Water is one of the most important things that you will need for your camp. It can be the hardest or the easiest thing to find. A clear lake and a bucket is the cheapest way you'll be able to get a good supply.

It is important that the water you use be free from harmful bacteria. Taste is no substitute for a test of good drinking water. Local health authorities are usually willing to test the water for you. Other agencies that will tell you whether the water is suitable include State Health Departments, County Health Offices, and Health Hygienic Laboratories.

Now let's get back to the problem of how we're going to get running water into your camp without depending upon some leaks in the roof. Water can be obtained from a dug well, a bored well, a drilled well, or from surface sources such as lakes, springs, or cisterns.

Dug Well

This type of well is usually used where rocky soil prohibits the use of a driven well, and where water can be reached by simple excavation. Basically it is a hole in the ground. The illustrations show two types of dug well.

Perhaps the first thing to do in building a dug well is to inquire from your neighbors whether they have used this type of water source. If their report is satisfactory, you should start considering the best location for such a well. Be sure that it is located at least 100 feet from your sewage system and drain field. It should also be located on higher ground.

Having found the best location, start digging a hole about 4 feet in diameter. As you dig, be sure that you use cross braces to keep the upper earth in place. Eventually you will (maybe) reach water.

The lower section of the well should be lined with brick or stone. Do not use mortar. You want a pervious wall that will let water in. The upper part of the wall must be water-tight to prevent contamination. This wall should be about 10 feet high and extend about I foot above the ground.

If you can install your pump within 22 feet vertical distance of the normal water level, use a shallow-well jet. reciprocating, or centrifugal pump. Lifts greater than 22 feet (sea level) will require a deep-well jet or reciprocating pump.

In the illustration you will note that the upper 10 feet of the dug well is filled with earth. A watertight slab is placed over the pervious lower section. If you use this type of construction, be sure to include a pipe sleeve large enough to install the water pipe and foot valve. Also install a vent pipe. Cast some hooks in the slab so that you will have something to hold on to as you lower it into place. It will be heavy.

Bored Well

This type of well is similar to a dug one, except that instead of digging a large hole, you dig one of small diameter. A well borer or earth auger is used to make a hole down to water level. This system works best in firm sand, clay, or light gravel.

The borer looks like a double shovel and has a handle about 4 feet long. As you
go down, additional lengths of pipe are added to the handle. Digging is done by forcing the borer into the ground and twisting the handle. As the double shovel is filled, lift the earth out and empty. Keep going till you reach water.

When you find water, line the hole with large steel pipe or vitrified tile. Use an internal grapple to lower each section of tile into the hole. This lining should extend a little above ground to keep out surface water. Use a concrete platform at the top as shown in the illustration. The size and type of pump that can be used with this system is the same as with the dug well described before.

Perhaps the cheapest type of well to construct is a driven well. However, its use is limited to locations where the ground is free from layers of heavy rock.

Driven Well

Such a well consists of a well point, drive pipe, and connecting couplings. The well point is a length of steel pipe that is perforated; it has a screen for straining the water and a conical tip which is used to pierce the soil. The tip should be at least 2 inches in diameter.

There are two different types of point. The regular point is used in sandy soils. The washer well point is used in gravel. This type has drilled and countersunk holes fitted with brass wire gauze.

Drive pipe usually comes in 5-foot lengths. It should be galvanized so that it won't rust and should have externally threaded ends to receive the couplings as sections are added.

To start work on a well of this type, spade out a shallow hole in the ground. Next, you will want to make a drive assembly unit. This assembly consists of a nipple, coupling, and a malleable iron drive cap. Apply pipe joint compound to the outer threads at the top of the well point and screw on the drive assembly. Tighten the whole business with
a pipe wrench. You are now ready to start driving the point into the earth.

When you have driven the first length about three-quarters of its length into the ground, remove the drive cap and nipple. Leave the coupling attached so that you can add a length of pipe. Apply joint compound to the threads again and connect the pipe length to the well point.

You'll find that each blow from your maul tends to loosen the joints. Tell Junior to give the pipe a twist after each blow. When it gets too difficult to drive the assembly any more—use a tripod over the well. Suspend a heavy block from the apex and use a rope and pulley to drop the block on the top of the assembly. Sometimes water appears in the pipe, but more often you will have to lift the pipe out to see.

When the point has been driven far enough, then lower the suction pipe and foot valve into the well. Hook up a pump and test the flow of water. You may find that the flow of water is small at first. The point is probably clogged. It will probably clear itself as you continue pumping.

After you have finished driving the well, slip a reducer fitting over the suction pipe and screw this to the top of the drive pipe assembly to cover the gap. If the small opening of the reducer will not fit over the suction pipe, file it.

Any of the pumps mentioned before will be satisfactory for this installation. In the accompanying illustrations I have shown the important details of such a system. A jet or reciprocating pump is used.

Drilled Well

This is one type of well that you shouldn't try to do yourself. If water is too deep to be reached by any other method, or if rock lies between the surface and water level, you may have to use a drilled well. But this is a job for a professional. Find out from your neighbors who has a good reputation—then hire him.

Surface Water

Lakes, springs, ponds, and streams are always possible sources for a water supply. The most important thing to remember about them is that they must be pure enough for drinking. Do have the water tested before you use it.

