out of fashion,[173] as it has been found that the work is far more
carefully and systematically carried out without the intervention of a
contractor; for if we turn to the articles of agreement or contract
usually drawn up between a sanitary authority and a contractor for
scavenging, we find that they must be very binding in their phraseology,
and enter fully into the details of the work; they should state very
clearly the number of times in every week that the contractor shall
cause all the ashpits in the districts enumerated to be emptied and
cleansed, the manner in which this work shall be performed, and how the
materials thus removed shall be disposed of and the place of their
ultimate destination. The conditions should further specify what amount
of manual, team labour, and carts, are necessary for the work, and also
what plant the contractor must keep in the way of ladders, baskets,
shovels, and brooms, &c. The conditions should also contain a carefully
prepared list of the streets to be swept, and the manner and number of
times this work must be executed, and arrange for the disposal of the
materials thus removed.
In many such contracts it is found necessary to insert clauses binding
the contractor, under all sorts of penalties, to be always at the
disposal of and under the commands of the inspector of nuisances, or
such other officer or officers as the sanitary authority may appoint.
The contractor’s men also are forbidden to accept gratuities, and are
directed on no account to remove either trade or garden refuse, and they
are also enjoined to be “careful to consult the convenience of the
householders in their visits, and to thoroughly clean up all dirt and
litter that they may cause in the discharge of their duties. If they
fail in any or either of these injunctions and commands, or for any
other dereliction of duty, the inspector of nuisances, or such other
officer as the sanitary authority shall appoint, may summarily dismiss
them, without any reference being made on the subject to their employer
the contractor, and in fact the conditions have necessarily to be made
so stringent and binding as to be either totally inoperative or open to
grave abuses, or, on the other hand, the work can be carelessly and
improperly executed by the contractor.
The consequence of such binding clauses is that the officers, if they do
their strict duty, will probably be engaged in constant disputes and
litigation with the contractor as to the due and proper observance of
the terms of his contract, and thus their time is much occupied instead
of in other more important matters, which is naturally detrimental to
the interests of the ratepayers.
I am strongly of opinion that the work of the collection of house refuse
and cleansing the streets should be carried out by the local authority
with their own officers and staff, and that executing this work by
contract is a mistake and a false economy. It is, perhaps, true that it
may be done in the latter manner at less actual cost to the ratepayers,
but all public work should be done in the best manner possible,
irrespective of cost, thoroughly, but without extravagance, and the
result of such work, especially where it affects the cleanliness and the
appearance of a town, soon fully repays any moderate extra cost that may
thus have been incurred, irrespective of the enormous benefit that is
conferred upon any community by the reduction of disease and the
death-rate by a proper attention to such necessary sanitary work.
[157] A _rural authority_ cannot apparently make any byelaw with
regard to the prevention of such nuisances.
[158] A byelaw under this section “must be limited to imposing upon
the occupier the duty of cleansing or removal at such intervals as the
sanitary authority may think fit. The mode of cleansing or removal and
the precautions to be observed in connection with the process are not
matters within the range of such byelaws.” _Vide_ ‘Memorandum to the
Model Byelaws issued by the Local Government Board for the use of
Sanitary Authorities, No. 1, Cleansing of Footways and Pavements,
&c.,’ 1877.
[159] In Glenn’s ‘Law of Public Health and Local Government,’ 8th
edition, in a footnote to section 44, p. 39, several instances are
given of _what is not refuse_, such as ashes from furnaces, &c., and
it is stated that “the intention of the Act was that only the rubbish
arising from the domestic use of houses should be removed.”
[160] The Bromley Local Board issue a card on which is printed,
amongst other information with reference to the contract for the
removal of house refuse, the following suggestions:--“It is hoped that
householders will as far as possible facilitate the systematic removal
of refuse by providing suitable dust-bins, and directing their
servants that ordinary house refuse only shall be deposited in such
receptacles. The following are some of the items of refuse which the
contractors are bound to remove, viz.:--cinder ashes, potatoe
peelings, cabbage leaves, and kitchen refuse generally. But the
contractors are not required to remove the refuse of any trade,
manufacture, or business, or of any building materials or any garden
cuttings or sweepings.”
[161] In New York about 800,000 tons of refuse are disposed of
annually in this manner.
[162] For a description of the manner in which this is effected at
Manchester, see my book on scavenging, to which I have before
referred.
[163] The ashes are mixed with chaff, chopped straw, refuse hay, grass
cuttings, dry street sweepings, wool and hair, shoddy, &c., and a
small percentage of sulphate of iron or lime.
[164] Professor Tyndall, in his beautiful experiments, has proved that
dusty air is alive with the germs of the bacteria of putrefaction,
whilst the pure fresh air which he gathered on a mountain peak in the
Alps is innocent of such germs, and is absolutely powerless to produce
any organisms.
[165] Dry dust will absorb about ten times its bulk of water, thus
swelling considerably and producing the greasy mud so often seen after
rain.
[166] In Boston, U.S.A., the macadamised roads are not swept at all,
as it is considered that by sweeping off the sand and detritus their
durability is much lessened, but their gutters are cleansed as
required, and rubbish picked up. (_Vide_ ‘Minutes of Proceedings
Institution of Civil Engineers,’ vol. lxiii. p. 368.)
[167] In Regent Street, London, in November 1881, I saw four loads of
mud removed from about 1000 square yards of surface, it being then
almost new wood pavement.
[168] See note under “Other Obstructions and Nuisances,” p. 155, 8th
edition, Glen’s ‘Law of Public Health and Local Government.’
[169] _Vide_ ‘Report to the Streets Committee of the Honourable the
Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London on Melting Snow by
Clarke’s Apparatus,’ by William Haywood, Engineer and Surveyor to the
Commission, 1881, p. 9.
[170] With regard to the removal of snow from the footpaths, it is
highly desirable that this should be effected by the occupiers of the
premises adjacent to the street, as otherwise it adds immensely to the
work of the local authority. The following interesting remarks by the
superintendent of the scavenging department of Liverpool will be no
doubt read with great interest:
“The only way to compass the removal of snow from the footwalks of the
principal thoroughfares within a comparatively short time, is by
sprinkling them with salt, such as is commonly used for agricultural
purposes. It is certain that, unaided by the salt, a sufficient number
of men cannot be procured for the emergency of clearing snow from the
footways of the most important thoroughfares. It has been stated by
medical authorities that the application of salt to snow is
detrimental to the health of people who have to walk through the
‘slush’ produced by the mixture, and that the excessive cooling of the
air surrounding the places where the application has been made is
injurious to delicate persons. It therefore seems that the application
of salt to snow should not be undertaken during the day time, but
should be commenced not before 11 p.m., nor continued after 6 a.m.,
and that only such an area of footwalks should be so treated on any
one night as the available staff of men can clear by an early hour the
following morning.
“To sweep snow from the footwalks whilst the fall of snow continues,
and especially during business hours, appears to be wasteful and
futile, and to apply salt during the same periods may be held to be
injurious to health.
“That the snow of an ordinary fall can be removed from the footwalks
by an application of salt an hour or so before they are scraped is an
ascertained fact, except at least when a moderately severe frost has
preceded, accompanied, or followed the snow-fall, or when the snow has
drifted into extensive accumulations. Were it not for the danger to
health by excessive cooling of the air, and for the expense attending
the operation, all the impervious pavements could be cleared of snow
(unless the fall was a heavy one) in a comparatively short time by a
liberal application of salt and the employment of the horse sweeping
machines as soon as the snow had become sufficiently softened to admit
of their use.”
[171] In the metropolis of London alone, the watering of the streets
and roads employs, in addition to a staff of inspectors and foremen,
about 1500 men, and an equal number of horses and carts; and in order
to lay the dust effectually, about 30,000 tons of water must be spread
upon the streets every dry day, the cost of this gigantic work being
nearly 200,000_l._ per annum upon an average of 120 days when watering
becomes necessary.
[172] In Rouen, where chloride of calcium is obtained from the
manufactories of pyroligneous acid in the neighbourhood, it is mixed
with the water for use on the roads, and it is stated that on a mile
of road, 16 feet in width, 5630 gallons of water were necessary daily,
but that the same result was attained with 1480 gallons of chloride
solution, marking 30° Baumé, and costing about ¹⁄₂_d._ per gallon, the
humectation remaining good for five or six days with the solution of
chloride. With water only in 1093 yards, in four rounds daily, 3520
gallons were used, the cost being 48_s._; with chloride of calcium the
cost was 32_s._ per day.
[173] Amongst the questions which I addressed to the surveyors of the
principal towns of England in 1879 was the following:--“Is the house
refuse collected by the sanitary authority or by a contractor?” and
out of the ninety towns from which I received replies, only thirty
were found to employ contractors for this purpose, and of these the
authorities of two of them proposed to dispense with the services of
the contractor, and to administrate the work with their own staff, as
they found the existing state of things was thoroughly unsatisfactory.
CHAPTER XX.
SEWERAGE.
The Public Health Act 1875 contains a considerable number of clauses
dealing with the subject of the sewers of a town, but two of the
shortest sections in the whole Act, and yet those that involve a
considerable amount of work in the town surveyor’s department, are the
following:
“Every local authority shall keep in repair[174] all sewers belonging to
them, and shall cause to be made such sewers as may be necessary for
effectually draining their district for the purposes of this Act”[175]
(38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 15).
“Every local authority shall cause the sewers belonging to them to be
constructed, covered, ventilated,[176] and kept so as not to be a
nuisance or injurious to health, and to be properly cleansed and
emptied”[177] (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 19).
As to what sewers do “belong” to the local authority, the following
section of the Public Health Act 1875 states:
“All existing and future sewers within the district of a local
authority, together with all buildings, works, materials, and things
belonging thereto,
“Except
“(1.) Sewers made by any person for his own profit, or by any company
for the profit of the shareholders; and
“(2.) Sewers made and used for the purpose of draining, preserving, or
improving land under any local or private Act of Parliament, or for the
purpose of irrigating land; and
“(3.) Sewers under the authority of any commissioners of sewers
appointed by the Crown,
shall vest in and be under the control of such local authority.
“Provided that sewers within the district of a local authority which
have been, or which may hereafter be constructed by or transferred to
some other local authority, or by or to a sewage board or other
authority empowered under any Act of Parliament to construct sewers,
shall (subject to any agreement to the contrary) vest in and be under
the control of the authority who constructed the same, or to whom the
same have been transferred” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 13).
And as to the definition of the word “sewer,” the same Act states:
“‘Sewer’ includes sewers and drains of every description, except drains
to which the word ‘drain’[178] interpreted as aforesaid applies, and
except drains vested in or under the control of any authority having the
management of roads and not being a local authority under this Act.”
The result of this acquisition by the local authority of the sewers in
their district is, that in most of the old cities and towns a legacy of
very defective and imperfect sewers has been inherited, and considerable
expense in their repair and maintenance has thus been entailed.
A great number of books have been written on the subject of sewerage,
and much valuable information has been published from time to time, so
that it almost seems superfluous to say much upon the subject; however,
a few remarks which are particularly applicable to the work of a town
surveyor may be of some service.
The word _sewerage_ may be taken as meaning a system of sewers carrying
_sewage_ which is the fluid and feculent refuse from dwellings and their
yards, &c. Sewage is generally found mixed with rain water from the
surface of the streets and roofs of houses, together with the liquid
waste products from manufactories,[179] and sometimes, although very
improperly, with subsoil water.
