pe
connecting with sewer.]

Where there is no drainage system, disposal of the liquid refuse is a
serious problem. Drain basins and cesspools are often resorted to, and
these may become additional sources of contamination. As stated in the
chapter on well water, direct communication is frequently established
between such places and shallow wells. Where the only place for the
disposal of waste water is the surface of the ground, it should be
thrown some distance from the house and where it will drain from and not
toward the well. The land should be well drained and open to the
sunlight. Coarse sand and lime should be sprinkled over it frequently,
and occasionally the soil should be removed and replaced with fresh.
Sunlight, aeration, and disinfection of the soil and good drainage are
necessary, in order to keep in a sanitary condition the place where the
dish water is thrown.

Poor plumbing is often the cause of contaminated food. The gases which
escape from unclean traps may carry with them solid particles of organic
matter in various stages of decay. The "house side" of traps always
ventilates into the rooms, and hence it is important that they be kept
scrupulously clean. Where the drip pipe from the refrigerator drains
directly into the sewerage system, there is always danger. Special
attention should be given to the care of plumbing near places where
foods are stored. Frequently there are leaky joints due to settling of
the dwellings or to extreme changes in temperature, and the plumbing
should be occasionally inspected by one familiar with the subject.[100]

290. General Considerations.--In order to keep food in the most
wholesome condition, special care should be taken that all of its
surroundings are sanitary. The air, the dishes in which the food is
placed, the refrigerator, cellar or closet where stored, and the other
food with which it comes in contact, all influence the wholesomeness or
cause contamination. A food may contain sufficient nutrients to give it
high value, and yet, on account of products formed during fermentation,
be poisonous. Foods are particularly susceptible to putrefaction
changes, and chemicals and preservatives added as preventives, with a
view of retarding these changes, are objectionable, besides failing to
prevent all fermentation from taking place. Intelligent thought should
be exercised in the care of food, for the health of the consumer is
largely dependent upon the purity and who