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 (Dre. ch ) ; 
 RUDIMENTARY TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DRAINAGE 
 
 TOWNS AND BUILDINGS: 
 
 SUGGESTIVE OF 
 
 SANATORY REGULATIONS CONDUCIVE TO THE HEALTH 
 OF AN INCREASING POPULATION, 
 
 BY G: DRYSDALE DEMPSEY, C.E., 
 
 Author of “‘ The Practical Railway Engineer,” and of the “ Rudimentary Treatise 
 on the Drainage of Districts and Lands.” 
 
 J \S\\\ERSIT 
 BEVISED AND GR y) LY EXTENDED j WITH woes ONN HE METROPOLITAN ~ 
 
 DRAINAGE, MHAMES LIBRARY 8 \ aaa SCHEMES. 
 
 Aoi cecal be 
 LLINOIS: 7 4 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 VIRTUE AND OCO., 26, IVY LANE, 
 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 1867. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 Two volumes of the Rudimentary Series—‘*‘ The Art of Drain- 
 ing Districts and Lands,” and the work now submitted to the 
 reader—relate to the subject of drainage generally, with water 
 supply as an auxiliary or necessary contingent: the removal 
 of surplus waters and refuse on the one hand, and the supply 
 of pure water on the other. The one volume applies to 
 Districts and Lands ; the other to Towns and Buildings. 
 
 It becomes necessary to remark in this (the Third) Edition 
 of the present work, that when the late Mr. Dempsey pre- 
 pared the First and Second Editions, the whole subject oi 
 the Drainage of the Metropolis was in confusion. The most 
 eminent engineers were in conflict as to the best mode of 
 attaining the desired end. The plan eventually adopted, and 
 now (1865) in progress, differs from that which Mr. Dempsey 
 and many other engineers recommended. This, of course, is 
 not conclusive as to the relative merits of the different schemes. 
 Who were right and who were wrong, in these speculations, 
 we shall not know for many years to come; until the Inter- 
 cepting Main Drainage plan shal have had a fair trial by 
 long-continued working. On this account it seems desirable 
 to leave Mr. Dempsey’s calculations and deductions in their 
 original form; because they embody, or rather illustrate, one 
 particular principle of Drainage, which may probably apply 
 to many other large towns, irrespective of its adoption or rejec- 
 tion in the metropolis. By greatly enlarging the AppENprx, 
 space has been found for a succinct account of all that has 
 been done in relation to the Main Drainage Scheme since the 
 publication of the Second Edition of this volume, in 1854. 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 Plain facts are stated, without any prediction concerning the 
 “degree of success that may attend the operations now in 
 progress. In a later portion of the Apprnprx, relating to 
 the Utilisation of Sewage, it will be seen that this important 
 question remains nearly in the same unsettled state as when 
 Mr. Dempsey prepared the Second Edition. Much has been 
 said, and much written; but the world has yet to learn 
 _ whether the sewage of the great metropolis is to be rendered 
 available as an agricultural fertiliser. We may here refer, for 
 fuller information on this important subject, to another volume 
 of this Series (Vol. 146), Mr. Robert Scott Burns’ Rudimentary 
 Treatise for Students of Agriculture, called, ‘‘ Outlines of 
 Modern Farming ;” the fifth volume of those Outlines relates 
 to Utilisation of Town Sewage, Irrigation, and the Reclama- — 
 tion of Waste Lands. The Lmbankment of the Thames being 
 now recognised as an important feature in the Main Drainage 
 Scheme, we have deemed it useful to devote one portion of 
 the Apprenprx to this subject. 
 
 Another volume of the Rudimentary Series* treats gene- 
 rally of Water Works, and the Supply of Water to Towns. 
 It has been considered only necessary here, therefore, to 
 notice briefly in the AppENDIx one or two advances which 
 have been made between 1854 and 1865, in improving the 
 systems sketched in the text by Mr. Dempsey, especially in 
 regard to London and Glasgow. 
 
 Lonvon, 1865, 
 
 * “A Treatise on Waterworks for the Supply of Cities and Towns; with a 
 Description of the principal Geological Formations of England, as influencing 
 the Supply of Water; details of Engines and Pumping Machines for Raising 
 Water; and description of Works which have been executed for Procuring 
 Water from Wells, Springs, Rivers, and Drainage Areas.”—By Samuel 
 Hughes, F.G.S., Civil Engineer, Vol. 82*** 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 DIVISION II. 
 DRAINAGE OF TOWNS AND STREETS. 
 
 Sxction I. 
 Sources of Water Supply . . . 
 Principles of Draining. . . . 
 Value of Sewage as Manure . . 
 Classification of Towns with refe- 
 rence to their positions . , 
 Artificial Power to be employed 
 for the supply of Water, or dis- 
 charge of Sewage ... . 
 London, situation of ... . 
 Defects of London Drainage . 
 Varieties of Surface Levels and 
 Inclinations ... . . 
 Application of Sewage Manure a 
 Distribution of Liquid mowage - 
 Proper use of Sewers . 
 Experiments on the value of 
 Sewage as Manure . 
 Metropolitan Sewage Manure 
 Company . . 
 Magnitude of London Sewers F 
 —— of Fleet Sewer . 
 Metropolitan Commission of 
 Sewers . . ee 
 Phillips’s Tunnel ‘Scheme | ee 
 Geological objections to ditto . 
 Evidence of Mr. Stephenson on 
 the Drainage of London .. 
 Mr. Forster’s Plan for the Drain- 
 age of London . ies. s | 3 
 Commissioners Accounts . . 
 Report of the Surveyor on the 
 Drainage of the Metropolis 
 Extracts from the Report of the 
 Consulting Engineers . . » 
 
 Page 
 1 
 2 
 4 
 4 
 
 Srction IT. 
 Supply of Water . 
 Influence of the geological cha- 
 racter of the country on the 
 supply and red of Water . 
 Reservoirs . . . on 
 Filters 
 Constant Service ‘System, its ad- 
 Vara geg p's Vm sets artes 
 
 Section III. 
 Drainage of Streets . . . « « 
 Removal of Street Refuse. . « 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 Functions of Sewers 
 Dimensions and Forms of Sewers 
 Capacity of Sewers . . 
 
 Fall of Sewers . . Meru e 
 Construction of Sewers. Pe saat 
 Dratie Pipes. i sis. } ee antec as 
 
 Egg-shaped Sewers . 
 Connections of Minor with ‘the 
 
 Main Sewers ... 
 Access to Sewers . . 
 Cleansing of Sewers. . . « « 
 of Streets. . 
 
 Section V. 
 Conveyanceof Water . . . - 
 Water: Pipes 327 a aegaaee 
 
 Pumping Apparatus . . . -« 
 
 100 
 104 
 
 107 
 109 
 114 
 119 
 125 
 125 
 129 
 
 130 
 132 
 133 
 135 
 
 136 
 138 
 141 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 DIVISION IL. 
 
 DRAINAGE OF BUILDINGS. 
 
 Page 
 Section I. Conditions of Draining . . . 
 
 Classification of Buildings . . 144 | Depthof Drains . . iis. = 
 
 Supply of ee to Dwelling- Sewers Commissioners’ ag <A 
 houses 145 | Fallof Drains. . . Pens ie 
 
 to Manufactories 146 | Construction of Drains A ae 
 
 Sa oe are to Public Build- Size of Drain-pipes. . .« . . 
 PUES eres «fe oe @ «61MT | Trapping Dremeeee “oe 
 
 Connection of Drains with Sewers 
 Means of access to, and cleansing 
 Section II. f, Drains 
 
 Cost of raising Water . . . . 148 A ty dna) ad 
 
 Constant Service System . . . 149 
 
 Private filtering... . ) 2 150 meee eh 
 
 Quality of Raia Witerk. . « « 151 | Water@losets. . 2... . 
 
 Extinction of Firs. . . . . 153 | Cesspools,evilsof . . . . . 
 
 Experiments with Jets. , . . 154 Water Closet Apparatus. . 
 
 Graduation of Pipes "157 Combined Arrangements for 
 
 me House Draining . 
 Apparatus for emptying Cesspools 
 Section ITI. Hosmer’s Cistern . Hs 6 ipa 
 
 Circumstances governing the Burnett's Water Closets. A 
 
 capacity of Drains . . . . 158 | General Summary, Ws. «9, s,s 
 APPENDICES, 
 
 No. 1. Fowler’s Steam pag No. 5. Extracts from the Report 
 Plough 182 of Mr. Wicksteed on the utili 
 
 No. 2. Stephenson’s Report | on sation of Sewage . 
 
 Plan for draining London north No. 6. Projects for utilising Sew- 
 of the Thames. . . 190 age (1854 to 1865) . . 
 
 No. 3. Main Drainage of Lon- No. 7. Water supply of London, 
 don, proceedings from 1854 to and effects of the Act of 1852 
 LOD a enn MS Ne + 0 05 cnet onthesame. . . 
 
 No.4. Embankment of the No. 8. Waterworks from. Loch 
 Thames « « « « «© « « « 200 Katrine to Glasgow . 2. « « 
 
 214 
 225 
 
 232 
 238 
 
DIVISION IT. 
 DRAINAGE OF TOWNS AND STREETS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Classification of Towns according to Position and Extent.—Varieties of 
 Surface, Levels and Inclinations.—Application of Sewage -Manure.—Me- 
 tropolitan Sewage Manure Company.— Methods of treating Sewage. — 
 Magnitude of London Sewers.—The Fleet Sewer. — Metropolitan Com- 
 mission of Sewers.—The Tunnel Scheme.—Great London Drainage Bill.— 
 Messrs. Stephenson and Cubitt’s Evidence.—General Board of Health. 
 
 194, Accorpine with our definitions (Part I. p. 1), we 
 propose to treat of the supply of water to towns and build- 
 ‘ings as a branch of the general subject of Drainage, since 
 the purposes of the art cannot be effected without an ade- 
 quate and regulated supply of water by a combination of 
 natural and artificial agencies, the extended control over 
 which constitutes the purpose of water-supply for all high- 
 way, manufacturing, and domestic uses. 
 
 195. The means of obtaining water for towns, and of 
 conducting the drainage matters from them vary, mainly, 
 according to their position with reference to the sources of 
 water; and, in a subordinate degree, according to their 
 superficial extent. The sources being those already enu- 
 merated in our First Part, viz. rivers, rains, and springs, the 
 command of one or more of these will be presented as the 
 most economical means of deriving the necessary supply 
 for each town under consideration. Towns situated on the 
 banks of tidal rivers, or in near proximity to them, may be 
 
 B 
 
2 POSITION FOR RECEPTACLES OF SEWAGE. 
 
 usually sufficiently supplied from these sources, unless some 
 parts of the district extend upward to such elevation above ~ 
 the river-level that the raising of this supply requires ex- 
 pensive artificial power; in which case springs at higher 
 levels may be advisably resorted to, or the drainage waters 
 from superior lands may be so conducted as to assist the 
 supply. Towns which are far distant from rivers are com- 
 monly entirely dependent upon springs or drainage waters 
 for their artificial supply. 
 
 196. The refuse matters to be discharged from towns and 
 buildings,—consisting of the disintegrated materials of 
 street paving and roads ; of superfluous rain water; of ex- 
 crementitious matters, solid and liquid; of the waste pro- 
 duets of combustion; of the refuse of animal and vegetable 
 substances ; besides the various waste matters used in ma- 
 nufactures,—require arrangements of different kinds to be 
 provided with regard to the purposes to which these mat- 
 ters may be usefully applied. For such discharges of these 
 matters as are to take place through subterranean channels, 
 one principle is, however, common to all, viz. that the re- 
 ceptacle to which they are conducted must be situated at a 
 level somewhat lower than that from which they are for- 
 warded. ‘The arrangements for this purpose will, therefore, 
 be varied saoaraingk to the nature of the site of the town. 
 If this be low in sign to the surrounding country, and 
 level, the refuse may be indifferently collected within or 
 without the town, with, however, the advantage in the latter 
 plan of avoiding such exposure of the decomposed matters 
 as tends to pollute the atmosphere, and at the same time 
 saving distance in the transfer of such portions of those 
 matters as are destined for agricultural uses. If the site of 
 the town be a valley with lower ground in the midst of it 
 than is found anywhere without its limits, the readiest point 
 of collection will be the lowest level in the town itself at 
 which the drainage can be united, and artificial power will 
 be required to distribute such matters as are intended for 
 agricultural purposes around the higher ground outside. 
 
-KIVERS NOT TO BE MADE SEWERS. 3 
 
 From towns which occupy elevated sites, having lower lands 
 around them, the refuse matters and drainage waters should 
 be conducted’ away at once; or, if found necessary to collect 
 them, a point or points should be selected for this purpose 
 altogether beyond the limits of the town itself. 
 
 197. In the several cases here supposed, the question of 
 disposing of the refuse matters should be treated without 
 any reference whatever to the presence of a river through 
 or contiguous to the town, except upon the single consi- 
 deration that such river, being in all probability situated at 
 the lowest level of the site, may afford facilities, after the 
 refuse has been collected in reservoirs near its banks, for its 
 conveyance in suitable barges or vessels towards the higher 
 lands for which some portion of this refuse is ultimately 
 destined. Former practice in the art of town-draining has 
 indeed regarded the one question of river or no river, as the 
 grand determinal one for the disposal of drainage and 
 refuse matters. How to get rid of the animal ordure 
 created within the walls of a town, was formerly deemed to 
 be satisfactorily answered provided a river flowed beneath, 
 and offered a tide to wash away in boundless wastefulness 
 those matters which, properly applied, will endow barren 
 lands with the richest fertility. 
 
 198. Although reluctant to dwell upon the trite subject 
 of the importance of draining, we claim attention to this 
 great leading principle in the drainage of towns and build- 
 ings, viz. that the ultimate economy of the art comprehends 
 two distinct pufposes, whereof the second—the disposal 
 -and utility of the refuse matters—is little less in importance 
 than the first—the discharge of these matters from the 
 dwellings and highways of men. And the accomplishment 
 of this second purpose involves the beneficial appropriation 
 of refuse matters so as to make them actually productive, 
 and avoid interference with those healthy uses of inland 
 waters for which they are properly adapted. In illustration 
 of this principle we will endeavour to estimate the valuy 
 for agricultural purposes of the excrementitious matters 
 
 B 2 
 
4 ANALYSES OF MANURES. 
 
 flowing from a town, from which estimate the pernicious 
 effects of discharging those matters into the courses whence 
 the supply of water is derived for the several uses of the 
 population may be readily inferred. 
 
 199. The value of manures as promoters of vegetation 
 is known to result from their possession of the essential 
 element, nitrogen, in the form of ammonia, with the sub- 
 ordinate properties of alkalies, phosphates, and sulphates. 
 Now, the experiments of Boussingault and Liebig have 
 furnished us with the means of estimating the quantity of 
 nitrogen contained in the excrements of a man during one 
 year, at 16°41 Ibs., upon probable data, and also that this 
 quantity is sufficient for the supply of 800 lbs. of wheat, 
 rye, or oats, or of 900 lbs. of barley. “ This is much more 
 than it is necessary to add to an acre of land, in order to 
 obtain, with the assistance of the nitrogen absorbed from 
 the atmosphere, the richest crops every year. By adopting 
 a system of rotation of crops, every town and farm might 
 thus supply itself with the manure which, besides con- 
 taining the most nitrogen, contains also the most phos- 
 phates. By using, at the same time, bones and the lixi- 
 viated ashes of wood, animal excrements might be com- 
 pletely dispensed with on many kinds of soil. When human 
 excrements are treated in a proper manner, so as to remove 
 this moisture, without permitting the escape of ammonia, 
 they may be put into such a form as will allow them to be 
 transported even to great distances.”* Making reasonable 
 allowance for the reduced quantity produced by children, 
 we shall be safe in assuming the nitrogen thus resulting 
 from any amount of population to be equal to the supply 
 required for affording 2 lbs. of bread per diem for every 
 one of its members! Or assuming an average.of 600 lbs. 
 of wheat to be manured by each individual of the popula- 
 tion of London; and taking this at two millions, fora 
 rough calculation, the manure thus produced is sufficient to 
 supply the growth of wheat of a total weight of 1200 mil- 
 
 * Liebig. 
 
QUALITY OF TOWN-SEWAGE. 5 
 
 lions of pounds, or 535,714 tons. The total manuring 
 matters, solid and liquid, produced in a town, allowing for 
 those which are produced in manufactories and sewage 
 water, are probably equal in weight to one ton annually for 
 each member of the population, or two millions of tons 
 produced in the metropolis. 
 
 200. That this vast quantity of manure should be ands 
 available for agricultural production is a principle which 
 cannot be denied, and which is properly limitable only by 
 the consideration of expense as weighed against the value 
 of the results. The expense will be made up mainly of 
 three items, viz. of the collection, of the raising, and of the 
 distribution of the refuse matters. The collection being an 
 item common to all methods of disposal, will not be 
 chargeable entire in any comparative estimate, but as modi- 
 fied by the peculiarities in the collection of which the plan 
 _is susceptible. The cost of raising is of course wholly 
 chargeable to’ a system of artificial dispersion, as distin- 
 guished from the prevailing modes of self-discharge into 
 low channels, but the former system will be debited only 
 with the excess of expense (if any), beyond that incurred 
 by the present methods of distributing the manuring mat- 
 ters for use upon the land. The cost of each of these 
 works, however, may be reduced to a minimum by skilful 
 arrangements, and our experience is yet insufficient to ena- 
 ble us to determine these with that precision which further 
 practice will secure, or to estimate their total with the ex- 
 actness necessary for forming a just comparison between 
 the present and the proposed methods. 
 
 201. In a subsequent part of our work we propose to 
 consider the items of cost in carrying out an efficient sys- 
 tem of own-drainage; being satisfied, at this stage of our 
 subject, in declaring the fundamental principle that the 
 refuse of a town, including not only excrementitious, but 
 all other waste matters and sewage, is far too valuable to be 
 thrown away; and that the question of its appropriation 
 should be made dependent only upon rules of a liberal 
 
6 CONSIDERATION OF SITES. 
 
 economy, which ought, moreover, to be severely criticised 
 before admitted to practical consideration. 
 
 202. The palpable inference from this principle is, as 
 already stated, that the contiguity and position of a river, 
 with reference to a town, have no necessary connection with 
 the arrangement of its drainage beyond the facilities which 
 may be thus afforded for the passage or subsequent convey- 
 ance of the sewage matters for their ultimate disposal. For 
 it is quite certain that no correct general views of town- 
 drainage can prevail while we continue to regard a river as 
 the natural and suitable trunk sewer into which all colla- 
 teral and main courses of brickwork are to discharge their 
 foetid contents, which, according to the state of the river, 
 are either immediately spread upon its banks to contami. 
 nate the air of the town, or duly infused in its waters, to be 
 afterwards exposed with the same vicious effects. - 
 
 203. From the principles here laid down, it will be un- | 
 derstood that in the twofold purposes of the drainage of 
 towns, viz. the supply of water, and the discharge and dis- 
 posal of the refuse matters, the relative levels of the town, 
 with the adjacent districts, and of the several portions of 
 the town with each other, are the main considerations upon 
 which the peculiar methods to be adopted-in each case are 
 determinable ; but it will also be evident that, generally, 
 those surfaces which are the most favourable for an econo- 
 mical water supply are the least so for the ready disposal of 
 refuse matters, and the converse is equally true; those sur- 
 faces which present facilities for dispersing drainage-matters 
 being commonly the least accessible to water. 
 
 204. Thus the flat districts on the margins of rivers and 
 inland streams of adequate capacity are the most favourable 
 sites for towns for the supply of water, but for drainage 
 they are the least so; since the main channels or sewers 
 are required to be laid at low levels, and the raising of their 
 contents for use upon the neighbouring lands, which are 
 probably much higher, becomes a very expensive process. 
 On the other hand, a town on a hill-top is the most readily 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF SITES. 7 
 
 and cheaply drained; but its supply with water, whether 
 from springs, rivers, or surface drainage—all at lower levels 
 -—is a work of great and constant cost. 
 
 Let us consider the several kinds of site which towns 
 may occupy. 
 
 205. Hirst—A plain or flat surface, with surrounding 
 country of similar character. Water from rivers, springs, 
 or from the surface of lands in the neighbourhood. Arrti- 
 ficial power will be probably required to raise the water, 
 howeyer derived. The drainage matters must be conducted 
 into one or more main sewers, and raised by artificial power 
 for dispersion upon the land. 
 
 206. Second.—A plain or flat surface, with surrounding 
 country rising from the town. Unless well situated with 
 regard to a river, the supply of water will probably be the 
 most economically obtained from springs on the hills, or 
 from the collection of the waters which accumulate upon 
 their surface. The drainage matters, if destined for the 
 higher lands, should be generally conducted by mains 
 towards the outskirts of the town, and the question of levels 
 will evidently derive additional importance from the neces- 
 sity of raising the sewage to levels naturally above that of 
 the town itself. 
 