A good system of sewerage should embrace the whole of the following
requirements:--
(1.) Each sewer should be laid at such a depth as will readily drain the
basements of the adjoining buildings.
(2.) Its area and gradient must be so regulated as to make it
self-cleansing, and at the same time carry off effectively the maximum
quantity of liquid for which it is intended.[180]
(3.) Each sewer should (unless quite impracticable) be laid in straight
lines and with even gradients between man- or lamp-holes, and these
gradients must not be excessive, or damage may be caused to the sewer.
A velocity of about 6 feet per second is sufficient.
(4.) Sewers must be laid at proper levels in respect of their
intersection with each other, bearing in mind that they are all
generally converging to one point.
(5.) Manholes should be of simple construction; circular brickwork upon
concrete is a convenient description. They may be made to serve the
additional purposes of ventilating shafts, flushing chambers, junction
shafts, storm overflows, and side entrances.
(6.) Tributary sewers or drains should not join the main sewers at right
angles unless the bottom of the manhole is so constructed as to give the
required curve in the direction of the flow of the sewage, and they
should join at a height (if of unequal section) equal to the difference
of their sectional diameters, the aim of all junctions being to cause as
little disturbance as possible in the proper flow of the liquids along
their respective channels.
(7.) Sewers should not be constructed of too large a sectional area, but
none should be less than 6 inches internal diameter, as house-drains in
this country are never less than 4 inches diameter, and the main sewer
should of course be larger than its tributaries. It is also rather
difficult to ventilate a smaller sewer than 6 inches, and very little is
saved by putting in a smaller sewer than that.
Stoneware pipes of greater diameter than 18 inches should never be used.
Where larger sewers are constructed they should be either concrete
pipes,[181] or brickwork or concrete should be employed.
The position of the sewer should, if possible, be behind the houses for
the following reasons:--
(1.) The waterclosets, sinks, &c., being nearly always at the back, a
drain under the house (which is always objectionable) is avoided.
(2.) Economy is secured to the owner of the property, as a shorter
length of drain is required than if the sewer was in the front.
(3.) A better fall is usually obtained.
(4.) Where there is a separate or partially separate system of sewerage,
a double sewer in the street is avoided.
The only objection to this method being that of the chance of the sewer
becoming choked or broken when entry has to be made into private
property to repair it, but this ought never to happen after once the
sewer has been properly constructed. Of course, where houses are closely
packed together it would not be possible to carry the sewer at the back,
but where it can be done I agree thoroughly with Mr. Rawlinson, C.B.,
C.E., &c., who, speaking of this method, says, “I know nothing but good
of it.”
Where the sewer is proposed to be taken through any private lands it is
necessary to act in accordance with the following clause of the Public
Health Act 1875, and serve the necessary notices, a specimen form of
which also follows:
“Any local authority may carry any sewer through, across, or under any
turnpike road, or any street or place laid out as or intended for a
street, or under any cellar or vault which may be under the pavement or
carriageway of any street, and, after giving reasonable notice in
writing to the owner or occupier (if on the report of the surveyor it
appears necessary), into, through, or under any lands[182] whatsoever
within their district. They may also (subject to the provisions of this
Act relating to sewage works without the district of the local
authority) exercise all or any of the powers given by this section
without their district for the purposes of outfall or distribution of
sewage” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 16).
The form of notice necessary to be served before entry upon any lands
for the purpose of carrying out any sewerage works may be on the
following pattern:--
“NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN.
“1. That the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough of ,
in execution of the powers and authorities given to and vested in them
by virtue of the Public Health Act 1875, upon the report of their
surveyor, whereby it appears to the said authority to be necessary to
enter into, through, or under the lands and premises particularly
described in the schedule hereunder written, for the several purposes
hereinafter mentioned, the said mayor, aldermen, and burgesses will
immediately after the day of enter into and upon the
premises described in the said schedule hereto, and on the plan
hereinafter mentioned numbered , for the purpose of in,
through, or under the said lands and premises , and to construct
all other necessary works for all or any of the purposes aforesaid.
“2. The course of the said sewer is indicated by a line drawn on the
said plan from the point to .
“And notice is hereby further given that a plan of the intended works,
and of the lands and premises upon which it is intended to enter for
the construction of the same, is now open for inspection, between the
hours of 10 in the forenoon and 4 in the afternoon, and may then be
seen at the offices of the borough surveyor, Street, ,
and a tracing thereof is hereunto annexed.
Dated this day of 18 .
_________________________
_Town Clerk._”[183]
THE SCHEDULE REFERRED TO.
------------+------------------------+--------------+-------+---------
No. on plan.|Description of premises.|Where situate.|Owner. |Occupier.
------------+------------------------+--------------+-------+---------
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
------------+------------------------+--------------+-------+---------
In carrying out works of sewerage the greatest care is necessary in the
materials selected and the manner in which the work is executed. Tunnels
and shafts must be most carefully timbered, levels very accurately given
and adhered to, and for this purpose sight rails and long boning rods
can be used with great advantage. In running sands, or where the line of
an old sewer is being followed, or in fact anywhere where a good and
quick joint is required, “Stanford’s” patent jointed pipes should be
used.
“This joint is made by casting, upon the spigot and in the socket of
each pipe, rings of durable material, which, when put together, fit
mechanically into each other, as in a bored and turned joint; it needs
no skilled labour in fixing, only a little grease, allows of slight
settlement of the pipes without injury, and requires neither cement,
clay, nor other extraneous material, the pipes containing a perfect
joint within themselves.”
Breakages sometimes occur in stoneware pipe sewers after they are laid,
which generally are found on examination to arise from one of the
following causes:
(1.) Laying the pipes on a rigid foundation without recessing the
sockets so as to give an even bearing.
(2.) Laying the pipes on foundations which afterwards yield or settle.
(3.) Laying the pipes at too great a depth without protection by
concrete or otherwise to resist the pressure of the superincumbent
earth, or by not sufficiently punning the filling-in, when a sudden
settlement will often crack or crush a pipe.
(4.) Accidental or wilful injuries to pipes which are not noticed before
the trench is filled in.
(5.) Laying the pipes at too shallow a depth without protection, when
heavy traffic or a falling weight upon the surface will crush or crack a
pipe.
(6.) Defective or weak pipes.[184]
The following plates give the different forms of sewerage pipes that are
now manufactured in this country, in addition to those of common
shapes:
[Illustration: BROOKE’S PATENT SUBSOIL DRAINS AND PIPE-RESTS.]
[Illustration: CREEKE’S PATENT CAPPED PIPES.]
[Illustration: MAWBEY’S PATENT GROOVED SOCKET-PIPES.]
[Illustration: HENRY SHARP, JONES, & CO.’S ROCK-CONCRETE PIPES.]
[Illustration: JENNING’S PATENT CHAIR AND SADDLE PIPES.]
The chokage in pipe sewers generally arises from one or more of the
following causes:--
(1.) Improper gradients.
(2.) Insufficient flush.[185]
(3.) Foreign articles finding their way into and choking the sewer.
(4.) Defective joints through which the liquid runs leaving solid
matters behind.
(5.) An excess of road detritus or of ashes, through the house closets
of the poor, finding their way into the sewer.
(6.) Improper bends in the line of sewer.
(7.) Right-angle or improper junctions being formed with the sewer.
(8.) A collapse of the sewer.
A temporary chokage in a small-sized sewer which does not arise from any
structural defect can be speedily and effectually remedied by the use of
Ben Reed’s patent drain-cleaning rods, which are probably too well known
to every town surveyor to need any description, but in conjuction with
man- or lamp-holes and straight lines of sewers they are very valuable.
Before closing this chapter, a few words upon what is called the
“separate system of sewerage” may be of use.
The mistake hitherto made has been to try to absolutely separate all
rainfall from the sewers, and there is no doubt that a partial
separation of the rain-water from the sewage proper has many advantages;
but it must be understood that a great deal of the rain-water that falls
upon roofs of buildings and in back yards and small back streets must of
necessity be carried into the sewers, as well as liquid refuse from
manufactories. A partial separation thus carried out has the following
advantages:
(1.) It is not necessary to have sewers of enormous diameter.
(2.) The depth of the surface water conduits need not be so great as
that which is necessary for sewers.
(3.) The avoidance of road detritus being washed into the sewers.
(4.) Where the sewage has to be pumped or treated chemically or put on
the land, the combined system causes an immense unwieldy bulk of liquid
to be at times dealt with.[186]
(5.) The sewers may be placed at the back of the houses, a great
advantage which cannot be carried out under the combined system.
(6.) The regularity in the amount of flow of sewage.
(7.) The accuracy with which the quantity of sewage may be calculated
and the sizes of sewers apportioned.
(8.) Economy both to the general rates and also to individuals in
carrying out their connections.
(9.) Where old and defective sewers exist they are often fitted to carry
surface water, but are quite inappropriate as sewers.
No rules, however, can be laid down with regard to this question, as
each town or district must be treated as the case requires.
In conclusion, I will mention the different methods at present in vogue
for the sewerage of towns.
(1.) The combined system, where all sewage, surface water,
manufacturers’ refuse, and subsoil waters are carried in the same sewer.
(2.) Similar to the above, the subsoil water, however, being carefully
excluded.
(3.) The partially separate system.
(4.) The absolutely separate system, where there are three sets of
sewers, one for sewage proper, one for surface water, and one for
subsoil water.
(5.) The “Lieurner” system, which professes to remove all sewage by
exhausting the air in the sewers and drains.
(6.) “Shone’s” pneumatic ejector system, which is described as
follows:--
“The ejectors are cast-iron receivers of a suitable form, placed
underground at depths to suit the locality, into which ejectors the
sewage flows through the ordinary pipe drains from the houses. As the
liquid rises in the interior of the ejector, and when full, it lifts a
valve and admits compressed air from an engine which supplies the entire
district. The ejectors are thus emptied of their contents, which are
blown out in about eighty seconds of time, and the sewage passes through
cast-iron main pipes of suitable diameters to the land, or other outlet
provided to receive it, or it may be distributed upon the waste land as
it passes through.”
(7.) The dry systems, which consist of--
(_a._) Earth closets;
(_b._) Tubs, as the Goux, &c.;
(_c._) Pails, as the Rochdale;
(_d._) Middens.
But all these dry systems require some system of sewers to carry off
rain-water, slop-water, &c., and in my opinion are not suitable for very
large communities.
[174] If the sewers vested in and belonging to a local authority are
allowed by their negligence to get out of repair, they are liable to
an action for damages (_Vide_ ‘Fitzgerald’s Public Health Act,’ 3rd
edition, p. 19). Keeping in repair does not, however, include
construction of entirely new works. (_Ibid._)
[175] The sewers provided by a local authority must be sufficient to
carry off the ordinary sewage and rainfall of the district, but they
need not be sufficient to carry off an extraordinary flow of water
caused by a storm; damage caused by that comes under the definition of
damage caused by the act of God, for which there is no individual
responsibility (_Ibid._ p. 20). This clause seems to insist upon
sewers carrying the rainfall.
[176] See chapter on “Ventilation of Sewers.”
