I don't know about the construction but the other day I was surprized
by a "folk" saying my mother used to say and its association with the
water tanks of the period you are researching over at the Australian
Antarctic Division on Furphy water tanks.

"Good better best - never let it rest - till you're good is better-
and your better best."

http://www-new.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=1518

"The cast iron ends are now highly prized collector's items." Perhaps
there were also more tanks there. A "Furphy" maybe.

George Myers


On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 17:51:01 +0800, Samantha Bolton
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am doing some research on a number of European sites occupied from the
> 1890s along the transport and settlement corridor between Perth and
> Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Water was scarce in this region, and a
> number of water condensers were built to condense the water that was
> available to remove the salt.
>
> At one site, occupied from c.1895-1903, there were several condensers. Each
> was characterised by a low stone wall surrounding a square water tank
> (c.1.2m x 1.2m x 1.2m) on three sides. Normally, but not always, adjacent
> to the structure was a shallow pit up to 0.5m deep, and c. 2m in diameter.
> Also associated with each structure was an ash pile. Most contained only
> one tank, but there was one that had 9 tanks in a line.
>
> Elsewhere on the site is a 200m long series of 38 pits. They varied in
> depth from 0.5-2m. Banks of varying height divided each pit off from the
> other.  The average size of each pit was c.5 x 10m. Next to one pit was the
> remains of a granite structure, water tank and ash pile, but none of the
> others had any evidence of a condenser placed next to them.
>
> I am not sure what the pits were used for, but based on plans of another
> condenser, I am currently working on the theory that they are "blow-off
> troughs", possibly to store the salt once the water had been condensed.
> They are not lined and the soil is very sandy, so they would not have been
> very effective for water storage.
>
> I was wondering if anyone knew of references about the structure of water
> condensers and how they worked. I would be grateful for any ideas or
> suggestions as to what the pits - both the ones adjacent to the water
> tanks, and the line of pits - were used for.
>
> Thank you very much,
>
> Sam Bolton.
>
> Samantha Bolton
> PhD student
> Archaeology M405
> University of Western Australia
> 35 Stirling Highway
> Crawley WA 6009
> AUSTRALIA
> Ph.: +61 08 6488 4298
> Mobile: +61 0414 907 567
> Fax: +61 08 6488 1023
>