Originally Posted By: kmcmahon This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
So I’m running the kitchen tap for 5 minutes before I take a water sample and notice that the exterior doorway is very narrow and very short. So I step outside to take a quick picture, and hear water running…I look at something I had originally considered to be a possible exhaust vent …guess not!
Originally Posted By: jkormos This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Always something new, did the current owner have an explanation, it is often humorous to here ones logic behind their thought process. This answer often leads to one rubbing ones head for an alrighty then.
Originally Posted By: apfaff This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
In rural areas, this was acceptable at one time. You could drain “gray water” from sinks and even showers and tubs out onto the lawn.
My parent home had the same set up, 120-year-old farmhouse. They did not want to overload the new septic. Then if you were caught in later years, you would divert it to a sump, and then eject it.
When plumbing was added in some rural homes, it was often hand dug wells operated by hand pump. There were no standards and many would design their own systems and improvise all kinds of interesting configurations. They conserved everything, including water and dirty soapy water and all gutters drained into cisterns. I take an interest in exploring old homes and often find farmhouses that have had very few modifications though generations of original families. Its cool finding these time capsules when inspecting or searching for antiques.
My home had a cistern and a hand pump in the kitchen when I bought it. The floor had a trap door and the previous owner had explained that since they do not use the water for drinking anymore, they sometimes swim in it.
It is a cool, all brick 10x20 cistern, 8' deep and a vaulted ceiling. If I were a wine connoisseur, it would make a great cellar!
If you are ever in southern Wisconsin, check out ?Old World Wisconsin? it is an outdoor museum of early life in Wisconsin and has unbelievable examples of homes circa 1850-1910.