[177] A local authority is not to be held liable for not keeping their
sewers cleansed at all events and under all circumstances, but only
where by the exercise of reasonable care and skill they can be kept
cleansed. They are, however, liable, in case they make default in
observing the requirements, to have an injunction filed against them
and to be restrained by injunction from allowing the continuance of
the nuisance. (_Ibid._ p. 23.)
[178] For the legal definition of “drain,” see the chapter on “House
Drainage.”
[179] Facilities must be given to enable manufacturers to send the
liquids proceeding from their works into the public sewers, provided
the sewers are more than sufficient for the requirements of the
district, or if the liquids would not prejudicially affect the sewers,
or from their temperature or otherwise be injurious in a sanitary
point of view. _Vide_ Rivers Pollution Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vic. c. 75,
s. 7). But this question is often greatly disputed, and has led to
much litigation.
[180] If everything has to be carried in a sewer, the following
provisions must be made:--
(_a_) The house sewage which may be calculated from the water supply.
(_b_) Manufacturers’ refuse.
(_c_) Rainfall, which is a very uncertain quantity.
(_d_) The subsoil water should certainly be dealt with, but it should
on no account be permitted to enter the sewers themselves; separate
provision under the main sewers should be provided for this purpose.
[181] Messrs. Sharp, Jones and Co., of Bournemouth, make most
excellent concrete pipes up to 36 inches in diameter, which can be
economically and advantageously used in many instances, and are
gaining every day in popularity with engineers.
[182] The definition of “lands” as given in the Public Health Act
1875, is as follows:--“‘lands’ and ‘premises’ include messuages,
buildings, lands, easements, and hereditaments of any tenure” (38 & 39
Vic. c. 55, s. 4).
[183] Notices may be signed either by the clerk to the local authority
or their surveyor (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 266).
[184] The thickness of stoneware pipe sewers should be as follows:
----+--------------------------+----------------------+----
|Internal diameter of pipe.|Thickness of material.|
+--------------------------+----------------------+
| in. | in. |
| 3 | ¹⁄₂ |
| 4 | ⁵⁄₈ |
| 6 | ³⁄₄ |
| 9 | 1 |
| 12 | 1¹⁄₈ |
| 15 | 1¹⁄₄ |
| 18 | 1³⁄₈ |
----+--------------------------+----------------------+----
The thickness of fire clay or earthenware pipes should be slightly in
excess of those given for stoneware.
[185] The patent automatic flushing arrangement by Mr. Rogers Field,
C.E., is an excellent apparatus for lessening the chances of a sewer
becoming choked from this cause.
[186] It is necessary in many towns where the combined system is in
force, and the sewage has to be pumped when heavy rains commence, to
put temporary clay dams round the street gratings to prevent the
surface water from entering the sewers, thus at once showing the
inability of the system to deal with flood waters.
CHAPTER XXI.
SEWAGE DISPOSAL.
The magnitude of the question of “sewage disposal” almost decided me to
refrain from making any remarks upon it, but on reconsideration I
thought a few might be serviceable.
Sewage disposal means the getting rid of the foul water contained in the
sewerage system of any community.
Where a dry method is in force for the collection of the excrementitious
matters it is called “interception”; the following are some of the
systems which effect it:--
Privies, ashpits, middens, cesspools, pails, troughs, the “Rochdale,”
the “Eureka,” the “Goux,” Fosses Permanentes, Fosses Mobiles, and
Moule’s, Taylor’s, and Phillip’s earth closets.
The collection and disposal of the mass of excrement under these dry
systems is found to be a very troublesome matter, and they are at their
best but inferior substitutes for water carriage, nor must it be
forgotten that sewers and drains are necessary even if a good
interception process is in force. I shall therefore confine my remarks
to the disposal of water-carried sewage.
Many books have been written, many valuable reports have been prepared
and issued, lengthy papers and discussions have been frequent at the
meetings of scientific societies, and almost innumerable pamphlets have
been published upon this important sanitary subject. Some millions of
money have also been spent in trying to deal satisfactorily with this
question, not only with a view to the purification of the effluent of
the sewage, but also to endeavour to make a profit out of the
residuals.[187] The result of this literature, discussion, and
experiment has led to the following conclusions:
No hard and fast lines can be laid down as to the best method to be
adopted for the disposal of the sewage of any town, but the peculiar
circumstances of each case must be considered before advice could be
given on the subject: geographical position, physical arrangement,
habits of the population, and the character and quantity of the sewage
of the town being some of the most important.
In any case it is necessary that the transmission of the sewage to the
outfall should be effected as speedily as possible, and that the
position of this outfall should be such as to cause no nuisance. The
contents of the sewers should, if possible, be emptied by gravitation,
as pumping is a constant expense, and economy with efficiency must of
course be studied.
Up to the present time the following are the methods adopted in this
country for the disposal of sewage:
(1.) Passing the sewage in its crude state into the sea or tidal river.
(2.) Passing the sewage in its crude state over large tracts of land;
this is called broad irrigation.
(3.) Passing the sewage in its crude state on to small tracts of land
previously prepared by deep drainage; this is called intermittent
downward filtration.
(4.) Mechanical subsidence of the sewage in large tanks, the effluent
passing on to land or into a river.
(5.) Mechanical filtration of the sewage, the effluent passing on to
land or into a river.
(6.) The introduction of lime or other precipitant into the sewage,
which is allowed to settle in tanks, the effluent passing on to land or
into a river.
Very little need be said upon the first of these methods. Many engineers
of high standing contend that, where practicable, the sea or the tidal
estuary of a river is the right place for the sewage, as no costly works
are necessary, and an abominable nuisance is thus got rid of at once and
for ever. To ensure this, however, great care must be exercised in the
selection of the site for the outfall. Float observations should be
made, not only of the surface tides and currents, but also of those at
different depths, and the effect upon the sewage by its different
specific gravity from that of the salt water must be allowed for, as
well as the difference of level of the tides and the configuration of
the adjoining coast line.
The second method, that of broad irrigation, is one that finds
considerable favour with a large number of engineers and agriculturists.
The great sewage-disposal cry has always been, “Put back on the land
what you have taken from it, or some day there will be no beef and no
bread.” The difficulty is to always find land in sufficient quantity and
so situated as to be available for this purpose. Almost any soil is,
however, suitable for irrigation, provided it is well and properly
drained. The quantity of sewage which should be used for this purpose
per acre of land varies considerably, as will be seen on reference to a
table prepared by Mr. Henry Robinson,[188] where the number of
inhabitants to each acre irrigated is in one case (Leamington) stated to
be 55, in another (Blackburn) 208,[189] the average being 137, the
number of gallons per head of population per diem being 38.
It may be useful to state here that a hundred tons of sewage will cover
an acre of land 1 inch in depth, and that the value of sewage as a
manure is said to vary from ¹⁄₂_d._ to 2_d._ per ton, or, calculated in
another manner, about 10_d._ per head of population per annum.
The best crops for a sewage farm (in addition to nearly all kinds of
market-garden produce) are rye-grass, mangolds, beetroot, cabbages,
carrots, potatoes, turnips, rabi, parsnips, lucerne, beans, wheat,
oats, and barley; the cereals, however, are apt to run rather to straw,
and some care is also necessary not to oversewage potatoes and some
other root crops. Grazing cattle or cows can also be carried on with
advantage, the presence of sewage having no effect either on the milk or
flesh of animals fed on sewage farms.
The third method, that of intermittent downward filtration, is really
irrigation of land to such an extent as the land will filter or purify
the sewage, the effluent passing off pure, irrespective of any effect
upon the crops which may be growing upon the land.
Great discussions have arisen (the principal battle-ground being Merthyr
Tydvil) as to the maximum quantity of sewage which an acre of properly
prepared land will treat, some of the champions of this system
contending that a good porous soil properly drained to a depth of six
feet will purify the sewage of 6000 persons per acre, others that only
the sewage of 250 persons can be so treated.[190]
There can be no doubt that earth has a most powerful deodorising power.
Laboratory experiments have shown that as much as eight gallons of
sewage can be filtered through a cubic yard of loamy soil in twenty-four
hours, the soil being drained at a depth of six feet, the effluent
therefrom having obtained a wonderful degree of purity. Much, however,
must depend upon the character of the soil of the filtering area and the
strength of the sewage which is being operated upon.
The following description of the manner in which the earth acts upon
sewage will be of interest:
“The fæcal matters and other impurities attached themselves to the
surfaces of the particles of earth by a kind of cohesive attraction, and
in this state were readily attacked by the oxygen of the air. Their
organic carbon became carbonic acid, their nitrogen was converted into
nitrous or nitric acid, which united with the lime, magnesia, and other
basic matters present. Mechanically suspended impurities were arrested
as by a sieve, and the water issued from beneath--not indeed fit for
dietetic or domestic purposes, but at any rate in a fair state of purity
and quite inoffensive to the senses.” (_Vide_ W. Crookes in the
discussion on the Sewage Question by Norman Bazalgette, ‘Min. of
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers,’ vol. xlviii. p.
164.)
The land thus used as a sewage filter requires constant aëration by
being dug over or ploughed, and if this precaution is taken, it is
surprising to what a wonderful extent the land will take sewage without
becoming what is called “sewage sick.” Clay soils are, however, stated
to be ill-adapted for this purpose.
The next method, that of mechanical subsidence of the sewage in large
tanks, has been attempted in conjunction with irrigation and filtration
without much benefit, nor has the fifth method I have mentioned, viz.,
that of mechanical filtration of the sewage, met with any better result.
Artificial filters have been constructed of burnt clay, cinders, coke,
charcoal, peat, chalk, gravel, broken stone, sand, spongy iron (this is
now being applied very successfully for the purification of water),
straw, cocoa-nut matting, wicker-work, and wire gauze of different
degrees of fineness of mesh.
The late Mr. Odams spent a considerable sum in endeavouring to strain
sewage through revolving screens of wire gauze with but little success,
and Mr. Bannehr has striven to achieve the same object by passing sewage
over oscillating screens of the like material.
In all these cases of mechanical filtration, however, the effluent has
either not been sufficiently pure or the screens and filters have become
clogged and refused to act.[191]
The last method that I have mentioned for the disposal of sewage is
that of precipitation, or what may be more properly called the chemical
treatment of sewage.
Precipitation means the production, by the introduction of chemical
substances within the body of the sewage, of certain solid compounds,
which, in settling, drag down with them the suspended matters in the
sewage, together with a small proportion of the polluting matters which
are in solution in the sewage, this proportion varying with the quantity
of solid matters deposited. The effluent from the tanks in which this
precipitation takes place is then allowed to flow direct into a river or
stream, or is still further purified by being passed over land or
filtered through deep-drained soils.
Chemical treatment of sewage was first tried in Paris in the year 1740,
and since then every effort has been made to extract a valuable and
commercial manure from sewage and purify the effluent. Between the years
1865 and 1875 more than 400 patents were taken out in respect of these
and other matters in connection with the sewage question.
It is almost needless to say that but few of these patents were of any
practical value. Those processes which have some merit and are now best
known are, I believe, included in the following list:--
LIST OF CHEMICAL PROCESSES FOR THE TREATMENT OF TOWN SEWAGE.