 207. Third.—A plain or flat surface, with surrounding 
 country falling from the town. The supply of water beyond 
 that derived from wells and springs will require artificial 
 power, while the drainage matters may be collected in main 
 sewers, and, in all probability, dispersed without any appli- 
 cation of power, by the force of their own gravity. 
 
 208. Fourth.—An inclined surface on the side of a hill. 
 Water will be derivable, probably, from several sources. If 
 a river flow at the base of the site, the lower parts of the 
 town will be most economically supplied from it, while for 
 the higher the surface water from lands above or springs 
 will be the most readily available. The general system of 
 collecting and distributing the drainage matters will be - 
 chiefly dependent upon the localities where they are in- 
 
8 ARTIFICIAL POWER 
 
 tended to be ultimately disposed of. If these be on the 
 lower part of the hill, the method will be very simple, re- 
 quiring only that main sewers be laid at the base of the 
 town, from which the sewage may be distributed without 
 any application of artificial power. But if the disposal of 
 the sewage be inevitably desired on the lands above the 
 town, the site: constitutes one of the least favourable for 
 economical drainage, which will require a constant expendi- 
 ture of artificial power. 
 
 209. A river-valley and a hill-top will evidently present a 
 repetition or duplication of similar features to those here 
 described, the only limitation in the resemblance being that, 
 in the case of a town on the summit of a hill, the water 
 supply will, most probably, be derivable only from lower 
 sources by artificial power. 
 
 In these sketches the general superficial features of the 
 site are of course only referred to. Intermediate undula- 
 tions which may exist will affect the determination of the 
 details of any arrangement of channels designed for serving 
 the drainage of the town. 
 
 210. With reference to the artificial power which may be 
 required for the supply of water, or the discharge of the 
 drainage matters, if a tidal river can be commanded, it 
 becomes a question of the highest importance whether this 
 cannot be, and, if so, in what way, made available as a 
 source of the power required. And another question de- 
 serving the most attentive consideration is, whether the ebb 
 tide may not be rendered efficient in aiding the discharge 
 of the sewage where the fall is inadequate to insure its self- 
 discharge. 
 
 211. As a general principle in town drainage, however, it 
 should be so arranged and conducted as to require no arti- 
 ficial supply of water. ‘The surface water should always be 
 made sufficient to carry away all refuse matters, solid as 
 well as liquid. ‘'T'wo reasons exist for this: first, the econ- 
 omy of the water, which in many cases is a paramount, and 
 in all should be a leading, consideration; and, secondly, 
 
SITUATION OF LONDON. 9 
 
 the dilution of the sewage with any unnecessary liquid 
 involyes more capacious arrangements for its diffusion, and 
 in most instances an extravagant amount of power to raise 
 it. 
 
 212. The utmost economy of water for draining purposes 
 can be secured only when a sufficient inclination in the 
 sewers can be obtained. The methods of making a fall 
 the most effectual are, therefore, deserving of the most 
 careful attention in every scheme for town-drainage. The 
 application of the tidal waters for assisting the discharge 
 of the sewage can consequently be entertained only with 
 reference to the principal main sewers at the lowest level, 
 and with such adaptation, if practicable, as will admit 
 the subsequent separation of the proper sewage matters 
 from the water thus introduced to aid their progress and 
 discharge. 
 
 213. Although the rules here suggested should be kept 
 in view as leading objects in all arrangements of town- 
 drainage, they will in many cases be admissible in part 
 only, owing to the reference to existing works which is 
 imposed upon us. ‘Thus, in all towns for the attempted 
 drainage of which some arrangements or other have already 
 been executed, our practical operations become doubly dif- 
 ficult, since we are constrained to endeavour to reconcile 
 these with the improved details which correct principles 
 induce us to prefer. By way of illustration, which will be 
 found fully instructive, let us turn our attention to the 
 works now in action upon and beneath the surface of our 
 own metropolis, and consider how the principles here 
 stated can be the best applied to improve the means of its 
 drainage. 
 
 214. LONDON, standing upon a bed of clay, the sub- 
 strata to which, successively, are plastic clay, chalk, and 
 gault, occupies a part of the valley through which the river. 
 Thames has its course. The site of the town in some 
 places rises gently from the river, and at others is below 
 the level of high water, extending in dead flat districts. 
 
 B 3 
 
10 THE THAMES, THE GRAND SEWER. 
 
 For the principal part, however, the surface rises above the 
 river, which therefore came to be regarded as the natural 
 and proper channel for all the drainage of the town, the 
 main sewers having been arranged to discharge their con- 
 tents into it. Indeed, so thoroughly was this purpose of 
 the river formerly recognised, that the Thames was fami- 
 liarly termed the ‘‘Grand Sewer of London.” 
 
 215. Now, in order to make this method effective of Sait 
 one of the true purposes of drainage, viz. the mere getting 
 rid of the sewage matters,—it is evident that the arrange- 
 ment must be such, that the whole of these matters are 
 duly collected in the buildings and streets, and delivered 
 into the sewers; also, that these are so constructed and 
 situated that the matters they receive shall pass as rapidly 
 as possible, and certainly without any interruption that 
 would amount to stagnation, into the main sewers, and that 
 these again faithfully and promptly convey the sewage into 
 the final receiver, the river. So far, however, from being 
 fulfilled in their entirety, no one of these conditions is fully 
 and satisfactorily discharged. Thus, in many parts of the 
 town, the refuse matters are collected in holes beneath the 
 houses, and removed only when these holes become filled, 
 and the surrounding soil permeated to supersaturation 
 Some districts have no sewers or drains of any description ; 
 and again, of the sewers which are constructed, very—very. 
 few, are formed with a rate of declivity sufficient for the 
 self-discharge of the sewage, while many of them are laid 
 perfectly level. Attempts are made in some districts to 
 obviate the evils of insufficient declivity, by a flushing of 
 water through the sewers, the water being, for this purpose, 
 accumulated for a time, and then suddenly released, so as 
 to produce the effects of a powerful current. Of these 
 methods some details will be found in a subsequent part of 
 this treatise; but they can be regarded only as palliatives, 
 and expensive ones, applying, moreover, to one only of the 
 many imperfections of the present system. The crowning 
 defect, however, exists at the last stage of this machinery, 
 
DEFECTS OF LONDON DRAINAGE. ll 
 
 where the outfalls of the sewers into the river are so low, 
 that their contents are delivered at, or a little above, low- 
 water level. The decomposing matters are consequently 
 delivered upon the banks of the river, and left there to 
 stagnate and poison the atmosphere, and to he brought up 
 with the next tide for the thorough pollution of the waters. 
 This is an irremediable evil of the present arrangement, 
 by which no adequate fall can be obtained for the sewers, 
 consistent with their discharge into the river near the high- 
 water level, the only position in which the sewage could be 
 effectually conveyed away from the higher towards the 
 lower districts. Into some of these sewers the water of 
 the tide is permitted to enter, the immediate consequence 
 of which necessarily is, that the discharge of the sewage is 
 suspended, and the gases engendered by the decomposing 
 matter within the sewers are driven back towards the town. 
 The return of the tide of course assists the outflowing of 
 the contents of the sewers to some small extent; but, not- 
 withstanding this expedient for assisting the discharge, the 
 sewers are found to require periodical cleansing by hand, 
 the foul matters being raised to the surface in buckets, and 
 conveyed away in carts. 
 
 216. Of the many details of imperfection which mark the 
 existing combination of arrangements constituting the sewer- 
 age of the metropolis, all who have studied the subject are, 
 to some extent, cognizant, and all are equally prepared to 
 admit the magnitude of the several improvements which 
 have been made within the, last twenty years, and which 
 tend to alleviate some of the most palpable evils of the 
 prevailing system; but no thorough rectification can be 
 effected until the correct principles of town-drainage are 
 recurred to, and applied with such modifications as. may 
 enable us to make the best use of existing arrangements, 
 without sacrificing objects of greater magnitude and im- 
 portance. 
 
 217. All the real difficulties of the drainage of London 
 have their origin in the great error of attempting to convert 
 
12 DEFECTS OF LONDON DRAINAGE. 
 
 the river Thames into the common receiving sewer. In 
 the attempt to accomplish this improper object, the sewage 
 is brought down from the high lands, distances of miles, 
 and heights of many feet, away from the very points where 
 it should have been collected, and would be at once avail- 
 able for agricultural purposes. In the same attempt it has 
 been found necessary to construct the lower ends of these 
 sewers of immense size, in order to contain the accumu- 
 lated sewage with which they are thus loaded. As the 
 buildings have been extended, or a necessity has arisen 
 for accommodating lower levels, the main sewers have been 
 industriously removed, and rebuilt below their former posi- 
 tion, and their capacity enlarged, to provide for the in- 
 creased quantity poured into them. In the same obstinate 
 attempt to pollute the waters of the river, miles of sewers 
 have been constructed without any declivity whatever, on an 
 absolute level, in which, as a necessary consequence, the 
 refuse matters accumulate and solidify, until some happy 
 rush of surface-waters sends them onward to the common 
 receptacle, from which the population has the privilege of 
 afterwards supplying their personal and household wants. 
 Now, let us banish the notion of turning our rivers into 
 sewers, and consider how the sewerage could be best ar- 
 ranged, supposing it had to be done as an entirely new work, 
 and that we were unfettered by any consideration of making 
 present subterranean structures available for the purpose. 
 218. Without seeking records of the actual levels of any 
 one of our river-watered towns, we may assume as a feature 
 common to many of them the existence of several ranges 
 of elevation, running parallel, or nearly so, to the direction 
 of the river, which we will suppose to be generally east and 
 west. These ranges of elevation will be interrupted at 
 intervals by ancient water-courses, and also by small ridges 
 running north and south. ‘These several features of the 
 natural surface will determine the most economical courses 
 for the general system of drainage. ‘Thus the highest of 
 the ranges (which we will call a) should have a course of 
 
RANGES OF ELEVATION. 13 
 
 sewers for the especial service of the districts above it; the 
 next range (B) should have another course of sewers to serve 
 
 Fig. 67. 
 
 SOUTH 
 
 the district between a and B; the following range (c) should 
 similarly be provided with its course of sewers to drain the 
 district between p and c, and so on, as in the sketch, fig. 67. 
 The general inclination, east and west, of each of these 
 courses of sewers would be determined by the position 
 of the ridges and hollows running north and south, as 
 shown in fig. 68, where the highest points of the several 
 
 Fig. 68. 
 
 courses would be at r, and the lowest at H successively. 
 By this arrangement, means would be obtained of collecting 
 the sewage at each level or range of elevation, and dis- 
 posing of it with the minimum power to be expended in 
 raising it for manuring purposes. 
 
 219. The next great question to be determined would 
 
14 WATER POWER FROM RIVERS 
 
 be, the most economical power that could be obtained at 
 each of these points, H, for the purpose of raising the 
 sewage for dispersion upon the land. For the lower level 
 or range, the pumps could be worked by wheels driven by 
 the tide of the river-water; and, in all probability, those 
 for the upper levels could be worked, at any rate partially, 
 by streams of water conducted, in suitable channels, from 
 the uplands. At least, while we can command the immense 
 water-power of rivers, and of the accumulated surface 
 drainage from the large districts above, the best means of 
 making this available for our purpose deserve all considera- 
 tion, before we resort to the expensive power of steam. 
 For the extended flat districts of towns which bound tidal 
 rivers, the tides of the river could also be made available, to 
 a great extent, in doing the work required. The comple- 
 tion of the scheme would then want the details of the 
 arrangements to be made suitable to the superficial features 
 and relative levels of each part of the site for the con- 
 struction, &c., of the sewers, and the machinery to be 
 -applied for raising and distributing the sewage; and we 
 should finally be prepared to arrange the minor channels 
 or drains so as to subserve the efficient cleansing of every 
 inch of the surface, and of every individual tenement in 
 the towi. 
 
 220. The arrangement here suggested will be the more _ 
 peculiarly applicable, in proportion as the site resembles 
 the general regularity of surface which we have supposed. 
 In many parts of London there is no uniformity of ineli- 
 nation, and in others the rate of inclination is so trifling, 
 that the surface may be treated nearly as a level. But the 
 illustration we have referred to shows the general principle 
 of the arrangement which would promote the greatest 
 economy in the drainage of a town, the site of which 
 resembles, in its principal features, the section given in 
 fig. 67. In the application of this general system to 
 London, as it is, these departures of superficial character 
 from the theoretical regularity must of course receive due 
 
‘* INTERCEPTING ” SEWERS. 15 
 
 attention; and, beyond this, the existing arrangement of 
 sewers must be carefully noted and consulted, with the 
 view of rendering them, as far as possible, available as 
 parts of the general plan. Until this existing arrangement 
 is presentable to the eye, upon plans and sections of the 
 metropolis that shall exhibit every peculiarity of surface 
 and of subterranean structure, by which the details of the 
 plan to be adopted would be affected, no correct estimate 
 can be formed of the extent of modifications that would 
 be required, nor how weighty may be the reasons for relin- 
 quishing, in some parts of the town, the scheme of a suc- 
 cession of levels or ranges of elevation. An acquaintance 
 with these details will probably show the expediency of 
 making use of some of the existing main sewers through 
 out the principal part of their length, but InTERcEPTING 
 their contents before they reach the river, and forming 
 tanks or other receptacles in which these matters should 
 be collected. 
 - 21. The two objects—the public health, and economy— 
 being kept distinctly in view in the design and execution of 
 these arrangements, it becomes necessary to show that the 
 sewage can be collected, treated, raised, and dispersed, 
 without any detriment to the first of these objects; and 
 that these purposes can be effected at such cost as will be 
 at least balanced by the advantage of applying the sewage 
 as manure, or a material for irrigation. 
 
 222. The contents of the sewers, consisting of human 
 and animal excrements, earthy matters carried down by 
 the surface water from the roads and streets, with some 
 portion of decayed vegetable and animal substances, &c., 
 although at first partly solid, afterwards become reduced to 
 a thick liquid state, of tolerably uniform quality. During 
 the putrefaction of these matters, the ammonia they contain 
 (and which is one of their useful constituents) is disengaged ; 
 and if this process take place in the open air, it is of course 
 mingled with the atmosphere in the form of carbonate of 
 
 _ ammonia, and leaves the sewage in a less valuable con- 
 * dition. Now this volatile carbonate of ammonia may be 
 
16 FIXING THE GASES. 
 
 fixed in many ways. Thus says Liebig:—‘‘ Gypsum, chlo- 
 ride of calcium, sulphuric or muriatic acid, and super- 
 phosphate of lime, are substances of a very low price; and 
 if they were added to urine until. the latter lost its alka- 
 linity, the ammonia would be converted into salts, which 
 would have no further tendency to volatilize. When a 
 basin, filled with concentrated muriatic acid, is placed in 
 a common necessary, so that its surface is in free com- 
 munication with the vapours issuing from below, it becomes 
 filled, after a few days, with crystals of muriate of am- 
 monia. ‘The ammonia, the presence of which the organs 
 of smell amply testify, combines with the muriatie acid, 
 and loses entirely its volatility, and thick clouds or fumes 
 of the salt, newly formed, hang over the basin. In stables 
 the same may be seen. ‘The ammonia escaping in this 
 manner is not only lost, as far as our vegetation is con- 
 cerned, but it works also a slow, though not less certain, 
 destruction of the walls of the building. - For, when in 
 contact with the lime of the mortar, it is converted into 
 nitric acid, which dissolves gradually the lime. The injury 
 thus done to a building by the formation of soluble nitrates 
 has received (in Germany) a special name—salpeterfrass 
 (production of soluble nitrate of lime). The ammonia 
 emitted from stables and necessaries is always in combina- 
 tion with carbonic acid. Carbonate of ammonia and sul- 
 phate of lime (gypsum) cannot be brought together at 
 common temperatures, without mutual decomposition. The 
 ammonia enters into combination with the sulphuric acid, 
 and the carbonic acid with the lime, forming compounds 
 destitute of volatility, and consequently of smell. Now, if 
 we strew the floors of our stables, from time to time, with 
 common gypsum, they will lose all their offensive smell, 
 and none of the ammonia can be lost, but will be retained 
 in a condition serviceable as manure. (Mohr.)” * 
 
 223. Chemistry thus supplies us with the means by which 
 
 * “Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology,” by 
 Justus Liebig. Edited by Drs. Playfair and Gregory. Fourth Edition, 
 1847, p. 189. . 
 
VALUE OF SEWAGE. ri 
 
 all the offensive and detrimental properties of the sewage 
 may be suppressed, and all the useful properties safely 
 retained. There is evidently no necessary reason why a 
 tank or receptacle in which the sewage is collected and 
 stored should be, in any respect, more disgusting to the 
 _ Senses, or injurious to the health of human beings, than a 
 reservoir of the purest water. 
 
 224. Can the remaining question of cost be disposed of 
 with equal satisfaction, so as to show that the application 
 of the sewage to manuring purposes may be effected with 
 due economy? Will the agricultural value of the sewage 
 pay the expenses of applying it? We believe it may. 
 These expenses will embrace the construction of the tanks 
 or stores for the sewage, of the pumps and raising ma- 
 chinery, and the means of treating the sewage with gypsum 
 or other agent, and of distributing it upon the lands to be 
 served; but against the total, in a comparative estimate, 
 would have to be placed the cost of the present partial 
 removal of night-soil from cesspools, the immense addi- 
 tional cost incurred by the necessity of having immense 
 sewers, the cost of outfalls into the river, and the expense 
 of cleansing the present sewers by hand. Now, in order 
 to form a rough estimate of these several expenses with 
 which the present system is to be debited, we will assume 
 the population of the metropolis to be two millions,* and 
 the number of houses 200,000, that is, ten persons to each 
 house on an average; that half of these houses are still 
 drained into cesspools, and that the cleansing of each of 
 these costs one pound annually. We shall then have 
 100,000/. as the annual cost of removing the contents of 
 _the cesspools of the metropolis. The number of miles 
 of sewers constructed during the ten years from 1833 to 
 1848, throughout the metropolis, was about 120, or, an- 
 nually, twelve miles on an average; and the excess of 
 capacity in these sewers, made necessary by the deficiency 
 of declivity, and the great length to which they are ex- 
 tendéd, probably involved a cost, in construction, equal at 
 
 * See Appendix No. 5, p. 194, for details applicable to later years, 
 
18 . VALUE OF SEWAGE. 
 
 least to 20000. per mile. This item would thus amount to 
 24,0U01. annually, in which the expense of outfalls to the 
 river may be included. To these are to be added the ex- 
 penses of cleansing the sewers by hand, which may be 
 moderately computed at 10,0001. annually throughout the 
 metropolis. We shall thus have an amount of 184,0001., 
 which would be annually saved in these items by the pro- 
 posed system. 
 
 225. A very reduced estimate of the value, for manure, 
 of the excreta of human beings (reduced avowedly for the 
 sake of gaining public belief), represents it at 5s. for each 
 person annually. The value of the produce of the popula- 
 tion of London would thus be 560,000l. per annum. Ad- 
 mitting one- half of this to be now made available, we shall 
 have the other half, amounting to 250,0001., gained by 
 the proposed mode of collection, and adding this to the 
 134,000/. estimated saving (224), we have a total of 384,000. 
 annually available for the expenses of construction and re- . 
 pair of apparatus, and current cost of collecting, raising, and 
 treating the sewage of the metropolis. ‘This sum will endow 
 thirty-eight stations with an annual income each exceeding 
 10,000/. for interest of capital in first construction and cur- 
 rent expenses of working and treating. And this number 
 of stations appears fully adequate to resin all the economy 
 of power which can be attained by judiciously providing for — 
 several levels in each district of the metropolis. 
 
 226. In order to show that this rough estimate as to the 
 value of the sewage, and the cost of applying it, is not 
 formed upon fallacious data, calculated to induce an un- 
 founded preference for the method recommended, we may 
 refer to the authority of the Superintending Inspectors 
 under the General Board of Health, Messrs. Cresy and 
 Ranger. Mr. Cresy, in reporting upon the present sanitary 
 condition of the borough of New Windsor, and offering his 
 official recommendations for its improvement, estimated the 
 population at 10,200, and the annual value of the sewage 
 manure at from 1000/. to 1500/. And for the first cost of 
 
VALUE OF SEWAGE 19 
 
 the apparatus for distributing this manure, he allowed an 
 expenditure of 4000/., being 8000/. for 10 miles of pipe, 
 and 10001. for pumping engine, &c. Mr. Ranger estimated 
 the value of the sewage matters of the town of Uxbridge 
 to be at least equal to 1700/. per annum, the population 
 being 8219 (in 1841), or about 10s. for each person; and 
 for the first cost of the distributing apparatus, he allowed 
 8500/. In reporting upon the town of Eton, of which the 
 - population was 3526, in 1841, Mr Cresy estimated the value 
 of the excreta at 500. annually, and the cost of main 
 sewers and tanks for the sewage at 1000/. 
 