In many parts of our country it is possible that you will find springs bubbling up through the ground on your property. Be sure that the spring is going to yield enough water. Build a small dam around the area. Use a pail of known capacity and bail out the water. By measuring the time and amount of water, you will have an idea of whether you've got a sufficient supply of water.

Let's say that you can fill a 5-gallon can every 30 minutes. In one hour you will have (5 X 60/30) 10 gallons. In 24 hours you will have 240 gallons. This is enough for the average cottage. Each person in a household usually requires about 40 gallons per day.

By cutting around the surface area and removing the earth, it is usually possible to make a catch basin for your spring. Line the edges with pervious material such as brick or stone. The area above the basin should be made of watertight concrete so that surface water will not run into the spring. Cover the top with a concrete cap.

The basin will always be fed by the spring, we hope, so you'll want an overflow pipe in the wall. The foot strainer or suction end of your feed pipe should extend through the watertight part of your basin and be located well below the overflow pipe.

It is usually possible to use a shallow-well pump with this type of installation. If there is at least 2 feet of drop away from your water source and a sufficient supply of water, it may be possible to use a hydraulic ram to pump your water up to a tank and then feed your cottage by gravity.

A cistern is not the most desirable way of collecting water. But in some localities it may be the only method. The illustration shows one type of installation. Roof water is collected by a system of gutters and leaders that empties the water into a filter unit containing a 2-inch layer of coarse gravel, a 6-inch layer of crushed charcoal, and an 18-inch layer of fine sand. The water filters through the various layers and empties into a larger tank, where it is stored. If this system is used, it may be necessary to chlorinate the water occasionally.

With ponds, lakes, and streams it is only necessary to run a pipe into the water. The foot valve or suction end of the pipe should be protected so that it will not clog or suck mud or silt from the bottom. Also be sure that the pipe does not run near the place where you're going to swim. Any type of shallow-well pump will probably be satisfactory. A water source which is not satisfactory for drinking might be pumped to the cottage for bathing and other services. Drinking water might be had from some other source.

Pumps

Once you've found the best source for water, the next problem will be to get the water into your cottage. You may use anything from a hand pump to a number of different types of power-driven equipment. There are any number of good pumps that you can buy. I have noted above the type of job each can do. Let's look at some of the different types of installations.

Jet pumps are very popular. The shallow-well type will pump water where the water level is not lower than 22 feet below the pump. A deep-well jet can be used to get water more than 100 feet below the surface of the earth. Both of these pumps can be offset from the water source.

A shallow-well jet requires only one pipe. The main parts of this pump are the motor, shaft, and impeller. Most of these pumps have a priming chamber, but after the pump is in operation, they do not require further priming. These pumps also have a pressure switch that starts the motor when the pressure in the tank drops to 20 pounds and stops when the pressure reaches 40 pounds.

A deep-well jet pump is similar to a shallow-well unit in appearance. However, two pipes are required with this system—a pressure pipe and a suction pipe—but a special adapter will be necessary at the top of the casing. The use of the well casing as a suction pipe is usually done when the casing is as small as 2 inches.

When you buy your pump, you will find specific instructions included with the unit. Follow these instructions explicitly—the manufacturer knows what his pump is capable of doing.

Reciprocating pumps are of two different types. The piston type, which is usually mounted on a storage tank, can be used to do any of the jobs that a shallow-well jet pump will do. The deep-well reciprocating pump is one that must be mounted over the well.

Piston-type pumps will raise water from a source not lower than 22 feet below the level of the pump. No cylinder or rod extends into the water source. The pump can be offset from the well. Only one pipe is required. There are more moving parts in this type of pump than in the jet.

Deep-well reciprocating pumps have a rod that extends from a crosshead or eccentric in the pump to a plunger in the well casing. As the pump operates, a rod which moves up and down lifts the water from the well. It can be used to pump water from 250 feet below the surface of the earth. The casing of such a pump is usually 2 inches in diameter.

Tanks

The type of tank used with any of the above installations is usually constructed of heavy steel and has welded seams. The entire tank is galvanized. Storage tanks used with power equipment should have a minimum storage capacity of 15 gallons. The tank helps to supply pressure to the water stored in it, thus causing the water to flow from the taps.

Pipe

Galvanized steel pipe is usually used for the line from your well to the pump. There is another type of pipe that can be used on the cold-water services of your system. This pipe is made of polyethylene. It looks like a garden hose but is many times stronger. It has the advantage of being much more flexible and lighter than any of the rigid types. Never use this type of pipe on hot-water lines.

Notes

One cubic foot of storage space holds 7.48 gallons.

The capacity of a round container is 1/2 the diameter multiplied by itself X 3.14 X the depth X 7.48. If a cistern is 10 feet in diameter and 6 feet deep, the capacity is (5 X 5 X 3.14 X 6 X 7.48) 3,523.08 gallons.

Sea level: In talking about the lift of various pumps, I have said that certain pumps would be satisfactory if the water level was within 22 feet of the surface of the earth. Such a pump would lose about I foot of suction lift for each 1,000 feet of elevation above sea level. If the altitude at your camp site is 2,000 feet, a shallow-well pump will
have to be located within 20 feet vertical distance from the working normal water level, instead of 22 feet.

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