The A. B. C. (or Sillar’s) process
Anderson’s process
Bird’s „
Blyth’s „
Campbell’s „
Collin’s „
Forbes and Price’s process
Fulda’s process
Goodall’s „
Hanson’s „
Higg’s „
Hille’s „
Holden’s process
Lenk’s „
Lundy’s „
Manning’s „
Scott’s „
Smith’s „
Spence’s „
Stothert’s „
Suvern’s „
Whitthread’s process
Wickstead’s „
Space will not permit me to describe these processes, and probably most
of them, if not all, are familiar to my readers. Suffice it to say that
in nearly all cases the _modus operandi_ is that of mixing certain
chemicals with the sewage by mechanical agitation, or by passing the
sewage over “salmon ladders,” &c., then allowing the sewage to remain
perfectly still whilst the solids are gravitating, and then dealing with
the effluent in different manners.
Amongst the numerous chemical ingredients which are used for this
purpose may be mentioned the following:--
Alum, animal charcoal, ashes, blood, bone ash, carbolic acid, chalk,
chloride of lime, chloride of zinc, chloride of iron, clay, creosote,
hæmatite, hydrate of lime, lead nitrate, magnesian salts, oxide of
manganese, perchloride of iron, salt, soda, sulphate of zinc, sulphate
of iron, sulphuric acid, and tar.
One of the great difficulties in connection with the precipitation of
sewage is the disposal of the sludge which is left behind in the tanks.
This sludge contains about 90 per cent. of moisture, and if left to dry
atmospherically, a thin crust forms over it, thus protecting that which
is underneath, and it will not dry for many months. In some cases it is
sought to dispose of the accumulations of sludge by digging it into the
land; in others it is mixed with house ashes, &c., and sold as manure.
Its bulk, however, in proportion to its manurial value is so excessive
as to render it almost valueless, and it is difficult to get rid of it
for this purpose even when fortified with ammonia or other chemical. A
frequent practice now adopted is to reduce its bulk by exposure or by
presses to a semi-dried condition; in other cases it is dried to a
powder by heat, and General Scott has patented a method where, in
connection with the lime process, it is burned and manufactured into
cement. Sometimes it is squeezed in presses, such as Needham and Kite’s
or Johnson’s, or it is filtered by Milburn’s or Weare’s apparatus. For
drying the sludge by heat, Borwick’s or Forrest’s machines have been
used with some success, but there is no doubt that the slimy,
glutinous, albuminous, offensive mixture technically known as sludge is
a difficult matter to dispose of in all sewage works.
In connection with the chemical treatment of sewage, it is of advantage
to pass the effluent over land filters on the intermittent downward
filtration principle. Another very effective plan is to pass the
effluent (or even crude sewage) through land which is thickly planted
with the Anacharis or American weed, duckweed, sedges, rushes, reeds,
&c., or through beds of osiers or alder trees. An acre of land thus
planted is said to purify more than three million gallons of sewage per
diem.[192]
There is no doubt that plants of this description have a powerful action
in purifying sewage or foul water of any kind, and where land is scarce
this method has many advantages.
It is almost unnecessary to add that where sewage is treated in any
other manner than that of throwing it into the sea or river, bulk is a
great objection, especially if it has to be pumped.
To obviate this bulk the separate system is of great advantage, and
Isaac Shone’s new method for ejecting sewage along pipes seems also to
be a most desirable invention in connection with this subject.
[187] It is computed that every ton of liquid sewage which is treated
chemically costs about three-quarters of a farthing.
[188] _Vide_ ‘Sewage Disposal,’ by Henry Robinson, C.E., &c., 2nd
edition, p. 79.
[189] I purposely omit (Kendal) 856, as this is, properly speaking,
“filtration.”
[190] For much interesting information upon this and other subjects in
connection with sewage disposal, see ‘Minutes of Proceedings of the
Institution of Civil Engineers,’ vol. xlviii. p. 105 et seq. Also the
report of a committee of the Local Government Board on Modes of
Treating Town Sewage, 1876. ‘Sewage Disposal,’ by Henry Robinson,
C.E., and other works on the subject.
[191] Under the Rivers Pollution Act, no effluent is allowed to enter
a stream &c., if it contains more than three parts of suspended
inorganic matter, and one part organic matter for every 100,000 parts
of liquid.
[192] _Vide_ ‘Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil
Engineers,’ vol. xlviii. p. 179.
CHAPTER XXII.
VENTILATION OF SEWERS.
The necessity for some manner of dealing with the noxious vapours
emanating from sewage other than that of letting it find its way from
the sewers into the house drains and thence into dwelling houses, has
induced the legislature of this country to introduce the following
clause in the Public Health Act 1875, which imposes on every local
authority the duty of causing their sewers to be ventilated so as not to
be a nuisance or injurious to health.
“Every local authority shall cause the sewers belonging to them to be
constructed, covered, ventilated and kept, so as not to be a nuisance,
or injurious to health, and to be properly cleansed and emptied” (38 &
39 Vic. c. 55, s. 19).
The result of this compulsion upon local authorities to ventilate their
sewers has been the introduction of many methods to effect the purpose,
the great difficulty being to “ventilate so as not to be a nuisance or
injurious to health,” the advocates of open ventilation contending that
this is effected by having a sufficient number of openings in a sewer to
dilute and safely disseminate the foul gas with atmospheric air so that
no nuisance is caused.[193]
Many other methods have been from time to time suggested, some of which
have been carried into effect, and I will now proceed to give them in
detail, discussing their merits and objections in each case.
(1.) Open shafts are carried up from the crown of the sewer to the
centre or side of the roadway, and there protected by an open iron grid
or grating at the level of the street surface.
This is the system which has hitherto found most favour with town
surveyors, and is sometimes modified or worked in conjunction with the
practice of untrapping all the gully pits and buddle holes at the sides
of the roadway, which is an excellent plan if the theory of the
atmospheric air dilution at which this system aims is a correct one; in
fact, if this dilution by air is all that is necessary to render the
foul air in a sewer innocuous and inoffensive, there cannot be too many
openings into it.
The objections to this system are as follows:
(_a._) The foul air escaping into the public streets is often very
injurious to persons passing a ventilator, and sewers are buried out of
sight, but they are not out of mind so long as we are constantly and
unpleasantly reminded of their existence.
(_b._) It is found that a change of temperature either of the
atmosphere, or of the air in a sewer, will seriously affect the action
of a shaft, causing it sometimes to have upcast currents of air,
sometimes downcast; the effect of this latter action, especially when it
arises from the direction of the wind blowing over or into the shaft, is
frequently to drive the impure gases contained in the sewer into the
house drains, and from thence into the houses, unless they are so
trapped and ventilated as to prevent it.
(_c._) They are also affected by the fluctuations of the flow of sewage
in the sewer, or by barometric changes in the atmosphere.
(_d._) The situation of the open grids in the street is sometimes
somewhat awkward for traffic, and horses will frequently shy at them,
they also admit solid road detritus into the sewer unless they are
protected by a catch plate of some description.
(_e._) They are tempting places for children to play over, with what
results may be imagined.
(2.) Open shafts are carried up the sides (gable ends if possible) of
buildings in the neighbourhood of the sewer; these shafts may be either
open at the top, or be furnished with exhaust cowls. This system is
sometimes employed in conjunction with inlet shafts at the sides of the
street, in the manner shown by the drawing which follows:
[Illustration]
This method has the advantage over the first system I have mentioned of
carrying the smells further from our reach, but it also has the
following disadvantages:
(_a._) The distance and the number of bends and elbows the gases have to
traverse before reaching the external air.
(_b._) The difficulty of fixing them just at the points where they are
most required with reference to the gradients of the sewer, especially
if they are to be constructed of such an internal diameter as will
ensure their efficiency.
(_c._) The great objection raised by occupiers and owners of premises
against having them fixed on their premises, both on sanitary and legal
grounds.
(_d._) Their great expense.
(_e._) The effect of weather upon their currents.
(3.) By making use of the rain-water pipes from adjoining buildings.
This method commends itself as being very economical, and the
opportunities thus given for ventilation are so numerous. If sewers are
to be ventilated at all[194] it would seem at first sight that there
could not be too many openings from and into them, but this system has
the following serious objections:
(_a._) When raining, little or no ventilation can take place, and this
is the very time, owing to the rising of the water in the sewer, that
the gases should be allowed free egress if such is considered the best
manner of dealing with them.
(_b._) The position of the head of the rain-water pipe is generally the
worst that could be chosen for the egress of the gases, both on sanitary
and pneumatic grounds.
(_c._) The joints of a rain-water pipe are usually none of the best.
(_d._) The objections persons naturally have to allow the rain-water
pipes of their houses to be used for such a purpose.
(4.) By utilising the lamp posts or columns adjacent to the sewer.
The objects of this system are first to obtain a constant upward current
from the sewer, and secondly to secure that the foul gases and air shall
be consumed and rendered innocuous by being burnt. The objections to
this system are--
(_a._) The lamps are only lit at night, consequently little or no
ventilation would be going on during the day.
(_b._) The number and diameter of the lamps are generally too small to
make any appreciable effect upon the ventilation of the sewer.
(5.) By passing or filtering the foul air through charcoal placed in
trays or other receptacles in shafts.
The theory of this method is admirable, as the charcoal would arrest all
the impurities and flocculent organic matters contained in the foul air,
and allow only the pure filtered air to pass into the atmosphere.
It has been found, however, where this method has been adopted, that the
charcoal very soon becomes so caked and consolidated from damp and the
vibration of the traffic, that it will neither allow the air to filter
through, nor absorb the impurities contained in it; these objections and
the amount of attention this system requires, has not rendered it very
popular with town surveyors, although it has much to recommend it.
(6.) By making use of ordinary chimney shafts.
This method and the one which follows have some merits, the principle
being that an upward current is established as an exhaust from the
sewer, and also that the foul air is purified by being passed through
fire, but both these advantages are only gained when the fires are
actually burning; the objections to this system are--
(_a._) Structural difficulties must often be encountered and overcome.
(_b._) Possibility of explosion arising from leaks of gas mains into
sewers (a by no means uncommon occurrence, as all who have charge of
sewers frequently find to their cost).
(_c._) The objections of owners and occupiers to allow their premises to
be thus made use of to carry off a public nuisance for which they as
individuals are in no way responsible.
(7.) By lofty shafts erected at convenient positions which are either in
connection with furnaces or are simply open to the air.
For a long outfall sewer with no connections this method has many
advantages, notably so in the large furnace and shaft erected on the
Brighton outfall sewer by the borough surveyor, Mr. Lockwood. But in a
general system of sewerage, it was found by experiments made by Sir
Joseph Bazalgette, C.B. that the effect of trying to reduce the gases by
the action of furnaces was but very small, and that the area over which
the effect extended was but very limited: in fact, a sewer may be
compared to a perforated tube, the house drains, gully drains, &c.,
representing the perforations; the effect of an exhaustion by the action
of the furnace is simply to suck fresh air into the sewer at all these
points instead of removing the foul air for any distance.
High shafts at different points effect a partial clearance of sewer
gases, but they are very costly, and the reasons I have previously given
against the system of open shafts are practically the same in this and
all other modifications of the principle.
Many other methods have been tried from time to time, either to prevent
the formation of gases in the sewers, or neutralize or destroy them,
some of which are as follows:
By giving a quick velocity of discharge in a sewer; by placing materials
within sewers which would absorb the gases as fast as they were
generated; by passing deodorants or disinfectants into sewers; by
deodorizing or disinfecting all materials before they are allowed to
enter a drain or sewer; by placing chemical agents within sewers to give
off certain gases which would then, it was conjectured, destroy the
noxious properties of the sewer gases; by introducing charcoal into
sewers to absorb the foul gases; by laying pipes within the sewers for
the purpose of discharging chlorine into the sewer; by employing
galvanic agency to disengage or to produce ozone from the sewer gas; by
passing the foul air through shafts into which water was constantly
injected, and by endeavouring to extract the foul air by fans driven by
machinery.