 227. These estimates of the value of sewage vary from 
 Qs. to 10s. 6d. per individual, between which our average of 
 5s. is certainly a safe medium. And the allowance for first 
 _ cost of apparatus for pumping, &c., varies from about 6s. to 
 1/. 2s. per individual. If we assume ll. as a safe average, 
 the annual interest, at five per cent., upon two millions of 
 pounds, being 100,000., we shall have 284,0001. left for 
 the eurrent expenses of our thirty-eight stations, or about 
 74701. each annually, which must be admitted to be a very 
 liberal estimate of the cost of pumping and treating the 
 sewage. 
 
 228. Of the current expenses of distributing the liquid 
 sewage upon the land, and of first conveying it from the 
 stations to the districts to be supplied, whether by a system 
 of piping, or by vessels, or carts, it will not be necessary to 
 offer any estimate here. These duties will probably involve 
 an expenditure which would have the appearance of being 
 heavy, if not fairly compared with the cost now incurred in 
 imperfect manuring on the one hand, and on the other, 
 with the vastly-increased value given by the application of 
 the liquid sewage to the products of arable and pasture 
 lands. When the costs and the results of the two methods 
 can be, from actual and extended experience, placed thus 
 in juxtaposition, we are justified in anticipating that a large 
 balance of advantage and economy will appear incontesta- 
 
30 DETAILS OF SYSTEM. 
 
 bly due to the system of applying and distributing the 
 liquid sewage as here described. 
 
 229. The multiplicity of stations necessary to carry out 
 the scheme of ranges of elevation may appear to involve 
 practical difficulties, and objections of a serious character, 
 that should be adverted to, and their real value shown in 
 contrast to the advantages which this arrangement offers. 
 The primary consideration which must be satisfactorily 
 fulfilled is, the practicability of accomplishing this method 
 without any sacrifice of health, by the raising and distribu- 
 tion of the sewage at and from the several stations. The 
 treatment with gypsum, already alluded to, may, it is pre- 
 sumed, be carried on at such a cost as shall not impair the ~ 
 ultimate economy of the process, and in such a manner 
 that no offence shall be committed against the most fas- 
 tidious delicacy of sense. Indeed, the- completion of the 
 process would perhaps require that the gypsum should be 
 administered either constantly, or at stated intervals, within 
 the collateral or the main sewers, by which means all dis- 
 engagement of foul gases would be prevented, and the 
 sewage would arrive at the receiving tanks in an innocuous 
 and fixed condition. But until this method is carried out, 
 the tanks may be so covered in, and their contents ex- 
 cluded from association with the external air, as that the 
 latter shall not suffer any contamination; and similarly the 
 sewage, pumped up, may be distributed in closed pipes, or 
 loaded into river or canal boats, or into wheeled vessels, so 
 constructed of iron that the sewage, already purified im the 
 tanks, shall be at once conveyed away, without exposure in 
 the slightest degree. The great advantage, however, of 
 effecting this purification at the earliest possible stage (and 
 the only perfect system is that which shall provide for doing 
 it in the drainage of each individual house) is too apparent 
 to be disregarded or lightly estimated. It has been well 
 remarked, that so long as our covered. sewers are permitted 
 to emit the noisome gases engendered by the putrefying 
 
OBJECTIONS TO SYSTEM 21 
 
 matters within them from the air grates and gully holes 
 into the streets, they remain, to all intents and purposes, 
 nuisances, and are nearly as dangerous and offensive as if they 
 were open sewers. And when it is remembered that these 
 very gases, which bring pestilence and death to our poor 
 population, would, if retained within the sewage, constitute 
 its most valuable properties, we surely find abundant rea- 
 son for seeking the best practicable method of applying 
 the purifying process before these dangerous properties are 
 developed, and of transmitting the fructifying matters to 
 our fields before their value has been thus grievously im- 
 paired. 
 
 230. Another objection which the system of ranges of 
 elevation will probably meet with is, that the sewage mat- 
 ters cannot be made available at any great number of points 
 within the town and its suburbs. This may be admitted. 
 It is, indeed, very likely that no profitable use can be made 
 of the sewage within some few miles of the metropolis; 
 but it does not therefore follow that it can be more ad- 
 vantageously conveyed in sewers to the distant station, 
 where it may, perhaps, be applied at once. If we had the 
 materials for instituting a fair and exact comparison be- 
 tween the first cost of constructing and current expenses of 
 maintaining, in a healthy condition, the deep and large 
 sewers required for any system of sewage which is. not 
 mainly determined by the minor varieties of surface, and 
 the expenses of transporting the sewage from many points 
 by pipes or by river, railway or canal, with all the facilities 
 we can now command for any general and extended system, 
 the latter would be found to be recommended as strongly 
 by its economy, as it undoubtedly is by its superior effi- 
 ciency in subserving the health and well-being of the popu- 
 lation. The economy of transmitting liquid matters in 
 pipes is well known, and the cost has been estimated, by 
 engineers, at 23d. per ton for a distance of five miles, and 
 _ to a height of 200 feet. This includes interest of capital 
 and all current expenses. Railway tolls and canal dues 
 
22 EXTRAVAGANCE OF CONCENTRATION. 
 
 riay indeed be regulated so as to afford but little facility for 
 the transmission of manure at present; but wonderful 
 modifications will be volunteered in these matters, s9 soon 
 as the system becomes general, the demand for accom- 
 modation be increased, and the mechanical and chemical 
 appliances for purifying and transporting the sewage ren- 
 dered more ready and effective. 
 
 231. Any system of collection which attempts to concen- 
 trate the sewage at a few points must be attended with ex- 
 travagance in one or more of three different ways. First, 
 and constantly, in the enlarged capacity of sewers required, 
 for two reasons, viz. the great quantity to be conveyed, and 
 the extra size needed to compensate for the deficiency of 
 declivity. Secondly, in the greater distance over which the 
 sewage has to be transmitted. Or, thirdly, in the greater 
 cost of raising it from the level of the sewers to the high 
 surface above it. Thus arise objections to the propositions 
 which have been made for conducting the whole of the 
 sewage of London to one point, seipated at a distance of 
 several miles eastward of the town, in which case retrans- 
 mission would become necessary, in order to supply dis- 
 tricts in all other directions. And, on the other hand, if it 
 be collected at any point towards the north or north-west, 
 where probably the greatest demand for it would be found, 
 - the reservoir would be necessarily constructed at a depth 
 from the surface which would entail i immense and needless 
 expense in raising the sewage for application on the land. 
 
 232. Another important point in which the many-station 
 system offers advantages, which the single-station system 
 does not, is the facility for storing the sewage for any 
 required time, until it may be available for agricultural use 
 It is well known that the manuring matters are required to 
 be applied at certain seasons and intervals, according to the 
 nature of the vegetation. If the sewage be collected in one 
 reservoir, the size of it, in order to serve the true purpose 
 of a reservoir or store-place, must be immense, almost to 
 impracticability; but if divided, as proposed, between many 
 
SEWERS, MERE PASSAGES. 28 
 
 points, tanks of moderate size would be amply sufficient to 
 contain the accumulation of long intervening periods, while 
 the facility of distribution would, moreover, probably induce — 
 the use of the sewage for varieties of culture, that would 
 tend to equalize the demand for it. 
 
 233. Sewers are, properly, mere passages for the sewage, 
 but they are so only while the matters sent into them are 
 induced to continue moving by the declivity of the sewer, 
 or by the artificial force of water, or other agent, to drive or 
 carry them forward. Without one or other of these aids 
 the large sewers we have been constructing are known to 
 become reservoirs of sewage, or cesspools, in which, during 
 dry seasons, the refuse matters remain decomposing for 
 days and weeks, sending up the most pernicious gases into 
 the drains and water-closets of the houses, and through the 
 air-grates and gully-holes into the streets of the town. The 
 system which adopts ranges of elevation and varieties of 
 surface, as indications by which to lay small sewers with 
 rapid declivities, and leading into tanks situated at short 
 distances from each other, obviates these evils, by construct- 
 ing the sewers so that they maintain their proper character 
 of mere passages, and the tanks are made to perform the 
 double purpose of storing and purifying the sewage. The 
 chamber of the tank into which the sewers discharge may 
 be trapped, by turning down into water, so that no impure 
 exhalations can possibly return along the sewer towards the 
 houses and streets. | 
 
 234. In adapting this arrangement to London, or any 
 other town already provided with sewers, those in which 
 sufficient fall exists may be retained and made to deliver 
 into tanks at the lowest point of each range or district. 
 But all sewers without fall, or with less than is sufficient 
 for the rapid self-discharge of their contents, should be at 
 once abandoned, and a separate system of sewers con- 
 structed, dipping into one or more tanks at the centre and 
 other points of the flat district. As a general principle, to 
 be very reluctantly departed from, the surface-water and 
 
Q4 MILAN DRAINAGE 
 
 waste household-waters should be admitted as the only dilu- 
 tants of the solid sewage. Artificial scouring or flushing 
 of the sewers may be regarded as an expensive and trouble- 
 some correction of some of the evils occasioned by deficient 
 declivity, but one sometimes attended with a most mischievy- 
 ous consequence, viz. the forcing up of the sewage into the 
 streets from some of the lower sewers, which become sur- 
 charged with the flushing water during the process. Another 
 expedient which is occasionally recommended, and in some 
 cases practised, the scouring by admitting the tidal water 
 of the river, is inapplicable to any method which purposes 
 to preserve the sewage for agricultural uses; and must be 
 admitted to have the effect of thoroughly defiling the lower 
 banks of the river at which the discharge takes place. 
 
 235. Having thus shown that the true principle upon 
 which towns should be classified in order to consider the 
 best system of arranging their general drainage, is that of 
 ranges of elevation and varieties of surface without any re- 
 ference to contiguous rivers or water-courses, and haying, 
 in support of this principle, stated that the system of con- 
 ducting the sewage to the river, besides wasting that which 
 is really of great value and poisoning the water, necessitates 
 immense mis-expenditure in large and deep sewers, it will 
 be desirable, before closing this section, to cite some fur- 
 ther authority as to the value of sewage manure, and notice 
 the plans which have been proposed for applying that pro- 
 duced in London; and also to quote some few instances of 
 the works which have heen executed to provide for deliver- 
 ing the sewage of London into the river Thames. 
 
 236. The sewage of the city of Milan is collected m two 
 concentric canals, the inner one of which is called the Sevese, 
 and the outer the Naviglio, and delivered into one called the 
 Vettabbia, which flows from the southern part of the city 
 and, after a course of about ten miles, discharges into the. 
 river Lambro. ‘Throughout its course this stream of sew- 
 age is made to flow over a large extent of meadow-land, and 
 is found to possess such valuable fertilising properties that 
 
EDINBURGH MEADOWS. 25 
 
 the deposit, which has to be periodically removed in order 
 to preserve the level of irrigation, is bought by the neigh- 
 pouring agriculturists, and esteemed an excellent manure. 
 Some of the meadows, which are thus irrigated by the sew- 
 age water of Milan, yield a net rent of 8J. per acre, besides 
 paying taxes, &e. These meadows are mowed in January, 
 March, April, and November for stable-feeding. They 
 besides yield three crops of hay, viz. in June, July, and 
 August; and in September they furnish ample pasture for 
 the cattle till the irrigation in the winter. 
 
 237. The late Mr. Smith, of Deanston, in reporting to 
 the “‘ Commissioners for Inquiring into the State of Large 
 Towns and Populous Districts,” upon the “ application of 
 sewer-water to the purposes of agriculture,” gave an inter- 
 esting description of the method which has been adopted 
 for upwards of 30 years in applying the sewage-water of 
 part of Edinburgh to the irrigation of grass-land. ‘The 
 sewer-water, coming from a section of the Old Town, is 
 discharged into a natural channel or brook, at the base of 
 the sloping site of the town, at sufficient height above a 
 large tract of ground extending towards the sea, to admit 
 of its being flowed by gravitation over a surface of several 
 hundred acres. ‘The water, as it comes from the sewers, is 
 received into ponds, where it is allowed to settle and deposit 
 the gross and less buoyant matter which is carried along by 
 the water, whilst it flows on a steep descent. From these 
 tanks or settling-ponds the sewer-water flows off, at the sur- 
 face, at the opposite end to its entrance. ‘The water so 
 flowing off still holds in suspension a large quantity of light 
 flocculent matter, together with the more minute débris of 
 the various matters falling into the sewers, and chiefly of 
 vegetable and animal origin. ‘The water is made to flow 
 over plats or plateaus of ground, formed of even surface, so 
 that the water shall flow as equally as possible over the 
 whole, with various declinations, according to circumstances ; 
 and it is found, in practice, that the flow of water can easily 
 be adjusted to suit the declination.” ‘The practical result 
 
 c 
 
26 MR. SMITHS CALCULATIONS. 
 
 of this application of sewer-water is, that land. which let 
 formerly at from 40s. to 6l. per Scotch acre, is now let an- 
 nually at from 30/. to 40/., and that poor sandy land on the 
 sea-shore, which might be worth 2s. 6d. per acre, lets at an 
 annual rent of from 15/. to 201. That which is nearest the 
 city brings the higher rent chiefly because it is near, and 
 more accessible to the points where the grass is consumed, 
 but also, partly, from the better natural quality of the land. 
 The average value of the land, irrespective of the sewer- 
 water application, may be taken at 3/. per imperial acre, and 
 the average rent of the irrigated land at 30/., making a dif- 
 ference of 271., but 21. may be deducted as the cost of ma- 
 agement, leaving 251. per acre of clear annual income due 
 to the sewer-water.” Mr. Smith calculated that 17,920. gal- 
 lons of sewage-water, containing 5 ewt. of dissolved and 
 suspended matter, are equal in fertilising power to 23 cwt. 
 of guano, or 15 tons of farm-yard manure; and he esti- 
 mated the expense of the material and process, as applied 
 to one acre of land, as follows :— 
 
 f ipeed: 
 
 Cost of manuring one acre of land with 
 17,920 gallons of sewer-water . } WOR a0 
 2% cwt. of guano at 8s. ; 4 : 1 0 
 15 tons of farm-yard manure at 4s. . RS SOTO 
 
 He further calculated that the comparative economy of 
 the sewer-water manuring will increase with the greater 
 quantity of each kind of manure applied ; thus :— 
 
 Cost of manuring one acre of land with 
 
 35,840 gallons of sewer-water 016 6 
 5 ewt. of guano at 8s. ; . mee AS: Oe 
 30 tons of farm-yard manure at 4s. RH PO RES |) 
 
 238. Mr. G. Stephen in his “ Essay on Irrigated Mea- 
 dows,” published in 1826, had previously described the sys- 
 tem of sewer-manuring with commendation. Mr. Stephen 
 says, “ Edinburgh has many advantages over many of het 
 sister cities, and the large supply of excellent spring-water 
 
CLITHEROE EXPERIMENTS. OF 
 
 is one of the greatest blessings to her inhabitants, both in 
 respect to household purposes, and in keeping the streets 
 clean ; and, lastly, in irrigating the extensive meadows se- 
 lected below the town by the rich stuff which it carries 
 along in a state of semi-solution; where the art of man 
 with the common shore-water has made sand-hillocks pro- 
 duce riches far superior to anything of the kind in the 
 kingdom, or in any country. By this water about 150 acres 
 of grass-land, laid into catch-work beds, is irrigated, whereof 
 upwards of 100 belong to W. H. Miller, Esq., of Craigin- 
 tinny, and the remainder to the Earls of Haddington and 
 Moray, the heirs of the late Sir James Montgomery, and 
 some small patches to other proprietors. The meadows 
 belonging to the last-mentioned noblemen, and part of the 
 Craigintinny meadows, or what are called the old meadows, 
 containing about 50 acres, having been irrigated for nearly 
 a century, they are by far the most valuable, on acccunt of 
 the long and continual accumulation of the rich sediment 
 left by the water ; indeed, the water is so very rich, that the 
 proprietors of the meadows lying nearest the town have 
 found it advisable to carry the common shore through deep 
 ponds, where the water deposits part of the superfluous 
 manure before it is carried over the ground. Although the 
 formation is irregular, and the management very imperfect, 
 the effect of the water is astonishing; they produce crops 
 of grass not to be equalled, being cut from four to six times 
 a year, and given green to milk cows. The grass is let 
 every year by public auction, in small patches, from a quar- 
 ter of an acre and upwards, which generally brings from 
 241. to 301. per acre. ‘This year (1826) part of the Earl of 
 Moray’s meadow gave as high as 571. per acre.” 
 
 239. The results of experiments tried at Clitheroe, in 
 Lancashire, showed that the fertilising properties of sewage- 
 water were nearly four times as great as those of common 
 farm-yard manure. Mr. Thompson applied 8 tons of the 
 sewage-water to one acre, and 15 tons of the ordinary ma- 
 nure to another, and the produce of the former was as 
 
 c 2 
 
28 USE OF SEWAGE AT MANSFIELD. 
 
 1:875 to 1 of the latter. Comparing the produce with the 
 weight of manure, the proportion of the one to the other 
 will therefore be as 1°875 to ‘532, or nearly fourfold. 
 
 240. The sewage-water of Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, 
 has been so applied to lands by the Duke of Portland, that, 
 with a preliminary expenditure of 301. per acre, to put the 
 land ina condition fit for irrigation, its annual value has 
 been raised from 4s. 6d. to 14/. per acre. Mr. Dickinson 
 treated some land at Willesden, in Middlesex, with liquid 
 manure, derived from horses, and obtained fine crops of 
 Italian rye grass, although the land had previously been 
 deemed unworthy of cultivation. Mr. Dickinson obtained 
 ten crops in twelve months. In the year 1846, the first 
 crop (cut in January) yielded more than 4 tons per acre; 
 the second gave nearly 8, and the fourth, cut in June, pro- 
 duced 12 tons per acre. 
 
 241. At Ashburton, where they have applied liquid ma- 
 nure for 50 years, and at other towns in Devonshire, the 
 land thus treated produces grass at least a month earlier 
 than lands not so treated, and is valued at 81. to 12/. per 
 acre, while land not so improved is considered worth only 
 from 30s. to 40s. 
 
 242. One of the earliest, if not the earliest, of the sug- 
 gestions for saving and applying the sewage of London ap- 
 pears to have emanated from the late Mr. John Martin, the 
 artist, in the year 1828. Mr. Ainger, in 1830, published a 
 plan for “ preserving the purity of the water of the 
 Thames,” by constructing covered drains along the sides of 
 the river to receive the minor drainage, and Mr. Martin in 
 July, 1834, presented to the select committee of the House 
 of Commons, then inquiring into the state of the law re- 
 specting sewers in and near the metropolis, with a view to 
 suggest amendments, a ‘ Plan for improving the air and 
 water of the metropolis by preventing the sewage being 
 conveyed into the Thames, thereby preserving not only the 
 purity of the air, but the purity of the water; and likewise 
 for manure and agricultural purposes” ‘The objects of this 
 
MR. MARTIN’S PI:AN. Q9 
 
 plan were described to be—“ first, to materially improve 
 the drainage of the metropolis; secondly, to prevent the 
 sewage being thrown into the river, and to preserve in its 
 pure state the water which the inhabitants are necessitated 
 to use; thirdly, to prevent the pollution of the atmosphere 
 by the exhalations from the river and the open mouths of 
 the drains; and, fourthly, to save and apply to a useful pur- 
 pose the valuable manure which is at present wasted by 
 being conveyed into the river.” 
 
 243. The details of the plan embraced the formation of 
 a receptacle at Bayswater, on the north side of the Uxbridge 
 Road, for the drainage of Kilburn, part of Paddington, 
 Bayswater, &c., &c., and of another receptacle above Vaux- 
 hall Bridge to receive the contents of the present King’s 
 Scholars’ Pond Sewer. For the body of the city, Mr. 
 Martin proposed a grand sewer to commence at College 
 Street, Westminster, and run parallel with the river, and to 
 be extended to a convenient point near the Regent’s Canal 
 at the east end of London. And for the south side of the 
 river, a Similar plan was recommended, the sewer in this 
 case to commence near Vauxhall Bridge, and pass along 
 the bank of the river to Pickle-Herring Stairs, thence, 
 branching off through Rotherhithe, to a convenient spot 
 adjoining the Grand Surrey Canal, where a grand recep- 
 tacle should be constructed similar to that by the Regent’s 
 Canal on the north side of the river. 
 
