First report of the commissioners appointed to inquire whether any and what special means may be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis : with minutes of evidence.

Great Britain. Metropolitan Sanitary Commission

Date:: 1848

Credit: First report of the commissioners appointed to inquire whether any and what special means may be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis : with minutes of evidence. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

451/460 page 427

$Fig. 2, represents the end of the two blocks, fixed together with small No. 35. iron screw bolts. The present cesspools to be entirely removed. The J- water supply to the courts was proposed to be effected by a 1^-inch —'. lead pipe, with branches to each house and water-closet of half an inch in diameter. The following is a table of the expenses which would have fallen upon the houses in courts and alleys supposing the main sewer to have been constructed opposite to-the entrance of the court;— First Oulliiy per Tenement. Annual Instalment for Repayment in 30 Years. Annual Interest Commuted at 5 per Cent, charged as Kent on Tenant, and Annual Rent of Water. Weekly Chars;es to the Tenant as increased Kent. 5805 feet Driiiiis in Courts nC. 2s. 6rf. per rout=725/. 12s. 6d. } 30 feet 4 Pipe Drain at 7rf. =\ I7s. 6rf. Trap 2s. 6d. . . ] Water closet. Pan, Trap. 10s. ;| expenses of coveriugor empty- \ in^ Cesspools, 10s. . . . j Annual rent of Water, which i included the contribution to I the oiigiual expense and main- / tenance of the Water-works . j Total . . £ £. s. d. 0 16 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 £. s. d. 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 8 £. s. d. 0 0 6 0 0 7i 0 0 7i 0 5 0 ^e. s. d. 0 0 Oi 0 U Oi 0 0 Oi 0 0 li 2 16 3 0 1 10 0 6 9 0 0 2 Had you satisfactory contracts for the execution of the drainage of the courts at these prices ?—Yes, I had obtained the contracts. In respect to soil-pan apparatus, what was the most simple which you found had been introduced into successful use ?—The above mode I consider the most simple and best adapted to the purpose required. Was this apparatus in use by persons of the labouring classes ?— Yes it was. What was the report of its use ?—Perfectly satisfactory. Then, practically, the presumptions that persons of the labouring classes would wilfully stop them up, that children would, from mis- chief, throw things down, and the like apprehensions, proved to be groundless ?—Yes, entirely so. For what sum did you estimate the removal of cesspools ?—To empty the cesspools (the contents of which the agriculturists at Read- ing would remove gratis), to cover them securely with brickwork in cement; to fix the soil-pan, connect it with the drain, and a self-act- ing Lambert's stop-cock for the supply of water, \l. bs. What did you observe in those houses where a constant supply of water had been carried? — An increase of cleanliness certainly, and more comfort. In respect to the supply of water, you may have seen it stated by some engineers of London water-works, that the constant supply would require larger and more expensive pipes ; what did you find practically to be the fact?—Decidedly the reverse. Will you give examples ?—I found that in Nottingham, Ashton$