I have myself patented a plan for “annihilating sewer gases” by allowing
them to be absorbed into dry earth, and have tried the system with some
very marked and successful results.[195]
Having thus far considered all the known methods for dealing with the
noxious emanations which proceed from sewers, the next point to consider
is what these noxious emanations are, and whether they exist in all
sewers.
It has been found that even in sewers of the best and most modern
construction what is called “sewer gas” is generated in more or less
quantity; this arises even from fresh sewage, but is far more noxious
and dangerous to health when the sewage has begun to decompose. Even
where the sewers are so constructed as to remove all the sewage to the
outfall within 24 hours (which has been decided to be the maximum time
it should take), there is still an accumulation of slime on the inner
periphery of the sewers, owing to the rise and fall of the sewage line,
which is constantly manufacturing gases of decomposition.
It is no doubt true that the more perfect the system of sewerage is the
less foul air there is in the sewers, but in very few towns will there
be found no sewers or drains where temporary obstructions of the sewage
do not occur, and where gases are generated, which then find their way
into other parts of the sewage system unless they are dealt with in some
effective manner.
As to what is the actual composition of this foul air in a sewer little
or nothing seems to be known, except that it is highly dangerous to
health if breathed, and is also very offensive to the smell.
The “fœtid organic vapour,” or sewer gas proper, has for its companions
in a sewer, sulphuretted hydrogen, a most poisonous as well as
unpleasant smelling gas, carburetted hydrogen, due very often to leaky
gas mains or services, or to decomposing vegetable matters, carbonic
acid gas or carbonic anhydride (choke damp), and some ammoniacal
compounds.
The actual component parts, however, of any gases in a sewer must vary
considerably with its conditions and locality, &c., in the same manner
as they would in any public building or room, and it is impossible to
tell, without costly experiments, what gases may be prevalent in any
particular portion of a sewer. But whatever may be the analysis of this
foul air, there can be but little doubt that it contains organic matter
floating about in it as solids, and that it is excessively injurious and
even dangerous to breathe, and that it should be caught and destroyed or
rendered innocuous, and not be permitted to pass into and contaminate
and poison the air we breathe.
Some engineers are of opinion that this foul air always finds its way to
the upper portions of the sewerage system, but my investigations into
this subject have led me to believe that no rule of this kind can be
laid down, for with quick velocities of flow, in some sewers, the gases
are carried by friction in the direction of the flow of the sewage, and
do not ascend as has been imagined.
Whatever system of ventilation of the main sewers in any town may be
adopted, it is imperative that the house drains connected with them
should be properly trapped and ventilated, and this is in my judgment of
even greater importance than the ventilation of the main sewers. On this
point I have given more explanations in the chapter upon “House
Drainage.”
In conclusion, let me refer my readers to a most exhaustive discussion,
and very valuable information contained in the chapter entitled
“Ventilation of Sewers and Drains” in Mr. Baldwin Latham’s ‘Sanitary
Engineering,’ in which may be found almost everything that is at present
known upon this important subject.
[193] If there is any truth in the “germ theory” of disease, how
dangerous must be the practice of open sewer ventilation, a waft of
foul air from a sewer carrying with it a germ, and the unsuspecting
passer-by is inoculated just as surely as if he had handled or been
near the excrements of the diseased person whose evacuations have been
passed into the public sewer.
[194] The important city of Bristol has no system of sewer
ventilation, and yet the death rate of the city, which is by no means
specially healthily situated, has not been abnormally high up to this
year (1883).
[195] For further information upon my system for the annihilation of
sewer gases, I must refer my readers to a pamphlet written by myself
in 1880, entitled ‘Sewer Ventilation, or a New and Improved System for
the disposal of the Noxious Gases generated in Sewers and Drains,’ and
also to a paper I read on this subject at the meeting of the Sanitary
Institute of Great Britain, held in Exeter in the year 1881.
CHAPTER XXIII.
PUBLIC CONVENIENCES.
In almost every town in the United Kingdom public urinals are now
erected, although it is not often that good watercloset accommodation is
provided, except at hotels and railway stations, over which the local
authority have no jurisdiction; or perhaps if they do provide any
accommodation of this description it is only in connection with the
public parks or in the markets, museums, &c.
The clause of the Public Health Act which empowers an urban authority to
spend money out of the district rates for this purpose is as follows:
“Any urban authority may if they think fit provide and maintain in
proper and convenient situations, urinals, waterclosets, earthclosets,
privies and ashpits and other similar conveniences for public
accommodation” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 39).
It is not my intention to enter into the merits or otherwise of the many
descriptions of urinals and latrines that have been brought to the
notice from time to time of every town surveyor by enterprising
manufacturers and patentees, but only to give a few suggestions upon the
subject.
Public urinals ought to be erected by the urban authority as a matter of
convenience to the peripatetic portion of any community, and also to
prevent nuisances being committed in improper places.
In selecting sites for urinals the town surveyor must take care that
after erection they shall not be offensive or a nuisance to any persons
living in the vicinity, and that they shall be so placed that although
they may be easily found, the persons using them shall be effectually
screened.[196]
Urinals are better constructed of iron rather than of brickwork or more
solid workmanship, in order that they can be readily removed. It is
surprising what an uproar is sometimes raised in a neighbourhood by the
erection of a urinal; this clamour occasionally has so much effect upon
the urban authority that they order the removal of the urinal, although
it may not have been erected many days, and if it has been substantially
built a considerable waste of the public money is thus involved.
Where a urinal is constructed with basins, as by the following plan, the
basins may be of iron or good stone ware or similar construction, these
being always kept full of water which is constantly although slowly
changing.
[Illustration]
Stall urinals may be some modification of the following plan, and be
constructed of iron with slate partitions, or the partitions may be of
iron covered with plate glass where soiled, the stalls should not be
less than 24 in. in the clear, and water must be kept constantly flowing
over the soiled portion either from a perforated pipe or a
spreader.[197] A very excellent arrangement is to have a trench or
trough cut at the foot of the stall for the whole length of the urinal,
which is kept constantly full of water and occasionally flushed, thus
avoiding nuisance in a very satisfactory manner.
[Illustration]
Provision must of course be made to efficiently drain and light all
public urinals, and arrangements should be made by which they can be
thoroughly washed once or twice a day, so as to keep every part
scrupulously clean. Urine after a very short exposure exhales a most
fœtid and unpleasant odour, from the decomposition of its nitrogenous
matter. Carbolic acid, chloride of lime, sanitas, or other disinfectant
should also be used, especially in warm weather.
If the interior of a public urinal or latrine has to be painted a light
colour, it is well to mix a little sand with the paint, so as to prevent
as much as possible that literature and art which so often disfigures
establishments of this description. An excellent composition with which
to treat urinals, although it is of a somewhat dark tint, is a mixture
of common coal tar and naphtha, which not only gives a clean and
polished appearance to the place, but is also an excellent deodorant and
disinfectant.
With regard to public W.C. accommodation, this, as I have before stated,
is not very often provided by an urban authority,[198] although common
public latrines are sometimes erected. These are generally used by
rather rough persons, and should be constructed in a strong and simple
manner.
For this purpose stoneware bowls or basins placed over a drain and
fitting into ordinary right-angled junctions placed vertically are
simple and effective as well as very economical in construction. Slate,
iron, or wood seats may be placed on these basins, which should be kept
half full of water. A periodical and sudden flush which carries the
whole contents into the nearest sewer can be arranged for so as to work
automatically by the introduction of a cistern and one of Mr. Roger
Field’s flush syphons at the upper end of the system.
For further information on the subject of urinals, waterclosets,
latrines, and all similar subjects, let the town surveyor refer to Mr.
George Jennings or Messrs. Macfarlane, who have an endless variety of
designs and appliances in connection with such matters.
[196] The urban authority have an absolute discretion as to the sites
they select. They cannot, however, erect public conveniences so as
thereby to cause a nuisance, even though the convenience is wanted and
the locality chosen suitable. (_Vide_ ‘Public Health and Local
Government Act,’ by F. V. Fitzgerald, 3rd edition, p. 33.)
[197] The quantity of water usually required to each stall when kept
constantly running is about half a gallon per minute.
[198] For an excellent specimen of such public accommodation, that at
Liverpool near the St. George’s Hall should be inspected.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ARTIZANS AND LABOURERS’ DWELLINGS, &c.
The Artizans and Labourers’ Dwellings Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vic. c. 130) was
in effect incorporated in the Public Health Act 1875 so that “every
urban authority shall within their district, . . . have, exercise and be
subject to all the powers, rights, duties, capacities, liabilities, and
obligations within such district exercisable or attaching by and to the
local authority” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 10).
The mode of procedure is as follows:
Where the “officer of health”[199] finds any premises in a condition or
state dangerous to health so as to be unfit for human habitation, he
shall report the same in writing to the clerk of the local authority.
The local authority must then refer such report to a surveyor or
engineer,[200] who shall thereupon consider the report so furnished to
him, and report to the local authority what is the cause of the evil so
reported on, and if such evil is occasioned by defects in any premises,
whether the same can be remedied by structural alterations and
improvements or otherwise, or whether such premises or any or what part
thereof ought to be demolished (31 & 32 Vic. c. 130, s. 6).
Upon the receipt of this report from the surveyor the local authority
sends copies to the owner of the premises, giving him opportunities of
attending before them and of appealing against the report, and if his
objections are overruled, a plan and specification of the works (if
any) and an estimate of the cost of such works, must be prepared by the
surveyor, and these in turn may be inspected by the owner and objected
to by him in writing, and he may also attend before the local authority,
and if he makes good his objections the local authority may direct the
plan, specification and estimate to be amended, and the works would then
be executed in accordance with the amended plans, &c. (31 & 32 Vic. c.
130, s. 8).
Persons who are aggrieved by any order of the local authority may appeal
against it, but failing this, if the owner does not within two months
diligently proceed with and complete the same in conformity with the
specification to the satisfaction of the surveyor, the local authority
may either order the premises to be shut up, or to be demolished, or may
themselves execute the required works in conformity with the
specification (31 & 32 Vic. c. 130, s. 18).
If the requirements of the order involve the total demolition and not
the improvement of the premises, the owner shall within three months
proceed to take down and remove them, and if he fail to do so, then the
local authority may pull down and recoup the expenses by a sale of the
old material (31 & 32 Vic. c. 130, s. 20).
The above Act was amended in 1879 by the “Artizans and Labourers’
Dwellings Act (1868) Amendment Act 1879” (42 & 43 Vic. c. 64), the most
important clause affecting the action of the town surveyor being as
follows:
“Notwithstanding anything in the Act of 1868, the owner of any premises
specified in an order of the local authority made under that Act, and
requiring him to execute any works or to demolish such premises, may
within three months after service on him of the order, require the local
authority in writing to purchase such premises” (42 & 43 Vic. c. 64, s.
5).
The amount of compensation to be paid to the owner is to be settled by
arbitration if no agreement can be arrived at, such arbitration to be
carried out in a manner provided for by certain clauses in this
Amendment Act 1879.