 244. These grand sewers were proposed to be constructed 
 of iron, the bed of them being on the same level with the 
 shore, and following the inclination of the river, about 7 in. 
 per mile. The top of them to form quays, at least 2 ft. 
 above the highest possible tide. To prevent the possibility 
 of those sewers being burst by the accumulations of floods, 
 they were to be provided with flood-gates; and to afford 
 facility for inspecting, and, if necessary, cleansing them, 
 light iron galleries were designed to be suspended from the 
 roof. The sewers were to be built up of iron, the bottom 
 paved with brick, and the top arched with sheet iron, with 
 
80 MR. MARTIN’S PLAN 
 
 wrought-iron ribs; the size of the sewers being on the ave- 
 rage 20 ft. in depth and width, and the estimated cost of 
 their construction 60,0001. per mile, including sewer, pier 
 or quay, strong quay-wall of cast-iron, towards the river, 
 &e., &c. The whole length of the two sewers proposed was 
 about 74 miles. The description of the receptacles in 
 which the sewage was to be collected will be best quoted 
 from the proposer’s ‘ Plan ” submitted to the committee. 
 
 245. “The grand receptacle at the end of this great 
 covered sewer should be 20 yards deep, and 100 yards 
 square, with a division down the centre, separating it into 
 two compartments, each 50 yards in width, with a flood-gate 
 at the inner angle of each compartment for the sewage to 
 run in at; and at the opposite extremity, within about 
 13 ft. of the top, there should be an iron grating, 5 ft. wide 
 by 50 yards long, through which the lighter and thinner 
 parts of the sewage would rise; the heavier and grosser 
 parts would sink to the bottom, and gradually fill up the 
 base of the drain, when the gate should be closed, and the 
 one leading into the second division of the receptacle 
 opened. At the extremity of the receptacle, between the 
 two compartments, there should be an engine to raise the 
 manure into barges, and also to pump the water in case of 
 extraordinary tide; in this way the expense of an extra re- 
 ceptacle for the water accumulating whilst the tide is up 
 would be saved; this, however, would only be required in 
 spring tide. ‘The receptacle would be so firmly built, and 
 covered with a roof of wrought iron, supported by cast-iron 
 pillars, that a road could be made over it; or it might be 
 built upon, and thus no room would be lost; and, that a 
 particle of smell might not be allowed to escape, there 
 should be a communication for the foul air to pass from the 
 receptacle to the fire of the engine, which would then com- 
 pletely consume it.” It is of course unnecessary to remark 
 that these estimates and particulars are quoted for their 
 historical interest, and not for any practical value that 
 attaches to them. 
 
SEWAGE MANURE COMPANY. S$] 
 
 246. About the year 1845, a company was organised, we 
 believe under the original auspices of Mr. Martin, and pro- 
 moted by Mr. Smith of Deanston, which proposed to carry 
 into effect, for the general benefit of the metropolis, a plan 
 for collecting the sewage by ineans of a receiving sewer 
 which should cut the existing sewers at a mvan distance of 
 620 yards from the river. Mr. Martin, the founder of the 
 Company, ‘however, objected to this, preferring to receive 
 the contents of the sewers near their outfall into the river. 
 The Company referred to—the “ Metropolitan Sewage Ma- 
 nure Company,’—contemplated the ‘conveying of the 
 sewage-water of London, by means of a system of pumping 
 engines and pipes, analogous to that of the great water 
 companies, and thus distributing the fertilising fluid over 
 the land in such manner and proportions as may be best 
 adapted to the various kinds of field and garden cultivation.” 
 The proposals of the Company were eventually limited to 
 an operation upon the sewage belonging to the King’s Scho. 
 lars’ Pond Sewer, one of the principal sewers in Westmin- 
 ster, and with this reduced purpose an Act of Parliament 
 was obtained for prosecuting the scheme in 1846. 
 
 247. The actual proceedings of the Company, their results 
 and defects, were described officially in a Report (dated 25th 
 December, 1851) to the General Board of Health, by one of 
 their superintending inspectors, W. Lee, Esq., and from 
 this Report we extract the following :—‘‘I thought it my 
 duty to visit the works of the Metropolitan Sewage Manure 
 Company, at Fulham, to examine the market-gardens and 
 other land to which the sewage has been applied there, and 
 to ascertain from some of the consumers their opinions as 
 to the result upon various crops. The Company has a sta- 
 tion on the west bank of the Kensington canal, at Stanley- 
 bridge, where they have erected a steam-engine to pump the 
 sewage water over the top of a stand-pipe 75 feet high. 
 This altitude gives a sufficient pressure for the whole dis- 
 trict, and the fertilising fluid is conveyed from the stand- 
 pipe and distributed, by about 15 miles of mains and ser- 
 vices, varying from 14 inches diameter at the works 
 
$2 MR. LEE’S REPORT. 
 
 down to 2 inches diameter in the fields and gardens where 
 it is used. The consumers have plugs or hydrants fixed at 
 convenient distances in their lands, and with their own ser- 
 vants, and hose and jet pipe, apply it when they please, 
 paying to the Company the sum of three pounds ten shil- 
 lings per acre per annum. 
 
 ‘‘ Hitherto the Company has only taken the Walham Green 
 sewer-water, which contains, probably, less fertilising mat- 
 ter than any other in the metropolis, in consequence of the 
 less density of the population within its area, and the great 
 volume of the upland rain water. It is, however, the most 
 conveniently accessible to the works. When the arrange- 
 ments for using the Ranelagh sewer-water are completed, it 
 is expected that more beneficial results will be experienced. 
 
 “The first place I examined was a field from which two 
 crops of grass have been taken during the year, and it is 
 now a most excellent pasture. JI examined the large mar- 
 ket-garden occupied by Mr. G. Bagley, who said, in answer 
 to my inquiries :— 
 
 “«T have found that all crops grow faster and are healthier 
 from the application of sewer-water. ‘The size of vegetables 
 is increased in a fine season; in some descriptions the qua- 
 lity is also better, and consequently they would obtain bet- 
 ter prices. I may particularly mention vegetable marrow, © 
 a plant that requires much nutriment; it has produced a 
 large crop in warm dry weather. In dry weather, the sew- 
 age is of great assistance to scarlet runners and French 
 beans, but if rain were to come after its application, the 
 consequence would be injurious. J have found it of great 
 service to cucumbers, especially from the convenience of its 
 application. I think, however, it is almost better for cab- 
 bage and brocoli, than anything else. I have not perceived 
 any offensive effluvia at the time of its application or after- 
 wards—not enough: if there had been a little smell, the 
 manure would perhaps have been better than it was.’ 
 
 “ Mr. E. Bransgrove, manager of Mrs. Harwood’s extensive 
 market-gardens, said :— 
 
 ««* We have used the sewer-water ever since the Company 
 
TESTIMONY OF GARDENERS. 33 
 
 commenced. ‘The improvement in the plants is very ma- 
 nifest; I think it helps to lessen the blight. The growth 
 of vegetable marrow is much improved, also of scarlet run- 
 _ners, and the same of lettuce and celery. This plot was 
 celery, and the liquid manure was applied to it. After the 
 crop was got off, it was planted with cabbage, without any 
 further application of the sewage, but the plants are still 
 benefited by the former application. The next patch of 
 savoys had it applied to them about three months since, 
 and are a very good crop. There was very little smell 
 either at the time of its application or afterwards.’ 
 
 ‘I likewise visited the market-gardens of Mr. W. Bagley, 
 Mr. R. Steele, Mr. J. Crouch, and Mr. J. Bagley, to all of 
 which, as well as many others in the district, the sewage 
 manure has been applied. In one place, a field of cabbage 
 plants was pointed out, and I was informed that the sewage 
 manure had been applied to about one half and not to the 
 other. Those to which it had been applied were darker 
 in colour, larger, and much more vigorous than the re- 
 mainder. 
 
 “ T have, in my former report, already considered the objec- 
 tion urged in the provinces, that liquid manures could only be 
 beneficially applied in WET WEATHER, and have shown that 
 the solution used was too strong. It is a remarkable fact, 
 that the tenants of the Metropolitan Sewage Manure Com- 
 pany all concur in the statement, that the greatest advantages 
 are produced by its application in DRY WEATHER, When ma- 
 nuring and watering are combined in the same operation. 
 These facts, and my own experience, lead to the conclu- 
 sion that the town sewerage water should be collected, and raised 
 to the required altitude in as concentrated a condition as posst- 
 ble ; but that it should be distributed and applied to the land, in 
 such a state of dilution with water, as may be required by the 
 season of the year, the state of the weather, and the quantity of 
 moisture in the soil. ‘This may be easily accomplished, and 
 almost without expense, by a pipe from the water-works, 
 discharging into the downward arm of the sewage stand- 
 
 ac 3 
 
34 SEWAGE COMPANY'S MISTAKES. 
 
 pipe, at the command of the person in charge of the sta- 
 tion. By these means, the sewerage water may be applied 
 with advantage at all times. In dry weather, and upon 
 thirsty soils, a weak solution would be used; and in the 
 winter season—in wet weather, on uncropped land—or with 
 eross-feeding plants, as strong a solution as might be requi- 
 site, to produce the greatest possible fertility. 
 
 “Having said this much of the Company's operations, I 
 feel bound to add that the failure of a sewer manure com- 
 pany in the metropolis, as a commercial speculation, was 
 predicted by Mr. Smith, of Deanston and other competent 
 ugriculturists, who withdrew from it. A disproportionately 
 large outlay of capital and machinery was made from a 
 wrong sewer, that is to say, from a sewer which, in fact, was 
 an old watercourse, and chiefly adapted to the remoyal of 
 storm water; and the supply of manure from this was car- 
 ried to a wrong district, or one of the least suitable districts, 
 namely, to a district already supplied at the cheapest rate 
 with powerful manure: of that district only a small propor- 
 tion received the Company’s supply. ‘The whole of the 
 available capital was expended before the pipes could reach 
 the ordinary farming district, where there appeared to be a 
 demand for it. Nevertheless, the fertilising power of the 
 extremely-diluted manure, when applied to the land, already 
 highly charged with manure, was extraordinary. On this 
 land, where town manure had been applied at an expense 
 of 20l. per acre, and labour in working the land to about 
 the same extravagant amount, an augmentation of nearly 
 one-third of the ordinary large crops was obtained. ‘The 
 range of the distribution by the jet was visible in the extra 
 growth of the vegetation, although much of this success 
 was no doubt attributable to the water itself, irrespective of 
 the matter in solution.” 
 
 248. Every sanitary reformer must have regretted that the 
 Company has not been more successful; but when its ope- 
 rations are pointed to as a reason why works for the appli- 
 cation of the sewage of towns should not be undertaken, 
 
TUNNEL SCHY ME. HB) 
 
 * becomes necessary to indicate the causes of its success 
 being partial only. ‘The errors committed are in matters 
 of detail; the principle—-that town sewage water is a va- 
 luable fertiliser—is fully confirmed, even by the Company’s 
 operations. 
 
 249. During the inquiries upon this subject which were 
 instituted by the Sewage Company, some proposals were eli- 
 cited which differed considerably from those upon which 
 the Company is now acting. 'T'wo of these may be noticed, 
 which were examined by the select committee, appointed 
 in 1846, to consider plans for the application of the sewage 
 of the metropolis to agricultural purposes. It should be 
 mentioned, that the original plan of the Metropolitan Sew- 
 age Manure Company embraced the formation of reservoirs, 
 in which the sewage was to be collected from the sewers, 
 but these reservoirs were relinquished by the promoters of 
 the bill, in consequence of the objection made against 
 them by the owners and occupiers of land. 
 
 250. One of these proposals was to carry away the entire 
 sewage of the metropolis, in a tunnel of from 8 ft. to 12 ft. 
 in diameter, and at a depth of from 40 ft. to 80 ft. beneath 
 the surface. This sewer was to commence at the Grosve- 
 nor Road, and pass through Westminster to the Strand, 
 and on the south side of St. Paul’s Churchyard, Cannon 
 Street, &c., to the Commercial Road, thence under the 
 River Lee, and in a straight line through the West Ham 
 marshes, to a large reservoir and works, to be constructed 
 in an angle between the western banks of Barking Creek 
 and the northern banks of the Thames. The sewer-water 
 was to be raised by steam-engines from the receiving reser- 
 voir into other reservoirs, sufficiently elevated to permit the 
 solid matters being deposited at a level above the ‘Trinity 
 high-water mark. From these reservoirs the solid matter 
 would be periodically removed, dried by artificial means, 
 and then compressed and packed for transmission by land 
 or water. The liquid matter was to be discharged as worth 
 less, atall states of the tide. Mr. Wicksteed, the proposer, 
 
36 MR. HIGGS'S PATENT. 
 
 calculated that engines would be required of an aggregate 
 power equal to that of 1060 horses, and capable of raising, 
 when worked at full power, 18,000,000 cubic feet toa height 
 of 56 feet, in twenty-four hours, being considered equal to 
 two and a half times the present ordinary quantity of sewer- 
 water. The waste of the liquid sewage contemplated in this 
 scheme destroys the purpose of what was intended to be a 
 simple method of collecting the contents of the existing 
 sewers. 
 
 251. The other proposal which received the attention of 
 the select committee, and to which we will allude, was sug- 
 gested by Mr. Higgs, the patentee of a method of treating 
 sewage matters. Mr. Higgs’s patent is dated 28th of April, 
 1846, and the object is entitled, “‘ The means of collecting 
 the contents of sewers and drains in cities, towns, and vil- 
 lages, and of treating chemically the same; and applying 
 such contents, when so treated, to agricultural and other 
 useful purposes.” The scheme comprises the construction 
 of tanks or reservoirs for the sewage, with suitable buildings 
 over them in which the gases evolved are to be collected, 
 condensed, and combined with chemical agents; and also 
 an arrangement of spars or bars, on which the salts formed 
 by this combination may crystallize. Apparatus is devised 
 also for distributing the chemical agents over the mass of 
 sewage, and the claims of the patentee extend to the use 
 and application of them for the purpose of precipitating 
 the solid animal and vegetable matters contained in the 
 sewage, and of absorbing and combining with the gases 
 evolved from it. ‘“ Hydrate of lime,” or “slaked lime,” 
 and “chlorine gas,” were the agents proposed to be em- 
 ployed for these purposes, and the solid matters were to be 
 cut into suitable shapes, and dried ready for use. The 
 committee, however, did not feel justified in recommending 
 these elaborate processes, in the then immature state of the 
 public mind upon the subject. * 
 
 252. Prior to the month of December, 1847, the sewers 
 of London were controlled by seven separate boards of ma- 
 
 * See further in Appendix No. 6. pp. 225—228. 
 
METROPOLITAN SEWER DISTRICTS. 37 
 
 nagement or district Commissions, six of which belonged 
 to London north of the Thames, and one to London south 
 of the Thames. The six former districts were: 1, West- 
 minster and part of Middlesex; 2, The Regent’s Park, 
 8, Holborn and Finsbury; 4, The City of London; 5, The 
 Tower Hamlets; and 6, Poplar Marsh or Blackwall. The 
 one southern district included certain portions of the coun- 
 ties of Surrey and Kent. ‘The several boundaries and ex- 
 tent of these districts are not worth definition, because they 
 are now all (except the City division) included in one Metro- 
 politan district, which is roughly stated to comprise a circu- 
 lar area of about twelve miles diameter, or about 114 square 
 miles,* and to contain about 2000 miles of streets, and 
 1000 miles of sewers, consisting of old and new sewers, 
 and open ditches.} The City Sewers District is about one 
 square mile in extent, and comprises about 50 miles of 
 sewers.t The progress of sewer-building in this City Dis- 
 trict may be imagined from the following facts, viz. that the 
 commission began building sewers in 1756, and up to the 
 year 1832 had completed 9 miles and 1035 yards. In the 
 year 1843, Mr. Kelsey, their surveyor at that time, stated, 
 above 35 miles of sewers were completed. The length of 
 50 miles now constructed is said to have completed the 
 sewers as far as the streets of the district are concerned, 
 leaving only courts and alleys to be provided for. 
 
 253. Let us briefly glance at the magnitude of some of 
 the sewer-works which have been constructed, in the extra- 
 vagant attempt to convey the entire sewage of London into 
 the river Thames, and to maintain the subterranean chan- 
 nels in a clean and healthy condition. The Irongate sewer, 
 which was formerly the city ditch, varies in height from 
 6 ft. 6 in. to 11 ft., and in width, from 3 ft. to 4 ft. The 
 Moorfields sewer is 8 ft. 6 in. by 7 ft, and at the mouth, 
 
 * Evidence of R. Stephenson, Hsq., before Select Committee on the Great 
 London Drainage Bill, 13 June, 1853. 
 
 + Evidence of Mr. J. W. Bazalgette, before the same, 10 June, 1853. 
 
 + Evidence of Mr. W. Haywood, before the same, 13 June, 1853. 
 
88 FLEET SEWER. 
 
 10 ft. by 8 ft.; and at the north end of the Pavement this 
 sewer is 27 ft. below the surface. The Fleet Ditch, which 
 drains the land from Highgate southward, is partly formed 
 in two distinct sewers, which run on each side of Farring- 
 don Street; they are from 12 ft. to 14 ft. high, and each is 
 6 ft. 6 in. wide, yet they are liable to be flooded by the in- 
 mense rush of waters from the northward, and a single storm 
 will raise the water 5 ft. in height in both of them almost 
 instantaneously. The culvert constructed at the mouth of 
 this sewer was severely injured, in 1842, by the flood con- 
 sequeut upon a thunderstorm. The Bishopsgate Street 
 sewer, which receives the drainage of Shoreditch and adja- 
 cent places, is 5 ft. by 3 ft., is sometimes overcharged, and 
 returns the waters from the high ground. 
 
 254. By way of conveying a ready idea of the vast size 
 
 Fig. 69, 
 
 WY YY__ HAMIypo 
 Yy Yyy Yi Uf WY. 
 : 5 YY 
 
 GY =  . 
 Y — _ 
 
FLEET SEWER. 89 
 
 of the F.cet sewer, the great length and extended functions 
 of which have just been noticed, the two figures 69 and 70 
 
 Fig. 70, 
 
 We ~~ ~<— 
 
 SL 
 
 y, 
 YH, 
 
 \ ‘ We Nx 
 D0Di—D’[M)K 
 VRVAVyy7 . My, 
 
 RAN 
 
 \ NS ‘ 
 
 are introduced, the one showing the section of the sewer at 
 the city boundary, where its dimensions are 12 ft. 8 in. by 
 11 ft. 74 in., and the other showing the size of the mouth 
 of the sewer, which is 18 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft., and of ample 
 capacity to admit one of the largest locomotive engines, the 
 
49 SEWERS OF LONDON. 
 
 gigantic dimensions of which are sufficiently familiar to all 
 who have found it necessary to cross the platform of a rail- 
 way station. Yet this sewer has often been surcharged ; 
 and only within the last year (1842) the culvert, so ably 
 constructed at its mouth by Mr. James Walker, was severely 
 injured by the flood consequent upon a thunderstorm.* 
 
 255. The large sewers constructed in the Tower Ham- 
 lets division are 4 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft., and the cost per foot 
 varied from 15s. to 1l. 5s., according to the depth. One of the 
 sewers, from Hoxton New Town, is laid, for a length of 
 3000 ft., on adead level, and discharges into another, hich 
 is also on nearly a dead level, because a fall could not be 
 obtained. From the 45 miles of sewers in this division, 
 about 2000 loads of sewage have to be annually removed by 
 hand. All the outlets are into the Thames, below London 
 Bridge, and are provided with valves, which sometimes fail, 
 owing to some matter issuing from the sewers that prevents 
 their closing, and of course the tide rushes in. Up to the 
 year 1843, 13,000 ft. of sewers were rebuilt, at a lower level 
 than formerly, in order to accommodate levels not then pro- 
 vided for, and at the same time maintain the communication 
 with the river. 
 
 256. In the Surrey and Kent division, all the main arched 
 sewers are necessarily provided with flaps and penstocks, 
 nearly all the district being below the level of high water in 
 the river. Some of the sewers in this division have only 
 2 ft. of fall per mile. 
 
 257. In the Holborn and Finsbury division, 88,0001. 
 were expended upon the Fleet sewer between the years 
 1826 and 1848, and the surveyors were enabled to reduce 
 the size of a part of it from 12 ft. by 12 ft. to 10 ft. by 9 ft., 
 “from an advantage in the difference in the fall, there being 
 more fall in this situation, which rendered the proportion 
 of the current through the smaller sewer equal to the larger 
 
 * Evidence of the Surveyor to the City Commission of Sewers, before 
 
 the ‘ Commissioners of Inquiry into the state of large towns and populous 
 districts.” (1843.) 
 
