'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎91r] (186/610)

't tV'SS «S3Sr without any discomfort.
Water may be turned into a “ qanat ” from an open stream,
as at Tehran, where some of the streams from the Tochal moun
tain are so diverted and water is not left to run down the water
courses on to the plain, or an underground source may be dis
covered and tapped near the hills and the water gradually con
ducted to the surface where required. The waste due to per
colation is of course very great, and less than - 4 - of the original
volume reaches the surface.
“Qanat” water also is frequently polluted by refuse or
carcases being thrown down the open shafts.
In villages water is usually drawn direct from a spring,
stream or “qanat,” but in towns it is stored in underground
brick cisterns or “ Ab Anbars.” Big “ Ab Anbars, filled fevi
times in a year, exist for public use, and evesy large Persian
house has a small private “ Ab Anbar/ All these Ab Anbars
are filled from the surface with water turned down the street
gutters, so the water drunk in the towns has been exposed to
every form of pollution.
Ice is stored during the winter for summer use. Shallow lee.
exposed ponds of dirty water- are formed behind high walls on
the south side which shade them from the sun, and the ice is
collected and thrown into adjacent underground vaults it is
consequently, if possible, fouler than the water supply and
should never be put into drinks.
C.—General Medical Conditions.
The salient point which forces itself painfully on the notice
of Europeans in Persia is the total absence of sanitation, and the
filthy heaps of refuse in the towns with their stench and swarms
of flies in summer.
The country districts vary considerably. The Turk! villages
of Khamseh and Khalkhal are foul and verminous beyond
description and no European can lodge m em. ie
villages of Amarlu are little better. Elsewhere especially m
the Caspian provinces, the villages are generally cleaner, thoug
few are free from vermin in* spring and summer, and, P r ° V1 ^
carpets and felts are at once removed and the floor ®
brushed, quite decent accommodation is obtama e. e g
along the Hamadan-Kazvin road suffered during the war, and
their dirty and ruinous condition does not afford a fair cnten
of the state of the average Persianf village.