Sec. 9 of the same Act also provides for the repayment (by sale of old
materials, &c.) of the cost incurred by the local authority in executing
any works under the Acts.
This Act has again been amended quite recently (August 1882) by “An Act
to Amend the Artizans and Labourers’ Dwellings Acts” (45 & 46 Vic. c.
54), the most important clause affecting the working of this Act being
as follows:
(1.) “If in any place to which the Artizans and Labourers’ Dwellings Act
1868 applies the officer of health finds that any building, although not
in itself unfit for human habitation, is so situate that by reason of
its proximity to or contact with any other building it causes one of the
following effects, that is to say:
“(1.) It stops ventilation or otherwise makes or conduces to make such
other buildings to be in a condition unfit for human habitation; or
“(2.) It prevents proper measures from being carried into effect for
remedying the evils complained of in respect of such other buildings,
in any such case the officer of health shall make a report to the local
authority in writing of the particulars relating to such first-mentioned
building (in this Act referred to as ‘an obstructive building’) stating
that in his opinion it is expedient that the obstructive building should
be pulled down, and shall deliver the report to the clerk of the local
authority.
“(2.) The local authority shall refer such report to a surveyor or
engineer to report thereon, and to report as to the cost of acquiring
the lands on which such obstructive building is erected, and of pulling
down such building.”
The local authority then consider the reports of the officer of health
and of the surveyor, and proceed to give copies to the owner of the
lands in question, who has liberty of appeal, &c., as before given in
the Act 1868. The lands may be acquired by the local authority by
agreement or compulsorily under the Lands Clauses Consolidation Acts,
and the obstructive building, “or such part thereof as may be
obstructive,” may be pulled “down, and the whole site, or such part
thereof as may be required to be kept open for the purpose of remedying
the evils” kept as an open space.
The owner of the land may, by giving due notice, declare that “he
desires to retain the site of the obstructive building, and undertake
either to pull down or to permit the local authority to pull down, the
obstructive building,” in which case he retains the site, and is
compensated only for the building.
These recent amendments to the old Act of 1868 are of the greatest
importance, for they aim at the easy improvement of courts and alleys,
by opening them where houses have been erected across the entrance, in
some cases depriving the courts and alleys of light and air, and leaving
only a small covered archway through which the occupants can enter.
The Act has only too recently become law for me to give any particulars
with regard to its working, but it appears to be a most valuable
sanitary Act.
Prior to these amendments of the Act 1868, it was felt that it dealt
only with isolated buildings, and consequently, in order to improve
large areas, the “Act for Facilitating the Improvement of the Dwellings
of the Working Classes in Large Towns” was passed in 1875 (38 & 39 Vic.
c. 36), since which date, like the Act 1868, it has been twice amended,
once in 1879 (42 & 43 Vic. c. 63), and again in 1882 (45 & 46 Vic. c.
54).
The object of the Act of 1875 was to facilitate the removal of portions
of towns, especially of the courts and alleys in the poorer and more
densely-populated parts.
The Act is to be put in force where an official representation is made
by the medical officer of health to the local authority of an urban
sanitary district (which must contain a population of at least 25,000)
that “any houses, courts, or alleys within a certain area” are “unfit
for human habitation, or that diseases indicating a generally low
condition of health amongst the population have been from time to time
prevalent in a certain area,” and that this is attributable to the bad
arrangement or bad condition of the streets and houses, or “other
sanitary defects,” which can only be remedied by “an improvement scheme
for the rearrangement and reconstruction of the streets or houses” (38 &
39 Vic. c. 36, s. 3).
The improvement scheme to be prepared on receipt of this report by the
local authority must be accompanied by “maps, particulars, and
estimates” (no doubt these must be prepared by the surveyor, although no
mention is made as to who shall prepare them), and this scheme may
“provide for widening any existing approaches to the unhealthy area, or
otherwise for opening out the same for the purposes of ventilation or
health.” It must distinguish “the lands proposed to be taken
compulsorily,” and by the Act 1875 it was necessary to “provide for the
accommodation of at the least as many persons of the working class as
may be displaced in the area with respect to which the scheme is
proposed in suitable dwellings, which, unless there are any special
reasons to the contrary, shall be situate within the limits of the same
area or in the vicinity thereof” (sec. 5).
So much practical difficulty was experienced in carrying this latter
part of the clause into effect, that in 1879 a short Act was passed (42
& 43 Vic. c. 63), which by the 4th section amended that part of the
original clause as to the provision of accommodation for the working
classes as follows:
“Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the confirming authority
. . . . that equally convenient accommodation can be provided . . . . at
some place other than within the area or the immediate vicinity . . . .
and it is also proved to the satisfaction of such authority that the
required accommodation has been or is about to be forthwith provided.”
The confirming authority may be satisfied with such provision, and for
this purpose the local authority may make use of any lands belonging to
them, or purchase any that are suitable (42 & 43 Vic. c. 63, s. 4).
This part of the Act has again been amended in the year 1882 by 45 & 46
Vic. c. 54, which in section 3 enacts as follows:
“. . . . and where any such improvement scheme comprises an area situate
elsewhere than in the metropolis or the City of London, it shall, if the
confirming authority so require (but it shall not otherwise be
obligatory on the local authority so to frame their scheme), provide for
the accommodation of such number of those persons of the working class
displaced in the area with respect to which the scheme is proposed in
suitable dwellings to be erected in such place or places either within
or without the limits of the same area as the said authority, on a
report made by the officer conducting the local enquiry, may require
. . . .”
Having thus far given the _modus operandi_ under which the Act has to be
enforced, it is necessary to see what are some of the town surveyor’s
duties in connection therewith.
First, there are the “maps, particulars, and estimates” which have to be
prepared, and these involve--
(_a._) Accurate surveys of the area;
(_b._) A reference of all the properties included:
(_c._) A census of the population of the area;
(_d._) A valuation of all the properties;
(_e._) A plan of the proposed new streets, &c.
(_f._) An estimate of the cost of the whole work.
In addition to this it is necessary for the local authority to “impose
suitable conditions and restrictions as to the elevation, size, and
design of the houses and the extent of the accommodation to be afforded
thereby, and to make due provision for the maintenance of proper
sanitary arrangements,” and this naturally involves detailed drawings of
the buildings to be erected.
In the same clause (38 & 39 Vic. c. 36, s. 9) it is stated that the
local authority may engage with any society, &c., to carry the whole or
any part of the scheme into effect, but “the local authority shall not
themselves, without the express approval of the confirming authority,
undertake the rebuilding of the houses or the execution of any part of
the scheme, except that they may take down any or all of the buildings
upon the area, and clear the whole or any part thereof, and may lay out,
form, pave, sewer, and complete” all the necessary streets, &c., which
shall thenceforth be public streets repairable by the inhabitants at
large.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the enforcement of this Act
involves a considerable expenditure of work and time in the office of
the town surveyor.
The buildings which are erected on the sites dealt with under this Act
are generally of the “high block” class, as it is found that the
labouring man prefers to live near his work, and land is generally too
expensive in such localities to admit of the erection of any other
description of buildings.
As to whether this class of dwelling is as healthy as ordinary cottages
or houses, the following death-rates for the year 1879 will be some
guide:
The London Improved Industrial Dwellings 16·4 per 1000
The Peabody Trust Dwellings 17·2 „ „
The Metropolitan Association Dwellings 14·3 „ „
The Newcastle Improved Industrial Dwellings 12·0 „ „
The general death rate for the Metropolis at the
same date being 21·2 „ „
It is of course necessary that the sanitary arrangements of industrial
dwellings of the block type should be very perfect, and as to the manner
in which they should be erected the following words of Mr. John Price,
who for twelve years had lived in one of them himself, can be here given
with advantage:[201]
“Model dwellings are therefore most appreciated by working men when
placed near the scene of their daily labour. The arrangements most
preferred are those which bring the fewest families or persons in
contact with one another on a flat or landing. As a rule the buildings
should not exceed four stories in height; the staircases should be about
four feet in width, and broken by short landings, lighted by large
windows open to the external air; the window-sills should not be less
than three feet from the floors for the safety of young children, and
for the same reason well staircases should be avoided. The steps of the
stairs should only have a 6-inch ‘rise,’ for the more easy accommodation
of old people and young children; they should be fire-proof, and well
lighted with gas on an evening. There should be a thick layer of
deafening between the floors. The waterclosets should be placed in an
offshoot from the main building, opening on to each landing, and well
ventilated by open windows and air bricks. The watercloset apparatus
should be as simple and effective as possible. Patents depending upon
the proper working of valves and ball-cocks should be avoided, as the
fruitful cause of trouble and expense; little reliance must be placed on
their proper use by tenants where more than one family have access to
them. I have seen excellent closets stopped up with cloths and all
manner of earthenware and hardware, children of careless parents being
the principal offenders; what is everybody’s duty is often most
neglected. It will be found most economical in large buildings of this
class to appoint a person whose duty it should be to attend to the
proper flushing of waterclosets daily. I would suggest that there
should be a large cistern under the roof (distinct from the cistern used
for domestic purposes), a ³⁄₄-inch feed pipe should lead to each w.c.,
which should consist of a simple metal or earthenware pan, provided only
with a tap, flushing rim, and plug, placed under the seat securely, and
under the sole control of the attendant, who, by the necessary daily
inspection, would detect any stoppage or injury to the fittings. The
expense of such supervision would probably be soon saved in plumbers’
bills. Of course the soil-pipes should be well ventilated above the roof
of the building, and all drains and sinks should be properly trapped.
The attendant on his daily rounds would also be able to see that these
are kept in proper order. The dust-shaft, extending to the full height
of the building, should have proper hoppers connected with it to prevent
the dust coming from the lower or upper landings; a nuisance sometimes
complained of in block dwellings. The washhouses should be placed on the
roof or in the yards, fitted with set pots and requisite conveniences.
The soft water from the roofs should be stored in tanks for washing and
domestic purposes--it will be much appreciated by sensible tenants, and
save the water bill greatly.
“The great desiderata of these large blocks of buildings is ample
playground for the children, without which they play upon the stairs,
and are often the cause of strife amongst neighbours. I know those who
have experience in the matter may say that it is more easy to state what
is desirable than what is practical. The enhanced value of land in all
our large towns precludes any liberal investment on what appears so
financially unremunerative as playgrounds, yet they are essential
adjuncts wherever there is an infantile population. Mr. Powell, on
behalf of the London Trades’ Unions, enumerated before Sir Richard
Cross’s Committee certain objections which the working classes of London
entertained against the earliest erected blocks of dwellings, amongst
which was their barrack-like and uninviting appearance, and also their
want of playgrounds for children. Recently these defects have been
greatly remedied.”
A few words are necessary upon the “Labouring Classes’ Lodging Houses
Acts” (14 & 15 Vic. c. 34; 29 & 30 Vic. c. 28; 30 & 31 Vic. c. 28).
The object of these Acts was to empower urban authorities, under certain
restrictions and after certain formalities, to appropriate any lands
vested in them or at their disposal, or to purchase or rent the
necessary lands for the purpose of erecting suitable buildings for
lodging-houses for the working classes, or to convert any buildings into
lodging-houses, and “repair and improve the same respectively with all
requisite furniture, fittings, and conveniences”; and further powers are
given in the Acts for the urban authority to contract with persons for
different objects, &c.