FLEET SEWER. 4] 
 
 ” 
 
 one.” ‘The extra expense incurred by the increased depth, 
 which sometimes occasioned a passing through sand and 
 treacherous materials, may be inferred from one item in the 
 cost of construction, viz. that in such cases it was found ne- 
 cessary to use close timbering to strut the sides of the ex- 
 cavation ; the sand also, sometimes, despite all precautions, 
 rose 6 inches in one night; and the building of some of the 
 sewers in Pentonville “had the effect of loosening the 
 ground, or causing the ground to slip, the whole way up the 
 hill,” and thus seriously damaging the walls of the gardens 
 above. The Fleet sewer, as already described, takes the 
 water from Highgate and Hampstead, conducting it towards 
 the river Thames, and it has been known “to rise six, 
 eight, and ten feet in a night; there have been instances of 
 persons being carried away by it.” The fall in that part of 
 it which is 12 ft. by 12 ft. is at the rate of a quarter of an 
 inch in 12 feet; and in the 10 ft. by 9 ft., the fall is three- 
 quarters of an inch in 10 feet. The effect of this difference 
 of declivity is, that “if the 12 by 12 were completely full, 
 the other would not be full by 2 ft.” 
 
 258. The following details respecting the Fleet sewer 
 are quoted from a report dated 25th October, 1853, made 
 by Mr. Haywood, the Surveyor to the Commissioners of 
 City Sewers. The Fleet sewer is the largest in the metro- 
 polis. An area of land six or seven times the size of the 
 whole City of London is drained by it, the waters of that 
 area being carried into it by many hundred collateral sewers. 
 Near the outfall—that is, at the Crescent, Bridge Street, 
 Blackfriars—the flow of these accumulated waters is proba- 
 bly from 18,000 to 20,000 gallons per minute during the 
 day in dry weather; with but slight rain, the flow is so 
 much increased that no man can stand against it; with a 
 very moderate quantity of rain, falling uniformly over the 
 drainage area, it is questionable if a horse could maintain 
 its footing against the current in the sewer; with heavy 
 rain the sewer is half filled. The difficulties attending re- 
 pairs to the Fleet and similar sewers are very great. ‘The 
 
4Q FLEET SEWER. 
 
 City Sewers Surveyor reported that a portion of the Fleet 
 sewer, between Fleet Street and Blackfriars Bridge, being in 
 such a condition as to require extensive and immediate re- 
 pair, it was determined to put in a new invert, and under- 
 pin the side walls, and for this purpose to construct a dam 
 across the sewer, so as to lay the bed of it dry. In. order 
 to avoid complaints of street interruption or other public 
 nuisance, the works were commenced and carried on with- 
 out opening any portion of the sewer itself, the only means 
 of ingress and egress being one small hole 3 feet wide and 
 3 feet long in a branch sewer in Crescent Place. Down 
 this small opening the workmen descended and conyeyed 
 all materials required, at great labour and time, and, neces- 
 sarily, cost. Moreover, mechanical appliances, which are 
 used with so much advantage in many similar works, and 
 by the aid of which, with sufficient space, an amount of 
 work five hundred times that done in the Fleet sewer 
 could have been performed in the same space of time 
 with ease, could not be used, owing to the insufficiency of 
 space, and, therefore, manual labour, applied at immense 
 disadvantage, was all that could be adopted. ‘The men 
 were frequently working with two thirds of their bodies im- 
 mersed in water, amid an uncertain light, and a deafening 
 roar of water, and at times, with but little chance of their 
 lives, if they had once lost their footing. Half of the 
 24 hours the tidal water was in the sewer; when it was out, 
 the men could with difficulty work three hours each morn- 
 ing, especially on Saturdays; and at other times, if any 
 rain came down, the work had to be suspended at once. 
 The sewer was never entirely free for 24 hours either from 
 rain actually falling, or the drainage waters from the upland 
 districts after the rain; and actual progress was made only 
 in one tide out of every three or four. ‘Two or three times, 
 when dams were all but complete, heavy floods of rain 
 washed the larger portion of them away. 
 
 259. The following extracts from the evidence given by 
 Mr. Roe, surveyor to the late Holborn and Finsbury Com 
 
FLUSHING SEWERS. 43 
 
 mission of Sewers, before the Commissioners of Inquiry 
 into the state of large towns and populous districts, in 
 1848, will give some notion of the state of the sewerage of 
 that division. ‘The Holborn and Finsbury divisions are 
 peculiarly situated, having no immediate communication 
 with the river Thames. The waters from these divisions 
 haye to pass through one or other of the adjoining districts, 
 namely, the city of London, the Tower Hamlets, or the 
 city of Westminster, before reaching the river. he sewers 
 of the Holborn and Finsbury divisions have, therefore, of 
 necessity, been adapted to such outlets as the other dis- 
 tricts respectively afforded; and these having formerly been 
 put in without due regard to an extended drainage, the 
 sewers of these divisions have not had the benefit of the 
 best fall that could have been obtained. Of late years 
 many of the outlets have been lowered in the adjoining 
 districts; but to alter the existing sewers of these divisions 
 to the amended levels would require the rebuilding of 
 about 823,766 ft. of sewer, at an expense of nearly a 
 quarter of a million sterling.” In this state of things, Mr. 
 Roe conceived that the ordinary current of water which 
 passes along the covered sewers (in some constant, in 
 others periodical), in these divisions, which, in numerous 
 cases, does not prevent deposit from accumulating, might 
 yet be made available for that purpose; and accordingly 
 ‘‘a series of experiments were commenced, in order to 
 ascertain what velocity could be obtained in the sewers; 
 and it appeared that deposit might be removed by the 
 means of dams placed in certain situations to collect heads 
 of water, at less expense, than by the usual method. An- 
 other series of experiments were made for the purpose of 
 endeavouring to ascertain the proportion of decomposed 
 animal and vegetable matter, and detritus from the roads, 
 carried through the sewers to the river Thames by the 
 common run of water. Several square boxes were con- 
 structed, to hold 1 cubic foot of water each. These were 
 filled with water from different sewers. After allowing the 
 
44 OUTFALLS OF SEWERS. 
 
 turbid water to clear itself by precipitation, I ascertained 
 the relative amount of the precipitate. The following were 
 some of the results:—From the river Fleet sewer, near the 
 outlet, the proportion of decomposed animal and vegetable 
 matter, and detritus from streets and roads, held in me- 
 chanical suspension, was 1 in 96. The run of water was 
 10 in. in depth, and 10 ft. in width, having an average 
 velocity of 83°47 ft. per minute, passing 692°8 cubic feet of 
 water per minute; the matter conveyed being 7:21 cubic 
 feet per minute, or 103-660 cubic yards per annum. ‘The 
 river Fleet sewer conveys the drainage of about 4444 acres 
 of surface, or about four-sevenths of the surface of these 
 divisions. That great quantities, in addition to the above, 
 are carried away by the force of water in rainy weather is 
 certain; allowing this source, and the remaining three- 
 sevenths of the district to only equal the discharge by the 
 river Fleet sewer, there appears to be a quantity of upwards 
 of 200,000 cubic yards of matter carried to the Thames per 
 annum from these divisions in mechanical suspension, and 
 by the force of velocity, weight, and volume of water.” In 
 one part of this division (at Canonbury) the sewer is sixty- 
 eight feet below the surface, and the drainage of the houses is 
 provided for by a subsidiary sewer. 
 
 260. In the Westminster division the outfalls to the river 
 vary from 10 ft. to 15 ft. below the level of high-water mark, 
 that is about 5 ft. above low-water mark, and some of them 
 are provided with flaps. The cost for cleansing sewers by 
 hand, made necessary by deficient fall, amounted, in the 
 year 1842, to 1850/.; the average for seven years, being 
 about 1,550/., and the deposit is so hard that it is some- 
 times found necessary to use the pick-axe to dislodge it. 
 Some of the main sewers have a fall of only 3 inch in 100 
 feet. During the ten years ending 1843, 27,056 yards of 
 sewers were constructed by the Commissioners for this 
 division, and these were principally old sewers built at a 
 lower level, or diverted along the public way. The size of 
 the main sewers is 3 ft. in width, and 6 ft. 6 in. in height, 
 
DEFICIENCY OF FALLS. 45 
 
 and of this size $2,000 yards were constructed from 1883 to 
 1843 jointly by the Commission and by individuals. In 
 1843 one of the sewers in this division, the King’s Scholars’ 
 Pond Sewer, was described to have from its commence- 
 ment at Shepherd’s Well to the flood gates at the Thames, 
 a total fall of 285 ft. 4 in., yet the fall is in some parts very 
 deficient. In the Pimlico district adjoining the palace, the 
 fall is for the last 5500 ft. only 5 ft.;—less than a foot in 
 each thousand feet, and the outlet was still so low that 
 flood gates were necessary at its outlet. During the rising 
 of the tide, therefore, these gates were closed for six hours, 
 and the sewage of course remained pent up or thrown back 
 towards the houses. 
 
 261. In the Kent and Surrey divisions, in which there 
 are several open sewers, the drainage is so conducted that 
 “during the time the tide is up in the river, the sewers 
 have to receive all the water, making its way into them, 
 and must be sufficiently capacious to hold both that quan- 
 tity, and all rain that may fall, until the fall of the tide 
 allows a discharge.” ‘The covered main sewers are 5 ft. 
 3 in., by 4 ft. 9 in. The whole of the district is many feet 
 under high-water mark. 
 
 262. The facts here quoted are certainly sufficient to 
 
 show that the system of draining into the Thames is at- 
 tended with vast extra expense in the depth and size of 
 sewers, and with great inconvenience and inefficiency in the 
 want of declivity thereby laboured under, which are power- 
 ful considerations against the propriety of this method, and 
 the weight of which has to be added to that of the loss 
 occasioned by the utter waste of most valuable manuring 
 matters, and the injurious effects of saturating these matiers 
 in the water from which the daily supplies for the metro- 
 polis are mainly derived. 
 
 263. Having thus briefly noticed some of the details of 
 the sewerage arrangements of the metropolis, as carried on 
 under separate commissions prior to the year 1848, it is 
 desirable to notice some of the proceedings of the United 
 
A6 SEWER ACTS OF 1848 anp 1849. 
 
 er “ Metropolitan Commission,” since that time, including 
 their proposals, estimates, and actual works. ‘There is 
 good reason for extending this notice, sufficiently, more- 
 over, to embrace a general review of these proposals, since 
 they present to us the labours of the highest engineering 
 talent yet brought to bear upon the great question, How 
 can London be properly drained? The new commission, 
 appointed in December, 1847, consisted of the following 
 members :—Lord Ebrington, Lord Ashley, Dr. Buckland, 
 Mr. Hume, M.P., Hon. F. Byng, Dr. Arnott, Dr. South- 
 wood Smith, Sir J. Clark, Rev. W. Stone, Professor Owen, 
 Sir H. De La Beche, Messrs. R. A. Slaney, M.P., J. Bid- 
 well, J. Bullar, W. J. Broderip, R. L. Jones, JaLeslie, and 
 KE. Chadwick. In the Session of Parliament 1848, an Act 
 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 112), was passed, entitled, ‘‘ dn Act to 
 consolidate and continue in force for Two Years, and to the end 
 of the then neat Session of Parliament, the Metropolitan Com- 
 missions of Sewers.” This Act of 1848 was amended by 
 another (12 & 138 Vict. c. 93), passed August Ist, 1849, - 
 entitled, ‘“‘ di Act to Amend the Metropolitan Sewers Act.” 
 By these Acts powers were given for making district rates, 
 and levying contributions for building sewers, for making 
 sewer rates partly prospectively and partly retrospectively, 
 for levying and recovering “ improvement rates,” and bor- 
 rowing money on mortgages and annuities “to pay off any 
 debt not actually due.” | 
 
 264. On July 28rd, 1849, at a Special Court of the 
 Sewers’ Commission, a report was read from the surveyor 
 of the Metropolitan Commission at that time (Mr. Phillips), 
 embracing plans and estimates he had prepared for the 
 drainage of the metropolis. In this report, the principles — 
 of town-drainage were laid down as follows :— 
 
 “J, That two outfalls, independent of such other, should 
 be provided, one for the discharge of natural, or land and 
 surface waters, and the other for the discharge of artificial, 
 or house and soil drainage | 
 
 «2. That in order to perfectly drain the subsoil of the 
 
MR. PHILLIUS'S TUNNEL SCHEME. 47 
 
 town so as to free it from damp, and to carry off, as quickly 
 as possible. the natural waters, a system of permeable land 
 drains and sewers should be provided to discharge into the 
 natural watercourses and rivers. 
 
 «3. That as outfalls are already provided by streams and 
 rivers for the discharge of the natural waters, it is only 
 necessary to provide separate and proper outfalls for the 
 discharge of the artificial, or house and soil drainage, 
 which outfulls should convey the sewage, as fast as it is 
 produced, to a dept at a convenient and unobjectionable 
 place, quite clear of and below the town. 
 
 ‘4. That in order to carry off the house and soil drain- 
 age without contaminating the atmosphere of the town by 
 the escape of effluvia through the numerous inlets, as is at 
 present the case, a system of impermeable drains should 
 be provided, distinct and separate from the permeable land 
 drains and sewers, to discharge, without intermission, into 
 the said artificial outfall independently of the river. 
 
 “5. That at the main outlet a depét should be formed, 
 and works established for raising the sewage, and for 
 converting and distributing the same for agricultural and 
 horticultural purposes.” 
 
 265. For the discharge of artificial, or house and soil 
 drainage, the surveyor proposed a tunnel extending from 
 the Plumstead marshes to T'wickenham, and crossing under 
 the River Thames eleven times. The proposed course and 
 construction were as follows:—From the depét at Plum- 
 stead to pass under the river to Hast Ham and Plaistow 
 marshes, recrossing the river from below Bow Creek to the 
 Greenwich marshes, where a shaft would be provided, and 
 a branch drain to serve Charlton, Greenwich, &c. Then to 
 eross the river again to Blackwall, where another shaft and 
 main branch drains for Poplar, &c., would be constructed. 
 Continuing between the export and import West India 
 Docks, the tunnel would reach the margin of the river, 
 and a shaft and branch drain for Limehouse be provided. 
 
48 MR. PHILLIPS’ TUNNEL SCHEME 
 
 Crossing to the Surrey side, the tunnel would run through 
 Rotherhithe, and have two shafts and branch drains for 
 Rotherhithe, Deptford, and Hatcham, westward, and follow- 
 ing the bank of the river eastward. 
 
 The tunnel would leave Rotherhithe just below the en- 
 trance of the Grand Surrey Canal, and continue under the 
 river to the Middlesex side between the entrance to Shad- 
 well Dock and the Rotherhithe tunnel, and run south of 
 the London Docks through Wapping to the margin of the 
 river above the entrance of Hermitage Dock. Two shafts 
 would be built along this part of the line, and connected 
 with branch drains, one westward to the Tower and along 
 Thames Street to Blackfriars, intercepting all the sewage 
 running into the Thames as far as the Temple Gardens. 
 From the east shaft a branch would be carried for Wapping. 
 Leaving the entrance of Hermitage Dock, the tunnel would 
 cross the river to the Surrey side near Shad ‘hames, and 
 continue through Bermondsey, Southwark, and Lambeth, 
 below Westminster Bridge. Four shafts and deep main 
 branch drains would be constructed on this length, to serve 
 the house drainage of Bermondsey, Southwark, Lambeth, 
 Newington, Kennington, Walworth, Peckham, Camberwell, 
 Dulwich, Norwood, Streatham, Stockwell, Clapham, Brixton, 
 Battersea, Wandsworth, Tooting, Mitcham, Carshalton, 
 Merton, &e. 
 
 From the Surrey side the tunnel would pass under the 
 river below Westminster Bridge to Westminster, and con- 
 tinue through that district to the King’s Scholars’ Pond 
 sewer at Pimlico; thence to Chelsea, and between Fulham 
 and Hammersmith, crossing the river to Barnes, recrossing 
 to Mortlake, and finally crossing above Richmond Bridge 
 to take up the sewage of Twickenham and the neighbour. 
 hood. The line here described, although thus appearing 
 circuitous, may be seen on a map to thread the windings of | 
 the river in a uniform curve. | 
 
 266. The tunnel here proposed was to have a fall of © 
 
! 
 
 GEOLOGICAL OBJECTIONS 49 
 
 49 ft. 3 in. throughout its Jength (193 miles), a diameter 
 ot 8 it. at its outlet, and 6 ft. at the upper end. The fol- 
 iowing was the estimate for the work :— » 
 Constructing 19} miles of tunnel sewer, at an 
 
 average of £23,709 per mile, including shafts £512,823 
 
 Constructing the shaft at the terminus 4,099 
 Steam engine, pumps, and boilers, complete - 95,000 
 Engine house, &c. ; ; . { 33,677 
 
 Total estimated cost of 195 miles of tunnel 
 sewer, with machinery, &c. : . £644,999 
 
 The annual cost of maintenance, consumption of coals, 
 and superintendence, was set down at 15,0001., and it was 
 calculated that the rated value of the property draining 
 into this tunnel being 10,000,000/., an annual rate of 1 
 penny in the pound for 22 years would suffice to pay the 
 principal and interest. ‘The depot (at Plumstead marshes) 
 would be 10 ft. deep, and elevated above the surface 20 ft. ; 
 an average of 10,000,000 cubic feet of sewage were ex- 
 pected to be discharged into it during the day, and this 
 would be precipitated and filtered until the liquid parts 
 were reduced as nearly as possible to pure water, while the 
 solid matter remained. When there was no demand for 
 liquid manure, it might be directed into the 'I'hames or the 
 sea, or otherwise disposed of as circumstances might render 
 advisable. This gigantic conception appears to have served 
 only for the Commissioners to talk about, and to elicit the 
 geological objections of Sir H. De la Beche and Dr. Buck- 
 land, upon the ground that the tunnel could not pass 
 through a continuous bed of clay, but must, for a great 
 part of its length, be bored through beds of sand, gravel, 
 and chalk, all of which are percolated by immense quanti- 
 ties of water, and would prove extremely unfavourable for 
 such operations as those contemplated. 
 
 267 At the end of 1849 or beginning of 1850, the Com- 
 missioners appear to have become thoroughly puzzled by 
 the conflicting advice of their own surveyors, and atirighted 
 
 D 
 
50 MR. STEPHENSON’S EVIDENCE. 
 
 at the task before them; and they desperately solicited 
 anybody and everybody tv teil them what they would re- 
 commend for the drainage of London. The invitation 
 thus given for the sending in of “plans,” was responded 
 to by some 150 or 160 amateur drainers, of whom the only 
 fact known is, that each of them became entitled, some time 
 after they had tendered their recommendations, to receive 
 a printed map from the Commissioners, showing what the 
 sewer system of London at that time was, a kind of infor- 
 mation which one might have supposed should have preceded 
 their suggestions for its amendment. 
 
 268. In October, 1851, when a new Commission was 
 formed, of which Mr. R. Stephenson and Sir W. Cubitt, the 
 eminent engineers, were members, these 150 or 160 plans, 
 which had lain till then unexamined, were exhumed, and 
 carefully considered and reported on by a sub-committee 
 appointed for that purpose. ‘ Upon the report of that Com- 
 mittee,” says Mr. Stephenson,* “ Mr. Forster, the then en- 
 gineer of the Commission, proceeded to design a plan for 
 the general improvements of the sewage of London, and 
 more especially with a view to the interception of it, to 
 remove it from the Thames as far as possible in the vicinity 
 of London. I was connected with Mr. Forster, at least I 
 took a great interest in the question, and every step he took 
 I was cognizant of. I examined the greater part of Lon- 
 don, and more especially directed my attention to the lower 
 districts on the south side of the Thames, which are so 
 badly drained at present, and which are, in fact, the seats 
 of diseases of all kinds. We proceeded so far as to com- 
 plete our plans for the south side, and were about to let the 
 contracts; but a question was raised as to the powers of 
 borrowing money, and pledging the rates of the districts. 
 It was found we had no such power; therefore we had no 
 means of proceeding with our contracts. We had then an 
 interview with Sir George Grey on the subject, with a view 
 
 * Evidence before Select Committee on the Great London Drainage Bill, 
 13 June, 1853. 
 
MR. FORSTER’S PLAN. 51 
 
 _ of bringing a Bill into Parliament, to authorise us to raise 
 money for those purposes. Very shortly after that inter- 
 view, the Government was changed. I do not know what 
 steps were taken by the next Government, but I believe 
 none, and I believe none are now being taken by the Go- 
 vernment to relieve the Commissioners of Sewers from 
 their embarrassments.” 
 
