n their individual efforts.
Therefore, any dissemination of knowledge regarding sanitation is most
worthy. This book has a useful mission. It is pregnant with helpful
suggestions, and I most heartily commend its purpose and its contents.

THOMAS DARLINGTON,
_President of the Board of Health_.

NEW YORK CITY.

Part I

WATER SUPPLY AND
PURIFICATION

BY

WILLIAM PAUL GERHARD

CHAPTER I

=Country Sources of Water Supply=

The writer was recently engaged to plan and install a water-supply
system for a country house which had been erected and completed
without any provision whatever having been made for supplying the
buildings and grounds with water. The house had all the usual
appointments for comfort and ample modern conveniences, but these
could be used only with water borrowed from a neighbor. In all parts
of the country there are numerous farm buildings which are without a
proper water-supply installation. These facts are mentioned to
emphasize the importance of a good water supply for the country home,
and to point out that water is unquestionably the most indispensable
requirement for such structures.

_Adequate Water Supply Important_

But the advantages of a water supply are not limited to the dwelling
house, for it is equally useful on the farm, for irrigation, and in
the garden, on the golf grounds and tennis courts, in the barns and
stables; it affords, besides, the best means for the much-desired
fire protection. And, most important of all, an unstinted and adequate
use of water promotes cleanliness and thereby furthers the cause of
sanitation, in the country not less than in the city home.

The water supply for country houses has been so often discussed
recently that the writer cannot hope to bring up any new points. This
article should, therefore, be understood to offer simple suggestions
as to how and where water can be obtained, what water is pure and fit
for use, what water must be considered with suspicion, what water is
dangerous to health, and how a source of supply, meeting the
requirements of health, can be made available for convenient use.

Right here I wish to utter a warning against the frequent tendency of
owners of country houses to play the role of amateur engineers. As a
rule this leads to failure and disappointment. Much money uselessly
spent can be saved if owners will, from the beginni