I am unable to give any experiences of the working of these Acts, for I
do not know of any urban authority which has carried them into effect,
the Artizans and Labourers’ Dwellings Improvement Acts having virtually
superseded them.
The following copy of the bye-laws as sanctioned by the Treasury in 1867
in connection with the Labouring Classes’ Lodging Houses Acts may,
however, be of interest, as well as the table of sizes of rooms which
follows:
Separate watercloset accommodation to be provided for each tenement, or
else, where watercloset accommodation is to be used in common by the
occupants of two or more tenements, separate accommodation must be
provided for each sex. Such accommodation may be either watercloset,
earthcloset, or privy.
Each tenement to have a dustbin or the use of a dustbin common to
several buildings.
Each tenement to be well lighted by external windows made to open.
Each tenement to have ready access to water.
Where several tenements in one building, proper ventilation to be
provided for the passages, staircases, &c.
The drains to be well constructed.
Parties to whom moneys to be advanced to enter into covenants with the
Public Works Loan Commissioners, that where there are several tenements
in one building they
(_a._) Will cause the passages, staircases, &c., to be kept clean;
(_b._) Will cause the waterclosets, &c., to be kept in good repair;
(_c._) Will cause the dustbins to be emptied at intervals of seven days;
(_d._) Will take precautions against any interruption in the supply of
water;
(_e._) Will keep the windows in good order and repair, and the chimneys
swept;
(_f._) Will keep the drains in proper order;
(_g._) Will allow inspection by Commissioner of Works to see that the
above covenants are observed.
Number of cubic feet in each room of the several classes of tenements
(none of less than two rooms) for which money has been authorised to be
advanced:
------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
| One | One | One | One | One
|Room of|Room of|Room of|Room of|Room of
| cubic | cubic | cubic | cubic | cubic
Class. | feet. | feet. | feet. | feet. | feet.
------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
Class I. of two rooms | 715 | 1,219 | | |
Ditto | 816 | 994 | | |
Ditto | 995 | 1,020 | | |
Class II. of four rooms | 960 | 960 | 960 | 960 |
Class III. of five rooms| 372 | 675 | 1056 | 1056 | 1232
Ditto | 446 | 459 | 459 | 781 | 1468
------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
It may be information valuable to a town surveyor, if before closing
this chapter I draw attention to the provisions of the Municipal
Corporations Act 1882, sec. 3, which gives corporations power to convert
any corporate land into sites for working men’s dwellings, although the
corporation are not authorised to erect the dwellings thereon.
[199] The term “officer of health,” as respects any urban sanitary
district in England, means the medical officer of health appointed by
the urban sanitary authority under the Public Health Act 1875 (42 & 43
Vic. c. 64, s. 3).
[200] The town surveyor is usually employed for this work.
[201] _Vide_ ‘Industrial Dwellings from a Sanitary point of View,’ by
John Price, Resident Agent, Newcastle-on-Tyne Industrial Dwellings
Company, read September 28th, at the Congress of the Institute, held
at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
CHAPTER XXV.
DEFECTS IN DWELLING-HOUSES, &C.
There are many defects in dwelling-houses with which it is the duty of
the sanitary inspector to deal, such as the Bakehouse Regulations Act,
offensive trades, nuisances rendering houses unfit for human habitation,
&c., but I propose to give in this chapter, in addition to those with
which I have already dealt, such subjects under this head as come within
the duties of the town surveyor.
The first which I propose to treat is that of the question of
_Cellar Dwellings._--These are at all times objectionable even if the
clauses of the Public Health Act 1875 be strictly carried out, and the
surveyor should discourage them as much as possible. Nothing more can be
said with reference to them than is contained in the provisions of the
above Act, which are as follows:[202]
“It shall not be lawful to let or occupy or suffer to be occupied
separately as a dwelling, any cellar (including for the purposes of this
Act in that expression any vault or underground room) built or rebuilt
after the passing of this Act, or which is not lawfully so let or
occupied at the time of the passing of this Act” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s.
71).
And with regard to existing cellar dwellings they are only to be let or
occupied on the following conditions:--
“Unless the cellar is in every part thereof at least seven feet in
height, measured from the floor to the ceiling thereof, and is at least
three feet of its height above the surface of the street or ground
adjoining or nearest to the same; and
“Unless there is outside of and adjoining the cellar and extending along
the entire frontage thereof, and upwards from six inches below the level
of the floor thereof up to the surface of the said street or ground, an
open area of at least two feet and six inches wide in every part; and
“Unless the cellar is effectually drained by means of a drain, the
uppermost part of which is one foot at least below the level of the
floor thereof; and
“Unless there is appurtenant to the cellar the use of a watercloset,
earthcloset, or privy, and an ashpit, furnished with proper doors and
coverings, according to the provisions of this Act; and
“Unless the cellar has a fireplace with a proper chimney or flue, and an
external window of at least nine superficial feet in area clear of the
sash frame, and made to open in a manner approved by the surveyor
(except in the case of an inner or back cellar let or occupied along
with a front cellar as part of the same letting or occupation, in which
case the external window may be of any dimensions, not being less than
four superficial feet in area clear of the sash frame).
“Provided that in any area adjoining a cellar there may be steps
necessary for access to such cellar, if the same be so placed as not to
be over, across, or opposite to the said external window, and so as to
allow between every part of such steps and the external wall of such
cellar a clear space of six inches at the least, and that over or across
any such area there may be steps necessary for access to any building
above the cellar to which such area adjoins, if the same be so placed as
not to be over, across, or opposite to any such external window” (38 &
39 Vic. c. 55, s. 72).
Where two convictions in respect of the same cellar have taken place
within three months, the local authority may close it, and recover any
expenses incurred by them in the execution of this duty (38 & 39 Vic.,
c. 55, s. 75).
The next defect in a dwelling-house which will be considered is that of
_Insufficient W.C. accommodation._--A new house may not be erected
without “a sufficient watercloset, earthcloset,[203] or privy” under a
penalty not exceeding twenty pounds[204] (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 35).
And with regard to existing premises:
“If a house within the district of a local authority appears to such
authority _by the report of their surveyor_ or inspector of nuisances to
be without a sufficient watercloset, earthcloset, or privy . . . . the
local authority shall by written notice require the owner or occupier of
the house within a reasonable time therein specified, to provide a
sufficient watercloset, earthcloset, or privy . . . . or either of them
as the case may require. If such notice is not complied with the local
authority may, at the expiration of the time specified in the notice, do
the work, provided that where a watercloset, earthcloset, or privy has
been and is used in common by the inmates of two or more houses, or if
in the opinion of the local authority a watercloset, earthcloset, or
privy may be so used, they need not require the same to be provided for
each house” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 36).
If the local authority approve, an earthcloset may be constructed
instead of a watercloset, but in this case they should make arrangements
for the supply of the dry earth and the removal of its contents.
The necessary form of notice to be served in connection with
insufficient w.c. accommodation may be as follows:
_To the owner of the house No. in the borough of ._
Whereas the above-mentioned house is situate within the district of
the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of , the urban sanitary
authority for the borough of : And whereas it appears to the
said urban sanitary authority that the said house is without a
sufficient watercloset, earthcloset, or privy: Now the said urban
sanitary authority do hereby require you, the said owner, within
from the date of this notice to provide a sufficient
watercloset for the use of the inhabitants of the said house. And take
notice, that if you do not within the time above specified provide a
sufficient watercloset, as aforesaid, to the satisfaction of the said
urban sanitary authority, they will themselves, at the expiration of
such time, do the necessary work to provide such closet accommodation
as aforesaid, and proceed to recover the costs and expenses thereby
incurred in manner provided by the Public Health Act 1875.
Dated this of , 188 .
______________________________
_Surveyor to the said Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses._
And where the case demands, the following note may be added below the
above notice:
“NOTE.--The urban sanitary authority may, if they so determine,
require a separate watercloset to be provided for each house, or they
may permit a watercloset to be used in common by the inmates of two or
more houses,[205] but in either case the closet itself must be
properly constructed and provided with due means of ventilation. The
urban sanitary authority will approve of the existing closet
accommodation if it is perfected by means of the following works being
carried out. (Specification of work required to be done must here be
inserted.) The whole of the work to be executed in a workmanlike
manner and to my entire approval.
“It is, however, to be understood that the above notice requiring the
work to be executed within one month will be rigidly enforced; and if
at the expiration of that time the work be not completed, the urban
sanitary authority will themselves proceed to execute the necessary
work to provide proper closet accommodation in such manner as they may
deem most advisable, without pledging themselves to the adoption of
the method above suggested.”
______________________________
_Surveyor to the said Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses._
With regard to watercloset accommodation for factories, it appears to
rest entirely with the town surveyor to draw the attention of the
sanitary authority to any case where he considers this is deficient, as
by the following clause:
“Where it appears to any local authority by the report of their surveyor
that any house is used or intended to be used as a factory or building
in which persons of both sexes are employed or intended to be employed
at one time in any manufacture, trade, or business, the local authority
may, if they think fit, by written notice require the owner or occupier
of such house, within the time therein specified, to construct a
sufficient number of waterclosets, earthclosets, or privies and ashpits
for the separate use of each sex.
“Any person who neglects or refuses to comply with any such notice shall
be liable for each default to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds, and
to a further penalty not exceeding forty shillings for every day during
which the default is continued” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 38).
In providing closet accommodation which is to be used in common by the
occupants of a number of houses, it must be remembered that it should
be of the most simple description. Any one acquainted with the working
of waterclosets situated in courts and alleys will know how badly they
are treated, and into what a fearful state of disrepair and filth they
speedily fall, as the great difficulty the sanitary inspector always
finds is to have them kept clean; “What is everybody’s business is
nobody’s.” And although by clauses 40, 41, 46, &c., of the Public Health
Act 1875 persons causing a nuisance can be punished, it is a difficult
matter to detect the person in fault, unless of course it is a
structural defect, when the owner can be summoned if it is allowed to
remain uncured.
For this reason what are known as “Fowler’s closets,” or some
modification of this principle, should be adopted in all such localities
where earthclosets or some of the dry systems are not in force, as they
are without any complicated valve apparatus or anything of the kind.
The last point to consider in this chapter is that of _Houses without a
proper supply of water_.
“Where on _the report of the surveyor_ of a local authority it appears
that any house is without a proper supply of water, and that such a
supply can be furnished at a cost not exceeding that authorised by any
local Act, or where there is not any local Act, not exceeding twopence a
week, or at such other cost as the Local Government Board may determine,
the local authority shall give notice in writing to the owner, requiring
him, within a time specified, to obtain such supply, and to do all such
works as may be necessary for that purpose,[206] and in default of his
doing so may carry out all necessary works themselves for obtaining such
supply” (_vide_ 38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. lxii.).