 269. The plan designed by Mr. Forster, and here referred 
 to, comprised two sewers, a high-level sewer, and a low- 
 level sewer, the former to receive the natural drainage or 
 rainfall and surface-water, and conduct it to a low part of 
 the district, as Bow Creek, by gravitation simply; the low 
 sewer to collect all the house drainage, and convey it also 
 by gravitation to Bow Creek, where it would be pumped up 
 and descend with the surface-water to the outlet at Barking 
 Creek. By this plan, the districts that were proposed to be 
 drained by gravitation comprised a very large proportion of 
 the whole area of the north side of the Thames, admitting 
 of a sewer falling 4 ft. a mile, commencing at the extreme 
 west of London —Bayswater—and continuing to the River 
 Lea, where Mr. Forster proposed that there should be re- 
 servoirs, if necessary, for the purification of the sewage; 
 but that would be conveyed into the Thames conveniently 
 at all times. With respect to the low-level .tract, it was 
 proposed (commencing, as in the high-level sewer, at the 
 lifting point on the eastern bank of the River Lea) to con- 
 struct a sewer at a depth of 47 feet below the invert of the 
 “high-level sewer, proceeding beneath the River Lea near 
 to Four Mills Distillery, taking the north-western bank of 
 the Limehouse Cut, at which point it receives a branch in- 
 tended to intercept the sewage of the Isle of Dogs; thence 
 continuing along the bank of Limehouse Cut, through a 
 portion of the Commercial Road, Brook Street, and beneath 
 the Sun Tavern Fields, into High Street, or Upper Shad- 
 well, at a point opposite to the church; thence along Rat- 
 cliffe Highway, and Upper East Smithfield, across ‘Tower 
 Hill, through Little and Great Tower Street, Hastcheap, 
 
 ) D2 
 
52 ESTIMATES FOR WORKS. 
 
 Cannon Street, Little and Great St. Thomas Apostle, 
 Trinity Lane, Old Fish Street, and Little Knight Rider 
 Street ; thence beneath houses in Wardrobe Terrace, and 
 on the eastern side of St. Andrew’s Hill, along Earl Street 
 and Blackfriar’s Bridge. From Blackfriar’s Bridge it was 
 proposed to construct the sewer along the river shore to the 
 junction of the Victoria Street sewer at Perey Wharf, which 
 sewer, between Percy Wharf and Shaftesbury Terrace, 
 Pimlico, would thus become an integral portion of the in- 
 tercepting line. The whole length of this main sewer, from 
 the River Lea to Bayswater, was about 8 miles, the section 
 of sewer 8 ft. by 5 ft. or 5 ft. 6 in., and the estimated cost 
 1,200,0000. . 
 
 270. The want of powers to raise money, under which 
 the Commission laboured, as already explained in quoting 
 Mr. Stephenson’s Evidence, necessitated the suspension of 
 proceedings, and shortly afterwards (in 1851) the death of 
 Mr. Forster deprived the Commission of their professional 
 adviser, and opened the door for a careful reconsideration 
 of the plans he had proposed. In October, 1851, Mr. R. 
 Stephenson and Sir W. Cubitt accepted the appointments 
 of Consulting Engineers to the Commission, and various 
 minor works or those of ‘“ drainage,” merely, as distin- 
 guished from the ulterior purpose of “intercepting” the 
 passage of refuse matters into the Thames, were, during the — 
 following two years, sanctioned and executed.* 
 
 * The following record of estimates for works ordered by the Metropolitan 
 Aommission may be useful : — 
 
 Ordered 6th September, 1850. 
 
 £ 8. 
 
 340 ft. of 12 in. pipe sewer, Shepherd’s Bush. ° ° Ps 2 Nhl) 
 120 ” 12 ” Kent Road e ° e e e 22 0 
 BOO Ags kD os Hanway Street . 
 7p Peele a John’s Court | Oxford Street . 3820 0. 
 O20. ae _ Petty’s Court 
 1335008 ~ Lisson Grove . ° ° ° 2 25 
 
 50» 9 a4 \ Portman Market . ; : . 20 
 
 40 , 6 ” 
 BOO so ce S Portland Street, Walworth . . 50 0 
 
COMMISSIONERS’ ACCOUNTS, 5S 
 
 271. From a statement of the affairs of the Metropolitan 
 Sewers Commission, read at a General Court, on the 6th 
 September, 1853, it appeared that when, previous to July, 
 1852, the power of the previous Commission to call for a 
 rate of 6d. in the pound was reduced to 3d., 200,0001. was 
 the sum required for their ordinary annual expenditure ; 
 but that after this, they were empowered to raise not more 
 than 100,000/., although they had entered into contracts 
 which could not be withdrawn ; that when the New Com- 
 mission was issued in July, 1852, after giving credit for all 
 the rates, there was still a balance of 36,000/. against the 
 Commissioners; that in the last 12 months, the present 
 Commission had executed, at the public expense, brick and 
 pipe sewers to the extent of 285 miles in length, con- 
 
 450 ft. of 2 ft. brick culvert, in line of Falcon Brook . 120 0 
 360 ,, 12 in. pipe sewer, Brick Street, Park Lane . : oe oh eO 
 
 BDV v5. 042 A Crown Court, Temple Bar . 87 10 
 145 ,, 15 ” 
 200 ,, 12 A | Moor Street, Marylebone : o Sbqis 
 Ls tare pA Lamb Court, Clerkenwell é « LD TO 
 faut eis Fulham Road. / 3 “ 106° 0 
 S04 9 a Ebury Square, Pimlico . . « £0" 
 S00» p08 ‘5 
 940 ,, 15 ” Camberwell Grove . ; ° - 450 06 
 Tidy, , ia By 
 any ys 
 
 / ‘. 
 Ordered 21st July, 1852. 
 170 ft. of 12 in. pipe sewer, in Chester a Pimlico. Gradient 
 lin 60. . ‘ : F . 8210 
 660 ft. brick sewer, 8 ft.” 95 in. x 2 ft. 6 in., in New Street Mews. 
 Gradients 1 in 43, and 1 in 200. Matecaletoatack bricks, 
 
 Portland cement, and blue lias mortar : ° - 850 6 
 100 ft. 12 in. pipe sewer, in Woburn Mews, West. Gradient 
 1in 100. (Contribution £2 per house) . rage ky) al 
 
 260 ft. brick sewer, 4 ft. x 2 ft. 8 in., in Highgate Road. Gra- 
 dient 1 in. 122. M Atexialeost stool bricks, Portland cement, 
 
 and blue lias mortar . . 225 0 
 120 ft. of half-brick barrel sewer, 2 ft. in » diameter, in Wands 
 worth Road . : . ; : nt OW 
 
 (See page 72 for prices NA 1854.) 
 
54 COMMISSIONERS ACCOUNTS 
 
 tracted for or put in hand 125 miles, making a total of 41 
 miles in length, at the cost of 142,853/.; but there were 
 many other works considered as public, though constructed 
 at the expense of proprietors abutting on public roads; 
 there had been 113 miles of these public sewers constructed 
 in that period, at a cost of 36,413/.; these sewers were 
 built at private expense, but afterwards: became the pro- 
 perty of the public, and were cleansed and repaired at the 
 public expense, the original proprietor receiving a contribu 
 tion towards the expenses from all parties who drained into 
 them; that besides these works and those executed at the 
 public expense, there was a large amount of pipe sewers 
 that could hardly be separated from public works. The 
 length of these pipe sewers was 70 miles, executed at a 
 cost of 44,108/. The works superintended by the Com- 
 missioners cost 80,521/., and the new sewers, exec.ted by 
 themselves, 142,853/., making a total for works superin- 
 tended during the year of 223,374/. The works of the 
 Commissioners, however, did not end there. ‘There had 
 been repairs, and the cleansing of open and covered sewers, 
 and on these three objects they had expended a sum of 
 36,8801. 
 
 272. The state of funds in the several districts under 
 the jurisdiction of the Commissioners, on the 30th June, 
 1853, was reported as follows:— Credit, 35,754/.; debt, 
 29,4071. 12s. 7d.; available balance, after taking credit for 
 outstanding rates, 81,418/. 14s. 9d.; current ordinary ex- 
 penses per annum, 59,177/. 5s. ; estimated amount of ex- 
 traordinary works ordered, 66,4291. 10s. 10d. ‘Total pro- 
 spective expenses, 125,606/. 15s. 10d. Available balance 
 for further extraordinary works :—Credit, 8,723/. 16s. 9d. ; 
 debt, 52,9112. L7s. 10d.; amount to be derived from new 
 rates of 6d. in the pound, 216,870/. Of this latter item | 
 an amount of 140,0001. might be collected within the 
 year. Amount unprovided for, to be met by new rates, 
 44,1881. 1s. ld. ‘This statement does not embrace the fol- 
 lowing liabilities: — Permanent loans, 99,492/ 13s. 1d.; 
 
SURVEYOR’S REPORT | 5D 
 
 elaim for Ordnance survey, 24,212/. 17s. 5d; total, 
 123,705/. 10s. 6d. Special contracts to the amount of 
 46,508/. have been entered into, and duly executed, during 
 July and August, in respect of the most important of the 
 works ordered, but not commenced, or only partly executed, 
 up to 30th June, 1853. The following are the amounts 
 produced by a 6d. rate on the larger districts :—Rane- 
 lagh, 24,000/.; western division of Westminster, 37,000/. ; 
 eastern ditto, 21,000/.; Holborn, 23,000/.; Finsbury, 
 24,000/.; Spitalfields, 17,500/.; Surrey and Kent, 39,0001. ; 
 Counter’s Creek, 5,200/.; Greenwich, 4,000/.; Fulham and 
 Hammersmith, 2,500/.; Ravensbourne, 2,000/. ; Richmond, 
 1,0002. 
 
 273 In October, 1853, the surveyor and consulting en- 
 gineers of the Commissioners appear to have completed 
 their plans for the main drainage of the metropolis, north 
 and south of the Thames, which, after being received and 
 adopted in Committee, were adopted at a Special Court of 
 the Commissioners, held October 20th, 1858. 
 
 The report by the surveyor (Mr. J. W. Bazalgette) was 
 mainly as follows :— 
 
 NortH SIDE oF THE THAMES. 
 
 «The ‘Hackney Brook, or Northern High Level Inter 
 cepting Sewer,’ will divert the whole of the sewage and 
 flood-waters of 14 square miles of the upper districts from 
 the low districts, and from the river Thames, thereby re- 
 ducing the size and cost of construction of the sewers in 
 the low districts, and preventing the destruction of property 
 by floods, as at present. 
 
 “For instance, the Fleet sewer is now overcharged by the 
 amount of drainage falling into it; it is uncovered for a 
 great part of its length, through a dense population; and 
 in other places it has fallen in, and has been temporarily 
 repaired; but the Commissioners have never been able to 
 apply an effectual remedy to it, on account of its present 
 defective route, and the enormous cost of rebuilding so 
 
56 NORTH OF THE THAMES 
 
 \ 
 
 large a sewer in a more direct line through a crowded popu- 
 lation ; and, as it has always been intended ultimately to 
 divert its contents from the Thames, such a work could 
 only have been of a temporary character; whereas now, by 
 the diversion of the upland drainage, these difficulties will 
 all be removed, and it and many similar sewers reduced to 
 economical and permanent works. | 
 
 “The amount of drainage received by this upper line will 
 govern the sizes of the lower lines of intercepting sewers ; 
 and, as Parliament has now sanctioned the construction of 
 a tunnel railway along the New Road, which will intercept 
 our present main line of sewers, and necessitate the imme- 
 diate construction of an intercepting sewer along its route, 
 this upper line is rendered the more immediately impera- 
 tive. 
 
 “This upper sewer will be in itself a complete and perfect 
 work, and independent of any other intercepting sewer; it 
 will afford an advantageous means of flushing and cleansing 
 the sewers in all the low districts above which it passes, 
 and thus improve their drainage; and it will relieve the 
 neighbourhoods of Stoke Newington, Kingsland, Clapton, 
 and Hackney, from the nuisance of an offensive open sewer, 
 known as the ‘ Hackney Brook,’ and the latter places from 
 frequent inundations. 
 
 “The route of this work commences with a sewer 4 ft. 
 6 in. in diameter, by a junction with the 4 ft. circular sewer 
 now constructing as the outfall for the Hampstead drainage, 
 in the line of the open Fleet sewer, its inclination being 1 
 in 72. It passes along Gordon-house Lane, crosses the 
 Highgate Road at an inclination of 1 in 184, and intercepts 
 the second branch of the Fleet sewer, being at this point 
 6 ft 9 in. in diameter. It then passes across the fields into 
 the Tufnell Park Road, turns down the Holloway Road to 
 its junction with the Tollington Road; at this point its — 
 size is increased to 10 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and it is laid at 
 such a level as to enable it to receive a branch from the 
 Edgware Road and Regent’s Park, diverting the waters 
 
OUTFALL. 57 
 
 of the upper portion of the Ranelagh and King’s Scholars’ 
 Pond Sewers, and again intercepting the Fleet sewer at 
 Kentish Town. From the Holloway Road it passes under 
 the Great Northern Railway and New River Cut, taking 
 nearly the same direction as the present open Hackney 
 Brook sewer, for which it will act as a substitute, and falling 
 at an inclination of 1 in 476 to the High Street, Stoke 
 Newington, near to Abney Park Cemetery, where its size 
 is increased to 11 ft. 6 in. in diameter. It then passes 
 along the Rectory and Amherst roads to Church Street, 
 Hackney ; and from this point it is increased to 12 ft. 6 in. 
 in diameter, and its inclination is 1 in 1320. Thence it 
 crosses under the East and West India Dock Railway, 
 along Albion Road, West-street, and through the Victoria 
 Park, and under Sir George Duckett’s canal, up to which 
 point it is kept up to such a level that it may be carried 
 over or under the River Lea Navigation; or the sewage 
 may be diverted from the point at Sir George Duckett’s 
 canal down below the Lea Navigation, at Four Mills, retain- 
 ing the present as a flood outlet; or the point selected 
 would afford an advantageous position for the erection of 
 sewage manure works. With all these alternatives held in 
 view, it is proposed for the present to terminate this work 
 with two parallel culverts, each 7 ft. 6 in. in height, by 8 ft. 
 in width, discharging into the River Lea at the present 
 Hackney Brook outfall. This sewer is kept at such a level 
 (for the purpose of being carried over or under the River 
 Lea, and discharging at high water by gravitation), that a 
 portion of the drainage of the Hackney Marshes cannot be 
 turned into it; this must either drain into the Lea, as pro. 
 posed by Mr. Forster, or eventually be carried into the low 
 level sewer, to be raised by pumping. 
 
 ‘Tt is further proposed to fix tide-gates at the mouth of 
 the present Hackney Marsh open sewer, to prevent the 
 ingress of the tide, and by this means, and the diversion of, 
 the upland sewage from it, to prevent the floods to which 
 the Hackney Marshes are now subjected 
 
 D 3 
 
68 SOUTH OF THE THAMES. 
 
 “The estimated cost of the whole of this work, fvom Kil- 
 burn and Hampstead to the River Lea, and a branch to 
 Four Mills, will be about 271,290/., and the probable cost 
 of that part of it which it is now proposed to execute will 
 be about 181,290. 
 
 “The areas which would drain into this sewer amount to 
 about 8913 acres, or 14 square miles.” 
 
 Sir William Cubitt, one of the consulting engineers, 
 having approved the plan, referred to the cost in the follow- 
 ing words :— 
 
 “TI have most carefully gone over the estimates, the 
 prices of which are guided, in a great degree, by works of 
 the same kind recently executed, and at. this time in pro- 
 gress for the Commissioners, to which heavy percentages 
 are added for contingencies and compensations, for which 
 no exact estimate can be made. ‘The total amount, as 
 shown by the estimate, is 271,290/.; but, reasoning from 
 analogy in similar cases, I strongly recommend that the 
 probable total cost of this measure should not be. stated, 
 or, at least, I do not think myself safe in stating it at less 
 than 300,0001.” : 
 
 SoutH SIDE oF THE 'HAMES 
 SURREY AND KENT DRAINAGE. 
 
 “In preparing a design for a high-level or catchwater 
 sewer, which, in conjunction with a low-level sewer, will 
 complete the main features of a design for the effectual 
 drainage of the metropolitan districts on the south side of 
 the Thames, and the diversion of the sewage to a lower 
 point in that river, it has been sought, as far as practicable, 
 to comply with the resolutions of the Commissioners in 
 1850, communicated to their engineer, the late Mr. Forster, 
 on the subject of the main drainage; and, in describing 
 the proposed scheme, it will be necessary, first, to call 
 particular attention to the natural features of the district 
 to be drained, which covers an area of about 24 square 
 miles. 
 
SOUTH OF THE THAMES 59 
 
 «“ The urban districts and more closely populated suburbs 
 are bounded on the north by the river Thames, on the 
 east by the river Ravensbourne, and on the west by 
 the river Wandle; the southern boundary being a summit, 
 or water-shed level, about Mitcham, Streatham, Norwood, 
 and Sydenham. The river Thames now receives the drain- 
 age of this district from the Heathwall, the Effra, the Bat- 
 tle Bridge, the Great St. John’s, the Duffield, the Earl, and 
 several minor sewers along its course, for a length of 
 11 miles, between the outlets of the rivers Wandle and 
 Ravensbourne. It is not proposed to intercept the rainfall 
 upon the lands adjoining these two last-mentioned rivers ; 
 they will continue to receive it as heretofore. But it is 
 proposed to divert from those lands, as far as practicable, 
 the drainage of such roads and buildings as may be built 
 upon them. 
 
 “The northern half of the entire area is mostly urban; 
 and its general surface varies from the level of Trinity high 
 water to 6 ft. below it. This tract has, doubtless, at one 
 period, been a marsh covered by the waters of the Thames, 
 although many of the houses upon it have now basements 
 and cellars below the ground. 
 
 “The southern half is suburban, and its surface falls 
 rapidly towards its northern or lower margin, from an ele- 
 vation of 350 ft. higher; so that during heavy rains the 
 floods from the whole of this upper district descend with 
 great rapidity into the sewers of the two lower districts, 
 and, the mouths of those sewers being closed by the waters 
 in the Thames for about eight hours each tide, the sewers 
 themselves, moreover, being insufficient to store the storm 
 waters, the result is, tbat during that period the lower dis- 
 tricts are flooded. 
 
 “Tt will be evident that it is impossible to maintain a 
 continual and unintermitting flow in the sewers of the two 
 lower districts, or to drain the cellars and subsoil, and make 
 them dry and healthy, without the aid of pumping. 
 
 “The first object, therefore, has been so to intercept the 
 
60 SOUTH OF THE THAMES. 
 
 waters from the suburban, or high district, as to carry off 
 the largest possible amount by gravitation, and, having thus 
 relieved the low districts from periodical inundations, where 
 by their size is reduced to a manageable limit, to deal with 
 thera as hereinafter described. ) | 
 
 “'The high-level intercepting sewer commences at the 
 north-west corner of Clapham Common, being of the ordi- 
 nary form (8 ft. 9 in. by 2 ft. 6 in.), and falling at the rate 
 of 1 in 341 to its junction with its northern branch, its 
 route to this point being through Clapham, Park Road, 
 Acre Lane, and Cold Harbour Lane, where it intercepts 
 the Effra sewer near the Brixton Road, its size’ increasing 
 in proportion to the amount of drainage to be received by 
 it, up to 9 ft. 6 in. in diameter at the point where it receives 
 the drainage from 2200 acres. From this point the main 
 line falls at the rate of 1 in 1760, or 3 ft. per mile, to its 
 outlet. And from the junction with the northern branch 
 to the junction with the southern branch, it is 12 ft. in 
 diameter, and drains 3500 acres, its direction being through 
 Cold Harbour Lane, Love Walk, and fields to the Lynd- 
 hurst Road, where.it receives the southern branch . From 
 this point to the outlet it is increased to two parallel cul- 
 verts, each 11 ft. in diameter, passing mainly through fields 
 and garden ground, and under the Brighton and North 
 Kent Railways, near New Cross stations, to the mouth of 
 the Ravensbourne, at Deptford Creek, into which it will 
 discharge the drainage from 7850 acres by gravitation at 
 high water of the highest tides. 
 
 “'The northern branch commences with a sewer 4 ft. in 
 diameter, by a junction with an existing sewer in Rectory 
 Grove, Clapham ; and it falls at an inclination of 1 in 175 
 through Larkhall Lane to Union Road. Here it increases 
 to 6 ft. in diameter, and falls to its junction with the main 
 line in Cold Harbour Lane, at the rate of 1 in 1472, again’ 
 intercepting the Effra sewer at a lower point in the Brixton 
 Road, and draining 650 acres through a 7 ft. sewer. 
 
 “The southern branch, or Effra diversion, commences 
 
SOUTH OF THE THAMES. 6] 
 
 by a junction with the Effra sewer at Croxted Lane, near 
 Dulwich. It falls, at inclinations of from 1 in 273 to 1 
 in 100, in a direct line to its junction with the main sewer 
 in the Lyndhurst Road, being 9 ft. in diameter, and re- 
 ceiving the drainage from 8100 acres. 
 
