standing overflow like a bath tub, and that can be raised and secured by a hook.

[4]

Read before the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, April 1884 Journal A. of E. Societies.