General report on sanitary conditions likely to affect the health of the troops in cantonments and encampments in South Africa / [W.G. MacPherson].

  • Macpherson, W. G. (William Grant), Sir, 1858-1927.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: General report on sanitary conditions likely to affect the health of the troops in cantonments and encampments in South Africa / [W.G. MacPherson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the spot, and the pails replaced in the privies without removal to any depot Vide local for cleansing. In Middelburg (Transvaal}, Pretoria and Kroonstad the dual reports. system is incomplete, the pails being insufficient in number for a regular supply of a clean pail for each pail removed. Many variations also exist in the class of cart used for removing pails and their contents. In some cases they are specially designed, in others they are more or less improvised. As a rule they are large and cumbrous. The contents of pails are almost invariably deposited in deep pits, measuring usually 6 feet wide by about 6 or 10 feet deep, and varying in length. . At Pretoria only was there any attempt at sewage farming; while at Pietermaritzburg, and, in a very minor degree, at Harrismith, poudrette factories are being worked as a means of disposing of the sewage. In some towns the work is carried out departmentally, that is to say, by a municipal Vide report Staff, in others by a contractor. The departmental work seemed, in all cases, on Pieter- to give the most satisfaction, but the condition of the filth pits was never maritzburg. d good. In camps and cantonments the work is carried out by a contractor, or by municipal authorities ; and the disposal of night-soil is carried out on methods similar to that of municipalities. In the Mooi River camps, however, the system of trenching in shallow trenches, covered up immediately, was being employed, with results markedly in contrast with the system of deep pits ; that is to say, there was no offensive appearance or smell as in the latter system. At Kroonstad, the old filth trenches were being planted with trees; a sanitary measure which was recommended for adoption in all places. As a rule, little consideration has been given to the site ana soil of the filth pits. The deep alluvial soil on the banks of rivers and near watercourses has had Vide the greatest attractions, as being the most simple for digging the pits in. ‘The ‘eae position of the filth trenches of the Burgher camp at Standerton is a case in i ‘point. No more insanitary position could well have been selected. Light sandy loam soils are difficult to obtain, and few such soils have been used for sewage disposal. One or two towns are considering the question of water-carriage systems with biological installations at the outfall, Bloemfontein, and Pietermaritzburg, for instance. But the experiments that are being conducted at the former place by the municipal authorities to determine the advantage or otherwise of this system are, in my opinion, useless. Water-carriage systems and biological outfall installations are being designed for some of the cantonments, notably Vide at Pretoria, Potchefstroom, and Standerton. In others, such as Pietersburg “4 Sti and Bloemfontein, an American trough system is being introduced, at any rate fontein, temporarily; but the vacuum carts sent out are not of a suitable pattern, and ” the system has not yet been properly tried. In other cantonments and in camps, with the exception of Ladybrand, where trench latrines exist, the pail system is at present in use. ‘The. cleansing and disinfecting of pails follow no uniform plan. In some places each return pail of a dual system is returned clean and disinfected, in others the processes are carried out at irregular intervals. In camps, &c. which have the single-pail system, cleansing and disinfecting is usually done twice monthly, according to contract. _The general copvclusion which must be formed regarding this subject of latrines and disposal of sewage in South Africa, is that, in the existing state of affairs, that is to say, in the absence of water supplies having any degree of permanency as to quantity, in the absence of any system of house drains and — municipa: sewers, and in the absence of suitable soil for the disposal of sewage effluents, a pail system has been the inevitable step between cesspits or no system at all, and more modern methods. At the same time, the manner in which the pail system is being worked and the contents of the pails disposed of, is primitive, and admits of very considerable improvement by more extensive Vide organization, increase of statf and equipment, and systematic trenching and veporton farming of the depositing grounds. Unless improvement in these directions Fiarrismith. ; seriously considered and actively pushed, the existing systems will lead to grave health problems affecting garrisons and civil communities, as towns increase in size, and, even without this increase, as time goes on.
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