 «These branches are important parts of the high-level 
 sewer, and without them it will not answer. In particular, 
 the southern branch will save the covering of an equal 
 length (about two miles) of the present open Effra sewer, 
 the waters of which, instead of descending by a circuitous 
 route, and with a flat gradient into the lower districts, will 
 be diverted at a high level to a point nearer the outfall; 
 and thus the size and cost of the upper portion of the 
 main line will be reduced to one-half of what would other- 
 wise be required, while a deep outfall for a new district 
 now subjected to floods, namely, Dulwich, will be pro- 
 vided. 
 
 “Taking the more comprehensive view of the drainage 
 of the whole area, it is proposed to extend and slightly 
 alter the design for the low-level sewer laid before the Com- 
 mittee on the 20th ult., so as to include the drainage of 
 Battersea and Battersea Fields. The present scheme com- 
 mences with a circular sewer, 5 ft. in diameter, at the level 
 of the bed of the Falcon Brook, Battersea. It passes along 
 Battersea Road, under the South-Western Railway, along 
 Priory Road, Lansdowne Road, and the Clapham Road, to 
 St. Mark’s Church, Kennington Common, up to which 
 point its inclination will be 1 in 1760, or 38 ft. per mile, 
 and its size will then have been increased to 8 ft. in dia- 
 meter. From this point it proceeds in the direction of 
 Mr. Forster’s line, by the side of the Surrey Canal, to the 
 Old Kent Road, at an inclination of 1 in 2112, or Q ft. 
 6 in. per mile, being at this point 9 ft. in diameter. It 
 then proceeds along the Old Kent Road, in Coldblow Lane, 
 where it leaves Mr. Forster’s line, taking a direct course 
 across the fields and market gardens, under the Brighton 
 and the North Kent Railways, along New Douglas Street 
 
62 LENGTHS OF PROPOSED SEWERS 
 
 and Griffin Street, to High Street, Deptford, its melination 
 for this length being 2 ft. per mile, or 1 in 2640, and its 
 size 10 ft. in diameter. Up to this point it receives the 
 drainage from 4450 acres. At High Street, Deptford, its 
 size is increased to 12 ft. in diameter, being intended 
 eventually to receive here an important branch sewer from 
 the Lower Deptford Road, which will divert from the 
 Thames the drainage of about 3300 acres. The main line 
 then passes between the Gas Works and the Vitriol Works, 
 near the Greenwich Railway, and under Deptford Creek, to 
 a vacant piece of ground, well adapted for a pumping sta- 
 tion, or for sewage manure works, or for continuing the 
 line at some future time further eastward. 
 
 “The lift from the bottom of the sewer to Trinity high- 
 water mark would here be 30 ft.; and from 1500 to 2000- 
 horse power would have to be provided at the pumping 
 station. 
 
 “'The lengths of the proposed sewers would be as fol- 
 lows :— 
 
 High-Level Sewer. Miles. Fur. Miles. Fur. 
 Main line ce ‘ De 
 North branch . 2) a 
 South branch . : ae 
 Total ; ; ._— 10 3 
 Low-Level. 
 Main line : : ; eyies © 
 North branch . : 4 «ae 
 Total : e +. nai ef 
 
 eee 
 
 Grand Total : . 20 2 
 
 “The sections of these sewers are of a favourable charac- 
 ter; their inverts generally average from 20 to 80 ft. below 
 the surface ; and a very small portion of the work will have 
 to be tunnelled | 
 
 “ Careful attention has been paid to the character of the 
 surface under which the sewers are to be constructed ; pri-' 
 
SOUTH OF THE THAMES. 63 
 
 vate property and houses have been avoided as much as 
 possible; but, owing to the streets being irregularly laid 
 out, it has not been practicable to effect this altogether, and 
 in such cases the comparative value of the property has 
 been duly considered. 
 
 ‘“‘ It will be observed that, to save the permanent cost of 
 pumping, the gradients of the low-level sewer have been 
 reduced ; but the increase in the size of a sewer compen- 
 sates for a loss of fall; and the sewers will still maintain, 
 through their whole length, a velocity of current varying 
 from 15 to 2 miles per hour, with the ordinary flow of 
 sewage, and during rains that velocity will be increased. 
 In this sewer there will be a constant current of a large 
 body of water, so that the average velocity will be sufficient 
 to keep it clear from ordinary deposit; but there will also 
 be a good opportunity of flushing it, together with the 
 other sewers in this district, from the catchwater sewer and 
 the Thames at high water. 
 
 “The minimum velocity of current in the high-level sewer 
 will be about 24 miles per hour, while at the upper end it 
 will be considerably more. 
 
 “The drainage of those portions of the metropolis at 
 present requiring a deeper outfall must not be made de- 
 pendent upon any scheme of interception, unless such 
 scheme is adequate to carry off the rainfall, as well as the 
 sewage, from them. It therefore follows that, whatever 
 scheme of interception is eventually adopted, if it be short 
 of such capacity, the sewerage and drainage of the metro- 
 polis must be perfected and completed independently of it. 
 
 “Tf this reasoning be sound, it is manifestly more eco- 
 nomical to construct one work which will answer every 
 purpose, than to complicate it by the execution of duplicate 
 Sewers, in order to gain the same object which may be ob- 
 tained by one; and it remains only to show that these 
 sewers are sufficient to carry off the rainfall, as well as the 
 sewage, from the districts for which they will be the out- 
 fall. 
 
64 - RAINFALL. 
 
 « An average of an annual rainfall amounting to 80 inches, 
 added to the maximum daily flow of sewage, would give 
 only 3000 cubic feet per minute upon the upper district, 
 and 4000 cubic feet upon the lower district, while extraor- 
 dinary thunderstorms, amounting to 1 or 2 inches in an hour, 
 are recorded. ‘These, however, generally occur during the 
 hot seasons, when the ground absorbs and the air evapo- 
 rates a. large portion of the rain. Such storms are generally 
 partial, covering but a small district at one time, and are 
 never of long duration, so that the whole of the waters that 
 have fallen upon the district do not reach the outfall sewer 
 until after the storm has abated; and, a small portion only 
 of the sewer being pre-occupied at the commencement of 
 the storm, the remaining portion for some time stores the 
 flood waters. A heavy and uniform rain of long duration 
 is probably the most severe ordeal to which sewers are sub- 
 jected, when, the ground and the air having become charged 
 to their full extent, absorption and evaporation abstract but 
 little from the sewers, and the feeder sewers, having also 
 become charged, would be delivering to their full extent. 
 
 “The largest quantity of rain which fell in London in 
 one day during the wet season of 1852 measured 13 inch; 
 but storms, amounting to 2} inches in a day, although of » 
 rare occurrence, have been recorded, and these would deliver 
 into the high-level sewer 45,000 cubic feet per minute, 
 while it is capable of discharging upwards of 46,000. , The 
 low-level sewer will discharge 21,400 cubic ‘feet per 
 minute; and it is here proposed that the existing main 
 sewers in the low districts should act as reservoirs during 
 such extraordinary storms. From their construction, and 
 the remarkable flatness of their level, they are peculiarly 
 adapted to this object; and it is estimated that on these 
 occasions they would store the surplus floods without the 
 rising of the latter to an inconvenient height, and would 
 again deliver their contents into the Thames at low water, 
 or into the intercepting sewer, as it became free to receive 
 them Thus the provision of engine power for such rare 
 
ESTIMATED COST. 65 
 
 occasions would be saved, and the existing sewers made 
 available. 7 
 “The estimated cost of this work will be as follows :— 
 
 High-Level Sewer. £ £ 
 Main line ? = .- 195,600 
 North branch : : 20,400 
 South branch . : 5 ~ 42,000 
 
 258,000 
 
 Low-Level Sewer. : 
 Main line : 140,000 
 North branch . b, 32,000 
 Engines, pumps, &c. 100,000 
 
 Land, buildings, &ec., required 
 for the permanent establish- 
 ment : , 100,000 
 — 379,000 
 
 Total ‘ ; . £637,000” 
 
 Extracts from the Report of the Consulting Engineers on the 
 Surrey and Kent Drainage, or the Drainage of that portion 
 of the Metropolis which lies South of the River Thames. 
 
 «The object of the measure is to drain, take off, or inter- 
 cept all the rain-water and sewage which now fall into the 
 Thames from the district which lies between the rivers 
 Wandle and Ravensbourne, and does not at present fall 
 into those rivers, the whole of which comprises an area of 
 at least 244 square miles, or 15,680 acres, of one-half of 
 which the rainfall can be intercepted and taken off by gra- 
 vitation ; but the other, or lowest half, the greater part of 
 which lies below high-water level, would have to be pumped 
 up and delivered into the river at some point below London 
 —say Deptford Creek—in the first instance, and subse- 
 quently at some point lower down the river, should such an 
 extension be deemed advisable. 
 
 “It may be here observed that the pumping-station at 
 
66 REPORT OF CONSULTING ENGINEERS. 
 
 Deptford Creek would afford a most excellent situation for 
 the manufacture of ‘sewage manure,’ by which means the 
 sewage-water would be deodorised and delivered into the 
 Thames, divested of its most offensive and deleterious 
 matter, which by that process would (as is affirmed) be 
 separated and converted into a most valuable product for 
 agricultural purposes. 
 
 “To prevent mistakes and misapprehensions on the vast 
 subject of draining this great metropolis, and particularly 
 as regards its cost, we deem it proper to state in this place 
 that the special object of this report is not the ‘ sewerage,’ 
 properly so called, of the metropolis south of the Thames, 
 but, in reality, the construction of a work, by means of 
 which the sewerage of the southern portion of London 
 may be freed from flooding in the first place, and well 
 drained in the next; in short, to produce the same effect — 
 that would be produced by raising the land on the south 
 side of the metropolis 20 ft.; in which case, every main 
 sewer could discharge itself into the river, either deodorised 
 or not, as might be deemed advisable, without pumping, 
 and the cost of sewerage would be the expense of the 
 sewers only to effect the drainage of the basements of all 
 the houses; and the whole expense of what is herein re- 
 commended is the construction of a set of underground 
 main intercepting drains or ‘arteries,’ sufficiently low to do 
 that by the artificial means of pumping which the Thames 
 cannot do of itself by natural means; and it follows, of 
 course, that the cost of putting things in this position, and 
 constructing this ‘arterial drainage,’ is altogether over .and 
 above the usual cost and expenses of carrying into effect 
 the sewerage of a town, a circumstance which cannot, in 
 our judgment, be too strongly impressed upon the minds 
 of those who are crying out (and certainly not without rea- 
 son) for improved sewerage ; for, supposing that the ‘ arterial 
 drainage,’ with its plant of steam-engines and pumps, costs, 
 m tho whole, three-quarters of a million sterling, it will 
 probably cost another quarter to complete the ‘sewerage’ 
 
 . 
 
REPORT OF CONSULTING ENGINEERS 67 
 
 of the district even as it now exists, leaving alone fur- 
 ther extensions of the southern portions of the metro- 
 polis. 
 
 “ Now, looking to the fact that no real benefit can be de- 
 rived till the plan be fully carried out to the extent only as 
 herein contemplated, and that the sooner it can be done 
 the better, the question is, Can 750,000/. be raised forth- 
 with to complete this ‘arterial drainage,’ and secured by 
 special rates upon the whole district to which it equally ap- 
 plies, leaving the raising and expending of money for the 
 common sewerage to be managed as at present in the dif 
 ferent districts; the first would be a uniform and standing 
 rate for a given long period, till the sum borrowed was paid 
 off, with interest, which would be followed by a small uni- 
 form rate, to cover the current expenses of pumping, «ce. ; 
 and the second, a rate varying both in distriet and amount, 
 according to the wants and current expenditure of the dis- 
 trict in which the new sewers or other works are situated. 
 
 “The raising of the funds necessary to carry any mea- 
 sure of this kind into effect, and securing the repayment, 
 is of equal, or, perhaps, even greater importance, than the 
 measure itself, and cannot, in our opinion, be too strongly 
 impressed upon the Commissioners, and by them upon 
 that department of the Government with which such mat- 
 ters rest; but we again repeat our opinion that the capital 
 to be raised for the arterial drains, such as the Hackney 
 Brook sewer, on which we have already reported, on the 
 north of the metropolis, and the high and low level arterial 
 drains on the south, should be considered as separate and 
 distinct, both in the mode of raising and rating, and also 
 of repaying the money, from that for the common sewers, 
 which are made to discharge into the arterial drains. 
 
 “We have, &c., 
 “W. Cusirt, 
 “RR. STEPHENSON.” 
 
 274. On the 27th of February, 1854, a Special Court of 
 
68 SIR W. CUBITT’S ESTIMATE. 
 
 Sewers, composed of members both of the city and metro- 
 politan Commissions, was held, for the purpose of receiv- 
 ing, considering, and determining upon, the report of the 
 surveyors to the commissioners, ‘‘ upon the sewage inter- 
 ception and main drainage north of the Thames, a portion 
 of the works described in such report having relation to 
 sewers made or to be made within the City of London and 
 liberties thereof.” Appended to the report, which described 
 minutely the localities through which the main sewers were 
 proposed to be carried, was an estimate of the probable ex- 
 pense of the works requisite on the north side of the 
 Thames, amounting to 1,378,190/. This is exclusive of the 
 proposed “ Hackney Brook” northern high-level intercept- 
 ing sewer, estimated at 271,2901., including the cost of the 
 work from Kilburn and Hampstead to the river Lea, and a 
 branch to Four Mills. Sir W. Cubitt, one of the consult- 
 ing engineers of the Commission, added a revised estimate 
 of his own as to the probable actual cost of the works de- 
 scribed in the report, and also of those proposed for the 
 south side of the Thames, including the extension to the 
 Thames in Plumstead Marshes. As to the north of Thames 
 intercepting system and conveyance down to Barking Creek, 
 Sir William estimated 1,750,000/. instead of 1,378,190/. 
 And for the south side he allowed 750,0001. for the works 
 as terminating at Deptford Creek, and previously estimated 
 by Mr. Stephenson and himself, besides 500,000/. for the 
 extension of such works through Greenwich and Woolwich 
 to an outlet in Plumstead Marshes, making a grand total 
 of 3,000,000/. for completing the arterial and intercepting 
 drainage of the entire districts north and south of the 
 Thames. 
 275. It has appeared desirable to quote these reports at 
 considerable length, in order to record the latest proposals 
 emanating from the highest engineering authorities yet ¢on- 
 sulted on metropolitan drainage. The Commission, under 
 whose authority these reports were prepared, however, 
 on the occasion of the meeting last referred to, held on 
 
COMMISSIONERS OF SEWERS, V. BOARD OF HEALTH. 69 
 
 February 27, 1854, adjourned sine die, in consequence 
 of the receipt of a. letter forwarded by order of Lord 
 Palmerston, the Secretary of State for the Home De- 
 partment, avowing his opinion that the system of drain 
 age advocated by the Board of Health, (as distinguished 
 from that adopted by the Commissioners) was “ that which 
 ought to be adopted, as combining the greatest degree of 
 efficiency with the greatest degree of economy.” Now, the 
 essential difference between the “systems” advocated by 
 the “ Commission” on the one hand, and the “ Board” on 
 the other, will be apparent from the following,extract from 
 a letter addressed to Lord Palmerston by Mr. F. O. Ward, 
 and referred to in his lordship’s communication to the 
 Commissioners just quoted :— 
 
 «The Commissioners of Sewers and the Board of Health 
 are at issue as to the cheapest and best way of draining 
 houses. 
 
 “The Board of Health advocate the drainage of each 
 house block by tubular submain running behind the houses, 
 and receiving the sewage of each by a short tubular branch. 
 They recommend a large reduction of the sizes of drains 
 hitherto employed; for the single house drain they recom- 
 mend a4-in. pipe; for the submain receiving several of 
 these a 6, gradually expanding to 9, 12, and so on up to 
 20, as the lengths of the submain and the number of 
 branches received by it increase ; such drains, they say, are 
 self-scouring, the run of water through them is so concen- 
 trated that it keeps them clear of deposit; the branches 
 being very short, and running backward towards the drain 
 behind, instead of forward beneath the houses towards a 
 sewer in the street, have a quicker fall, and, in case of 
 leakage, leak into the open air, not into the houses, while 
 the cost is so much reduced by this method that blocks of 
 labourers’ houses may be thoroughly drained and fitted 
 with sinks and soil-pans for an improvement rate of less 
 than 2d. per house per week. 
 
 “The Commissioners of Sewers, on the contrary, recom- 
 
70 COMMISSIONERS OF SEWERS vV. BOARD OF HEALIH 
 
 mend ‘large brick sewers under the street in front of the 
 houses, beneath each of which they carry a long drain from 
 back to front, strictly forbidding more than two houses 
 being relieved by one pipe drain; a system which, whether 
 otherwise good or not, certainly entails an enormous in- 
 crease of expense on the house-owners, and thereby re- 
 doubles the resistance on their part to sanitary improve- 
 ment. 
 
 “The Commissioners of Sewers lay great stress on the 
 independence secured by their system to each house-owner, 
 whose premises are traversed by his own drain only, which 
 he may take care of or neglect as he pleases, as its stop- 
 page can only injure himself. They allege against the 
 Board of Health plan, that it trespasses on private pro- 
 perty, that any stoppage of the tubular submain causes 
 all the houses higher up to suffer, and renders it necessary 
 for workmen to enter private back-yards to search out and 
 remedy the evil. ‘They also deny the self-scouring property 
 of the tubular submains, and refer in support of their view 
 to several hundred cases of stoppages in tubular drains, 
 collected in a report of Mr. Bazalgette. 
 
 ‘The Board of Health, on the other hand, declare the 
 householders’ pretended independence on this plan to be 
 illusory, seeing that the big street sewer is, nine times in 
 ten, an elongated cesspool, where the sewage of each stag- 
 nates to the detriment of all, while the stoppage of a branch 
 drain running beneath a house on the old plan often causes 
 stench in the houses on either side. Against the incon- 
 venience of an occasional invasion of the back-yards by 
 workmen, they set the greater inconvenience of periodical 
 invasions of the street and stoppage of the traflic, besides 
 tearing up of kitchen floors to get at foul drains under the 
 houses. In reply to Bazalgette’s report, they bring forward 
 examples by hundreds of pipe sewers working admirably 
 year after year, and attribute such stoppages as have oc- 
 curred to errors incidental to the first introduction of a 
 new system—errors which, once known, may be avoided 
 
DEATH OF “GREAT LONDON DRAINAGE BILL” iG 
 
 Among these they cite the use, at first starting, of drain 
 ‘pipes which were too thin, so that they broke under the 
 pressure of superincumbent earth, the uneven laying and 
 careless jointing of pipes by the jobbing builders often 
 employed (as in some parts of Croydon) on this work, the 
 use of soil-pans with ducts as large as the pipe drains to 
 which they led, and, above all, the often scanty and inter- 
 mittent supply of water to the system. They further point 
 out that a population accustomed to open privies and cess- 
 pools, available as receptacles for solid refuse of every 
 kind (refuse properly due to the ashpit), have to go through 
 a transitional period of a few weeks, while they are learn- 
 ing that such practice leads to stoppage of the new circu- 
 lating system, and must be abolished along with the old 
 stagnant cesspools. They say that many of the tubular 
 sewers, put down as failures in Bazalgette’s report, are at 
 this moment working perfectly well, for which reason they 
 take all his allegations with very great reserve. They point, 
 with some reason, to Lambeth Square, New Cut, where 
 the Commissioners have allowed 82 houses to be drained 
 by four tubular back drains, which act perfectly well, quite 
 as well as 32 separate drains could act, though these would 
 have cost eight times as much; and they ask, why this 
 eightfold cost should be imposed upon London at large by 
 the very same authority which sanctioned in this square the 
 combined drainage, which is found to work well.” 
 
 276. On the 2nd March, 1854, on the motion for the second 
 reading of the ‘“‘ Great London Drainage Bill” (which was 
 negatived without a division), Lord Palmerston stated he 
 was about to re-organise the Commission of Sewers, and 
 that Commission had lately matured a plan for the drain 
 age of the metropolis, which, upon full consideration, he 
 believed to be a good one, and likely to effect the objects 
 which the scheme now before the House was intended to 
 effect. He thought there would be great advantage in the 
 ‘drainage of the metropolis being effected and managed by 
 one central department in some degree connected with the 
 
72 SUPPLY OF WATER. 
 
 local authorities. Moreover, if it should be possible to 
 realise that which, according to this Bill, might be realised 
 —namely, the connection of the drainage of the metropolis 
 with some commercial advantages from the transformation 
 of sewage into manure—that also ought to be in the hands 
 of Commissioners, in order that any such profit might be 
 applied for the public benefit in diminution or relief of the 
 rates raised for the construction of the sewers.* 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Supply of Water.—Public Filters and Reservoirs, &c. 
 