It is not very often that a house is found without any supply of water
at all, for if that from the mains is not laid on it is generally found
that the house is supplied from a well or from a stand-pipe in a court,
or some similar source. If the water is derived from an impure well or
other contaminated source, the following clause of the Public Health Act
1875 must be enforced in order to close the well or compel the
discontinuance of the polluted supply, when a “proper” supply of water
can be enforced in the manner I have described:
“On the representation of any person to any local authority that within
their district the water in any well, tank, or cistern, public or
private, or supplied from any public pump, and used or likely to be used
by man for drinking or domestic purposes, or for manufacturing drinks
for the use of man, is so polluted as to be injurious to health, such
authority may apply to a court of summary jurisdiction for an order to
remedy the same; and thereupon such court shall summon the owner or
occupier of the premises to which the well, tank, or cistern belongs if
it be private, and in the case of a public well, tank, cistern or pump,
any person alleged in the application to be interested in the same, and
may either dismiss the application, or may make an order directing the
well, tank, cistern, or pump to be permanently or temporarily closed, or
the water to be used for certain purposes only, or such other order as
may appear to them to be requisite to prevent injury to the health of
persons drinking the water.
“The court may, if they see fit, cause the water complained of to be
analysed at the cost of the local authority applying to them under this
section.
“If the person on whom an order under this section is made fails to
comply with the same, the court may, on the application of the local
authority, authorise them to do whatever may be necessary in the
execution of the order, and any expenses incurred by them may be
recovered in a summary manner from the person on whom the order is
made.
“Expenses incurred by any rural authority in the execution of this
section, and not recovered by them as aforesaid, shall be special
expenses” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 70).
It is an established fact that wells within a town must always be
regarded with some suspicion, and where they exist either publicly or
privately the local authority would do well to have the water from them
analysed with a view to having them closed. Even cisterns, if not
frequently examined and cleansed, will cause the water that is stored in
them to become polluted, not only from the dust of the air settling in
them and the natural impurities of the water passing through them, but
frequently from foreign objects falling into them and decaying, such as
rats, mice, cats, and in one case that I know of, a sirloin of beef, and
in another a plumber! These remained in the cistern until the colour,
smell, and taste of the water drew the attention of the drinkers to
“something being the matter!” The cure for the chance of such cases as
these is of course the constant supply.
[202] Any cellar in which any person passes the night shall be deemed
to be occupied as a dwelling within the meaning of this Act (38 & 39
Vic. c. 55, s. 74).
[203] “In this Act (P. H. Act 1875) the term ‘earth closet’ includes
any place for the reception and deodorization of fæcal matter
constructed to the satisfaction of the local authority” (38 & 39 Vic.
c. 55, s. 37).
[204] In case of several houses together, it has been held as not
necessary to have separate accommodation for each house, if there is
sufficient for them collectively. (Clutton Guardians v. Pointing, 4 Q.
B. Division 340, 48 L. J. M. C. 137.)
[205] It is not always possible for a separate w.c. to be provided for
each house, hence the wisdom of the law which makes it permissive for
a local authority to allow a group of tenements to be provided for by
several waterclosets close together.
[206] A similar provision is made requiring the keeper of a common
lodging house to obtain a proper supply of water (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55,
s. 81), but it does not appear to be the express duty of the town
surveyor to draw attention to this, as it does in the more general
clause.
CHAPTER XXVI.
HOUSE DRAINAGE.
It would not be possible in one chapter of a book of this description to
enter into all the details and necessary apparatus in connection with
house drainage. I propose only to point out some of the town surveyor’s
duties in connection with this subject, and to add a few remarks which
may be of some service.
The definition of the word “drain” as given in the Public Health Act
1875 is as follows:
“‘Drain’ means any drain of and used for the drainage of one building
only, or premises within the same curtilage, and made merely for the
purpose of communicating therefrom with a cesspool or other like
receptacle for drainage, or with a sewer into which the drainage of two
or more buildings or premises occupied by different persons is conveyed”
(38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 4).
Although this definition is very clear, it occasionally happens,
especially in old towns, that some doubt arises as to whether an
existing conduit for sewage is a “drain” or a “sewer”[207] for though a
conduit is of small size it maybe found to be carrying the sewage of two
or more buildings, and thus is really “a sewer belonging to the local
authority.”
This difficulty often leads to litigation where a notice having been
served upon an owner of property to put in a new drain in place of one
that has been found on examination to be defective, the new work is of
course commenced at the junction with the main sewer, and it is not
until the new so-called drain is nearly completed that it is found to
be “used for the drainage” of more than one building, and is in fact “a
sewer into which the drainage of two or more buildings or premises,
occupied by different persons is conveyed” (see clause quoted above),
and is therefore repairable by the local authority (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55,
s. 13).
Where the town surveyor is in any doubt as to whether the conduit is a
drain or a sewer, he should test from whence the sewage comes by passing
diluted white lime or carbolic acid down the adjacent water-closets and
watching whether it flows through the conduit or not, but even here he
is sometimes at fault if the drains are old and dilapidated, as they do
not reach the point he is watching and he is thus misled.
In connection with the question of house drainage the town surveyor has
the following duties to perform:
(1.) To inspect all new drains that are constructed in connection with
existing buildings within his district.
(2.) To inspect all drains of new buildings that are constructed within
his district.
(3.) To inspect all defective drains within his district, serve the
necessary notices in respect thereof, and inspect the works he has
required to be executed whilst they are in progress.
(1.) With reference to the first of these duties the following is the
clause of the Public Health Act 1875 which bears upon the point:
“The owner or occupier of any premises within the district of a local
authority shall be entitled to cause his drains to empty into the sewers
of that authority on condition of his giving such notice as may be
required by that authority of his intention so to do, and of complying
with the regulations of that authority in respect of the mode in which
the communications between such drains and sewers are to be made, and
subject to the control of any person who may be appointed by that
authority to superintend the making of such communications. Any person
causing a drain to empty into a sewer of a local authority without
complying with the provisions of this section shall be liable to a
penalty not exceeding twenty pounds, and the local authority may close
any communication between a drain and sewer made in contravention of
this section . . . .” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 21).
The first thing therefore that a local authority has to do is to frame
the necessary regulations and appoint a “person to superintend the
making of such communications.”
The following is given as a specimen form of the manner in which these
regulations may be compiled:[208]
_Regulations made and ordained by the Urban Sanitary Authority for
, as to the giving of notice before any drains are made to
communicate with the sewers of the said Urban Sanitary Authority;
regulating the mode in which such communications are to be made; and
appointing the person under whose superintendence and control the work
is to be executed._
1.--No communication shall be made with any sewer belonging to the said
Urban Sanitary Authority, nor any drain made to empty therein, unless
notice of an intention so to do, signed by the owner or occupier of the
premises to which such drains belong, be left at the office of the
borough surveyor two days previously; and such notice must specify the
point at which it is desired that communication shall be made, and the
time at which it is proposed the work shall be commenced, and any person
not complying with these regulations will be liable to a penalty not
exceeding twenty pounds.
2.--Work required to be done in connecting any house drain or drains
with the main or public sewer, shall be executed in the following
manner:
The ground to be excavated to the required depth with all possible
expedition, the work to proceed by night and day; and there shall be
maintained during the progress of the work all such fencings, hoardings,
struttings, and shorings, as may be necessary for or in consequence of
any of the works, for the protection of the public, and of all buildings
and property whatever, near to or liable to be affected by the work,
which shall also be well watched and lighted.
The shoring and strutting of the excavation is to be done in such
manner, with poling boards, waling pieces and struts, as the surveyor
shall consider necessary.
All surplus earth or material is to be carted away as speedily as
possible. Care must be taken where the excavation is made in a road or
path to keep separate the surface material from the lower, so as to
replace them in their proper positions.
The excavation shall in all cases where practicable be in open cutting,
and not by shafts and headings.
The junction with the main sewer to be done in the following manner:--
The drain shall in no case be less than four inches internal diameter,
and shall be constructed of well-burnt glazed socketed stoneware pipes,
circular, perfectly true in bore, and straight, with whole socket joints
free from flaws, blisters, cracks, or other defects, set in Portland
cement joints with a uniform fall, well bedded on well-rammed and solid
ground, the sockets being sunk into it so as to give an even bearing.
No shafts or sudden falls will be allowed.
Where the junction is with a sewer constructed of pipes, one length of
the sewer (or more if necessary) shall be removed and an oblique proper
glazed socket junction pipe, set in Portland cement, inserted in its
place.
The junction with the sewer shall be of the same size as the drain.
Where the junction is with a brick or stone sewer, the connection shall
be made at such height above the invert as the surveyor shall determine,
and be made with a glazed socket pipe obliquely in line of current of
main sewer, properly bedded in with cement, cut off so as to take the
form of the main sewer and offer no obstruction to the proper flow of
sewage therein, or with a properly constructed stoneware block junction.
On completion of the junction, which shall be made before any of the
pipe drain is laid, it shall be inspected by the surveyor, and the work
must not be further proceeded with until such inspection has been made
and the junction pronounced satisfactory. The drain shall be properly
trapped between the sewer and the house, with a syphon of such form as
the surveyor shall direct, and be at its inlet end or other extremity
carried up open its full diameter to above the roof line.
The excavation is to be filled in within six inches of the surface of
the ground, with layers of earth not more than six inches in thickness,
carefully rammed or punned with iron punners of not less weight than 10
lbs.
The surface of a roadway must be brought up to its proper level with the
surface material kept separate, and properly broken or other approved
road metal, and the roadway where broken shall be kept in repair by the
person opening the ground for a period of twelve months after the
completion of the work.
If the excavation is made under a footpath or paved road, the paving
must be made good and kept in repair for a similar period.
3.--A. B. C., the present borough surveyor, and his successors in
office, or the person for the time being acting as or discharging the
duties of borough surveyor, are hereby appointed as the person or
persons to superintend the making of such communications with the public
sewers as aforesaid.
* * * * *
(1.) Notwithstanding the stringency of the above regulations it is very
difficult to ensure that the whole of the new drain is properly executed
by the person who is carrying out the work, for if he wishes to deceive
the surveyor’s department it is not very difficult to do so in works of
this description. It would be far better if all drains of dwelling
houses could be constructed solely by the staff of the local authority,
and failing any general act upon the subject, that they should be able
to obtain private powers to do so.
It is illegal for anyone to touch the surface of either roadway or
footpath for any purpose whatever[209] without the consent of the urban
authority (see 38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, sec. 149), and especially to touch or
interfere with the main sewers. All such work could be done better and
cheaper, both for the ratepayers and the owners of property, if carried
out by the trained staff of the local authority; nothing would be gained
by scamping the work, and one of the worst stumbling blocks in the
interests of sanitation would be removed by this simple and effective
measure. Gas and water companies invariably refuse to allow anyone to
interfere with their mains or services, but execute the work with their
own men; how much more important is it that house drains and sewers
should be equally protected. If a gas or water main or house service
leaks through defective work it is quickly detected and remedied; not so
with a drain or sewer, the deadly gases may be oozing through defective
joints or the foul liquid may be poisoning the soil under the adjacent
dwelling houses, and many victims may suffer before the cause is
ascertained, and even then laborious legal machinery has to be put in
force before it can be rectified.
The only objections that can be raised to the plan I so strongly
advocate are, first, the interference with the trade connections and
interests of builders and others; and secondly, the responsibility
incurred by the local authority to execute thoroughly sound and good
work, and the difficulty they might afterwards experience if it was
necessary to find fault with their own work. The first objection should
really have no weight when lives are at stake, and the responsibility
incurred by the second objection ought not to be shirked.
Until some alteration is made in the present law the town surveyor must
be as vigilant as he can, and endeavour to induce the public to look
more closely themselves into such all-important points.
(2.) The next duty of the town surveyor is to inspect all drains of new
buildings that are being constructed in his district.