 277. Quantity and quality—criteria of every-day applica- 
 tion—have special reference to the supply of water for 
 every congregation or community of human beings. The 
 varied practical purposes of domestic life to which this 
 invaluable agent is alone applicable, and the intimate con- 
 nection of many of these purposes with the health, life, 
 and well-being of humanity, at once attest the high import- 
 ance of abundance and of excellence in our command of 
 water. Rivers, springs, and surface collections have. already 
 been enumerated as the several sources of water for the use 
 of towns, and the advisability of resorting to one or other, 
 or combinations of these sources, has been shown to have 
 some dependence upon the superficial contour. of the town 
 and suburbs. Facility of supply, promoting the economy 
 of the means, will of course always haye great influence in 
 determining the source to be referred to. Rivers and their 
 feeders—brooks or streams—may be classed, as the most 
 abundant sources in most instances, but their applicability 
 can seldom be realised without some expenditure of power— 
 natural or artificial. Surface collections and springs, on 
 the other hand, are frequently applicable by the force of 
 
 * The subsequent proceedings of the various public bodies down to 1865, 
 relating to the Main Drainage of the Metropolis, the Utilisation of Sewage, 
 
 and the Purification of the Thames by Embankment, will be found noticed in 
 the Appendix, Nos. 3, 4, and 6; ?- 194, 205, and 225, 
 
QUALITIES OF WATER 73 
 
 pravity unaided by power, and requiring only suitable 
 channels in which the supply may be conducted from the 
 higher lands around the town. The cost of power has, 
 however, lost much of its importance as an element in the 
 calculation since the steam-engine has enabled us to per- 
 form constant and Re duty imathe raising and 
 
 susceptibility of self-propulsion. 
 278. Where a choice is affqrded as ty, sufficieney\ of 
 supply, however, the qualities of watel? ‘should be ia 
 
 lowed great influence in ruling tht : ection. ese l 
 these ae of immediate supply té ul 
 one of rain water, we ge readily inf e 
 
 quant treatment, aS. sueeeae stage of in s“treatmient at 
 which it will be the most desirable to convert the Sgn to 
 our purposes. Rain water, as already shown (Part I. para- 
 graph 54), contains ammonia, but it is, as well known, the 
 least impure in constitution of any water at our command. 
 All the earthy, animal, and vegetable matters with which 
 water becomes charged, are extracted from the soil 
 through which, or the surfaces over which, it passes. ‘The 
 nature of these matters depends upon the constituents 
 of the soil which is percolated; the amount of them will be 
 in proportion to the time during which the water is main- 
 tained in communication with the soil, modified of course 
 by the degree in which they may be adapted for mutual 
 action. Hence it follows that the scale of comparative 
 purity would stand thus:—1. Rain-water. 2. Water from 
 surface drainage. 38. Water from soil drainage or percola- 
 tion. 4. Water from rivers or brooks. 5. Water from 
 springs and subterranean sources. Regarding No. 4, how- 
 ever, it is to be remarked that the collection of the water in 
 any kind vf channel allows of a partial deposition of the 
 heavier particles which the water has imbibed, facilitated, of 
 EB 
 
 X\ 
 
74 USES OF WATER 
 
 course, by the depth of the body of water, and the slowness 
 of the current, or minimum of motion. And besides this, 
 the exposure of water to the action of the atmosphere 
 appears to assist the evolution of some constituents which 
 impair its purity. Water from streams and rivers comes 
 thus to be considered as next in comparative purity to rain 
 water immediately derived, while that taken from springs 
 and sources in which it has long remained in intimate 
 contact with soluble earths and other matters, is found to 
 have acquired a corresponding proportion of these impuri- ~ 
 ties. 
 
 279. The different kinds of impurities contained in water 
 have been explained (56 and 57), and the means of testing 
 and correcting some of those shown (58 and 59). The 
 process of filtration through the soil, which the water 
 derived from subterranean sources undergoes, tends to 
 separate the animal and vegetable impurities, and thus 
 spring-water and well-water being comparatively clear, are 
 commonly reckoned as pure. The matters which these 
 waters nevertheless contain are, however, separable only by 
 chemical treatment, while the impurities of river-water 
 may be got rid of to a great extent by mere subsidence and 
 self-filtering. 
 
 280. The several purposes for which water is required in 
 a town, or collection of people, are—1. Ordinary domestic 
 uses, including drinking, washing of persons, clothes, 
 utensils, houses, yards, and watering gardens, &e. 2. Ma- 
 nufactures. 8. Supply of public buildings, baths, wash- 
 houses, &c. 4. Extinction of fires. 5. Cleansing and 
 watering of streets and thoroughfares. 6. Supply of foun- 
 tains, and public gardens and pleasure grounds. 7. Mis- 
 cellaneous and occasional purposes not included in the 
 foregoing. 
 
 281. The supply necessary for the total of these pur- 
 poses may be reduced into an average quantity for each 
 individual of the population, and each square acre, yard, at 
 foot of the superficial area of the town. ‘The latter datum 
 
REQUIRED SUPPLY. 75 
 
 will also afford the means of estimating the proportion of 
 the supply which will be immediately rendered in the form 
 of rain, and the difference between the amount of which, 
 and the total quantity required, will represent the propor- 
 tion to be served by other means. 
 
 282. Adopting 24 inches as the average annual fall of 
 rain, and half of this as remaining after evaporation, as 
 this quantity will facilitate an approximate calculation, and 
 be sufficiently near the truth for the purpose, (an exact 
 average for places, years, and seasons being scarcely cal- 
 culable even by the most laborious computation,) it appears 
 that 1 cubic foot of rain-water is annually retained upon 
 each square foot of surface, or 9 cubic feet on each square 
 yard, equal to 43,560 cubic feet upon each square acre. 
 
 283. For the first, second, third, and fourth of the pur- 
 poses enumerated (280), a daily supply of 20 gallons for 
 each individual will be a fair average, being more than 
 sufficient in towns having an ordinary proportion of manu- 
 facturing operations carried on within them, and nearly, if 
 not quite so, even in towns where ar. excessive proportion 
 of manufactories exist. This may be inferred from the 
 quantities now supplied in towns. In Preston, Lancashire, 
 the supply by the Waterworks Company is on an average 80 
 gallons daily to each house, including factories and public 
 establishments, and as the service is constant and the 
 quantity unrestricted, it is presumable that much of this 
 quantity is wasted, and, if properly reserved, might be 
 made to supply, partially at least, the cleansing of the 
 streets. The tenements occupied by the labouring classes 
 in this town are estimated to consume only 45 gallons each 
 daily. Assuming 5 as the average number of occupants of 
 each house, the supply to each in these cases will be 16 
 and 9 gallons respectively. In Ashton-under-Lyne the 
 daily supply to each house is 55 gallons, or 10 gallons 
 to each person; and 18 factories in this town consume 
 1,103,000 gallons daily. Experiments tried in the year 
 °847 proved that the daily consumption per head of the 
 
 RQ 
 
76 LONDON WATER COMPANIES. 
 
 tenants supplied by the Ashton Waterworks Company 
 averaged 6:245 gallons; while the quantity supplied to the 
 mills in the neighbourhood averaged about 7 gallons per 
 head in addition, making a total of about 14 gallons per 
 head per diem. In Nottingham, the “Trent Water Com- 
 pany” supply 17 or 18 gallons per individual, daily, in- 
 cluding the trade’ consumption. The quantities supplied 
 by four-of the leading companies in the metropolis are as 
 follows :— (for 1850). 
 
 East London 100 gallons per house per diem. 
 
 New River 114 a ~ 4 
 West Middlesex 150 af A +5 
 Chelsea 154 ” 9 ” 
 
 These rates of supply will be found to corroborate the 
 average we haye assumed for each individual. ‘Thus in the 
 district supplied by the East London Water Company, 
 including Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Poplar, Limehouse, 
 and other populous neighbourhoods filled with the poorer 
 class of persons, it will be found the average number of 
 persons is much above 5; 7 or 8 would probably be much 
 nearer the truth. The New River Company also supplies 
 populous districts. Many of their customers are similar to 
 those just described, and the average of all would certainly 
 give more than 5 persons to each house. In the districts 
 supplied by the West Middlesex and Chelsea Companies, 
 the population is mainly of another class, or rather classes, 
 but all of which occupy larger houses than those in the 
 Eastern and Northern parishes, and the average consump- 
 tion in each house is high in comparison with the others, 
 owing to two causes, the larger number of residents in each 
 house, including domestics, &c., and the larger quantity 
 consumed in baths and other means of private luxury and 
 ‘comfort which are beyond the command of the other 
 classes of society. 
 
 284. Although it would thus appear that an allowance of 
 20 gallons per diem for each head of the population will 
 
REQUIRED ARTIFICIAL SUPPLY. tif 
 
 suffice for domestic and manufacturing purposes,* including 
 the supply of public buildings and for the extinction of 
 fires, we would prefer to provide for a constant service of 
 30 gallons, in order to make an ample provision for all 
 possible casualties and increased demands. Water is pre- 
 eminently so valuable, and, when properly sought, so cheap 
 an agent, that extravagance should always be permitted 
 rather than a deficiency be risked. 
 
 285. For the three remaining purposes, viz. :—the clean- 
 sing and watering of streets and thoroughfares, the supply 
 of fountains, and public gardens and pleasure grounds, and 
 such miscellaneous and occasional purposes as are not 
 included in the six preceding classes, the average quantity 
 of water required may be reduced, for an approximate esti- 
 mate, into a given depth per diem, or annually, according 
 to the surface occupied by the town and suburbs to be sup- 
 plied. Towards this quantity, the rain may, as we have 
 seen (282), be estimated to contribute an annual average 
 depth of 12 in. available water. Now, allowing ;jth of an 
 inch of depth of water to be daily required over the entire 
 surface of the town for the several purposes stated, (and we 
 believe this to be a liberal allowance,) we shall have an 
 annual total depth of 865 + 10 = 36°5 in., which may be 
 regarded as 86 in., from which deducting the 12 in, sup- 
 plied by the fall of rain, we have the remainder equal to 
 24 in. depth to be supplied by other means. 
 
 286. We thus derive a rule as to the quantity of water 
 required to be supplied in any town, which calculates the 
 total quantity upon two given data, viz. :—First, the amount 
 of the population; and, secondly, the superficial extent of 
 the town and neighbourhood to be provided for. ‘Thus, by 
 way of example, let us suppose a town having a population 
 
 * In June, 1850, it was estimated, upon official data, that there were 
 288,000 houses in the metropolis, of which 270,000 were supplied with 
 water, the quantity of which was 45,000,000 gallons daily, or 167 gallons 
 per house. For later years, see Appendix No. 3, p. 194. 
 
78 PRESTON, 
 
 of 100,000 persons, and an area of 1000 acres. The quan. 
 tity required to be provided annually for this town, would be, 
 
 Gallons. 
 Population 100,000 x 80 x 865 = 1,095,000,000 
 Area 1000 x 43,560 x 2x 6= 522,720,000 
 Total annual quantity 1,617,720,000 
 
 allowing each cubic foot to equal 6 imperial gallons, which 
 is sufficiently near the truth for a general calculation. 
 
 287. Having thus endeavoured to arrive at an approxi- 
 mate estimate of the quantity of water required for any 
 town, formed upon the data of the amount of population 
 and extent of surface to be supplied, we have now to refer 
 to the question of quality, and cite such observations as we 
 can, which have tended to exhibit the qualities of water 
 derived from the several sources of rivers, springs, and 
 surface collections, or superficial drainage. In these par- 
 ticulars it will also be useful to include such accounts of 
 the topographical and geological features of the towns and 
 districts referred to as we can collect from the trustworthy 
 testimony of witnesses before public Commissioners, | 
 
 288. ‘The borough of Preston comprises an area of 1960 
 acres, a population (in 1841) of 50,131, and 9994 houses at 
 the same date. ‘The town stands principally upon a dry 
 sand of the ‘recent formation,” marl, clay, and gravel exist- 
 ing in some parts. At a depth of about 90 ft. from this 
 surface-soil, the ‘‘new red sandstone” is found; the same 
 rock forming the bed of the river Ribble, which through two 
 miles of its course flows at about a quarter.of a mile dis- 
 tance from the town, which has a general westerly slope 
 towards the river, the highest sites being about 130 ft., and 
 the lowest about 35 ft. above its low-water level. More 
 than half of the town is supplied with water by the Preston 
 Waterworks Company, which derives its supply from the 
 «‘ mill-stone grit” formation at Longridge, distant about seven 
 miles eastward from Preston ‘The remainder of the town 
 
CHORLTON-UPON-MEDLOCK. 79 
 
 is supplied from wells. The whole of the supply from both | 
 sources is described as‘of excellent quality, but we have no 
 analysis to determine its ingredients. The geological in- 
 fluences by which water derived from such strata as are 
 here described is affected, are certainly likely to furnish a 
 water of good general quality and comparatively free from 
 soluble mineral impurities, while the elevated position of 
 the town in relation to the river would discourage a resort 
 to it for general supply upon economical grounds. 
 
 289. Chorlton-upon-Medlock, one of the townships of the 
 borough of Manchester, from which it is indeed separated 
 only by the little river Medlock, comprises an area of 
 about ¥00 acres. The number of houses in 1841 was 
 6021, and the population about 29,000. ‘The soil is of two 
 kinds, stiff clay over the southern part of the town, and 
 gravel chiefly over the northern. The geological formation 
 is the new red sandstone, which is found at depths varying 
 from 8 to 90 ft. from the surface. A stream called “ Corn 
 Brook ” which flows through the township for more than a 
 mile, and delivers into the river Irwell at a distance of 
 about two miles, is little better than an open drain, and 
 keeps that part of the town near to its banks in a damp 
 and unhealthy condition. The supply of water 1s derived. 
 vartly by a Waterworks Company from Gorton Brook, 
 which affords the only stream-water fit for use, and partly 
 by pumps from wells in the gravel and sandstone. The 
 water from these latter sources is described as being 
 “bright and sparkling and well tasted, but hard” 
 
 290. The town of Ashton-under-Lyne is built on a 
 gentle declivity on the north-west bank of the river ‘Tame, 
 above which it is elevated from 80 to 40 ft., the surround- 
 ing country being remarkable for its generally level cha- 
 racter. The principal geological feature of the neighbour- 
 hood is the great coal deposit, the surface-soil being clay 
 and loam, and the subsoil clay and gravel. ‘The sub-strata 
 are chiefly schistus and sandstone, with intermediate layers 
 of coal. ‘The water for the supply of the town is derived 
 
80 ASHTON.—VORK 
 
 by a Waterworks Company from springs in the higher parts 
 of the parish, and is of a medium quality, being such, how 
 ever, that it is said to be “ wonderfully ” improved by filtra- 
 tion. 
 
 291. York, situated in the centre of an extended vale. 
 lies between the rivers Ouse and Foss, and immediately 
 above their junction. Both of these are navigable and 
 tidal rivers, but the tide is prevented from rising to the 
 city by a lock placed five miles below it. The available 
 water is derived from the river Ouse, from wells varying in 
 depth from 12 to 40 ft., and from borings from 350 to 380 
 feet deep from the surface. The inquiries of the Rev. W. 
 Vernon Harcourt, and of Messrs. Spence and White, of 
 York, have furnished us with much valuable and accurate 
 information as to the qualities of these waters, and the 
 geological conditions in which they are presented; and, 
 from the records of these inquiries, a few facts may be 
 advantageously quoted as illustrations of general principles, 
 which will be found commonly applicable to the several 
 sources of water for the supply of towns. 
 
 292. From these records it appears that the total of 
 gases contained in one gallon of river-water, from the Ouse, 
 amounted to 10:4 cubic in., and the average of 14 waters 
 from the springs, or superficial wells, amounted to 23-8 
 cubic in. That the total of solid contents (consisting of 
 carbonates of lime, magnesia, and iron, sulphates of lime 
 and magnesia, muriates of soda and potash, silica, and 
 vegetable matter,) in one gallon of river-water amounted to 
 9 grains,—while the average of solid contents of the fourteen 
 well-waters amounted to 64-96 grains per gallon, comprising 
 the same carbonates, sulphates, and muriates as found in 
 the river-water, with the addition of muriate of lime in 
 some specimens, and of the nitrates of lime, soda, or mag- 
 nesia in all. An analysis of the water from the deep 
 springs, made by the Rev W. V. Harcourt, showed the — 
 presence of 96 grains of solid contents in one gallon, and’ 
 of this quantity about half consisted of medicinal salts; _ 
 
GEOLOGY OF YORK. 8] 
 
 viz., 33°9 grains of the crystals of sulphate of magnesia, 
 and 14°4 grains of the crystals of sulphate of soda, besides 
 a small proportion of bicarbonate of iron. 
 
 293. ‘The causes of these differences of ingredients 
 (which, together with considerable difference of level at 
 which the waters are maintained in the several wells, evince 
 their independence of each othef, and of the river) are 
 referable to the geological conditions under which they are 
 collected. The section of an Artesian well sunk to a depth 
 of 378 ft. in the city showed the following arrangement of 
 strata :—clay and gravel, 18 ft.; fine river-sand, 60 ft.; 
 sandstone rock and loose sand, 60 ft.; a thin seam of blue 
 clay and water, and sandstone rock, 62 ft.; another thin 
 seam of clay and water, and sandstone rock, 178 ft. The 
 Rey. W. V. Harcourt describes this sandstone formation, 
 and the structure of the bed of the river Ouse, as follows :— 
 “This sandstone rock belongs to the beds of the new red 
 sandstone formation, which crop out in a low line of undu- 
 lating hills along the western margin of the basin of the 
 vale of York, passing in a south-easterly direction from 
 Rainton to Borough Bridge, and Ouseburn to Green Ham- 
 merton, and emerging again from beneath the diluvial 
 covering of that basin at Bilbrough, within a few miles of 
 York. ‘The immediate substratum of the soil in this line 
 over a considerable tract of country consists of these porous 
 beds, and the water which falls or flows down upon it 
 passes through them, between the seams of clay which 
 alternate with the sandstone, along the dip of the strata, 
 eastward to York; it is thus carried between the diluvium 
 below the bed of the Ouse, and is dammed up under the 
 superincumbent mass, in the reservoirs of the sandy beds, 
 to the above-mentioned height of 15 or 20 ft. above the 
 summer level of the river, to which height it is found to 
 rise where the superior seams of clay are perforated by 
 boring. The water of the Ouse consists chiefly of the con- 
 tributions of the rivers which flow from the high hills on 
 the north-west of York, (especially the Swale, the Ure, and 
 
RQ SALINE INGREDIENTS. 
 
 the Nid,) and are fed by the rains falling on their summits. 
 The streams from this source, after percolating the mill- 
 stone grit, with which those hills are capped, find theit 
 channels on the surface of the impervious beds of the sub. 
 jacent limestone and shale along the valleys, and are con- 
 veyed on linings of diluvial clay across the edge of the 
 superior strata, and over the drift-covered plan of the red 
 sandstone to York. To this account of the geological con- 
 ditions under which York is supplied with water, is to be 
 added :—Ist. That the gritstone hills which furnish the | 
 river-water include few materials of saline impregnation. 
 2nd. That the beds of the red sandstone in which the deep 
 springs run are pre-eminently saliferous. 38rd. That the 
 rubbish of centuries accumulated in some parts of the city 
 to the depth of three or four yards over the diluvial beds, 
 which contain the superficial wells, is full of decomposing 
 matters, tending to mineralize and contaminate the water. 
 ‘The waters of these wells, accordingly, are highly charged 
 with solid matters; amounting, on an average, to about 60 
 grains held in solution in an imperial gallon. In two 
 cases Mr. Spence found in them from 6 to 7 grains of 
 Epsom salts, and in one 11 grains; in two others he found 
 31 and 38 grains of neutral salts of soda and potash. In 
 these last an infiltration may be suspected from the deep 
 springs; but in general there are sufficient materials in 
 and upon the drifted beds to account for the sulphate and 
 carbonate of lime, of which the solid contents of these 
 waters are chiefly compounded, and which render them 
 harder than is desirable, either for drinking or for culinary 
 use.” 
 
 294. The evidence here so well adduced is amply suffi- 
 cient to account for the differences observed in the chemical 
 qualities and adulterations of the water derived from the 
 several sources; while that from the river Ouse, on the 
 other hand, furnished by the gritstone hills, being purer at 
 its source, and subsequently improved by exposure to the 
 air, contains only 9 grains of solid contents in the gallon, 
 
NOTTINGHAM. : . 83 
 
 and presents an exhaustless source of water of excellent 
 qualities for all the purposes of the city. 
 
 295. The materials of some soils are particularly preju- 
 dicial in their effects upon water passing through them 
 Thus peat impregnates the water passing through it to so 
 great an extent, that it becomes discoloured, and thus ex- 
 poses the origin of its impurity. Mr. Homersham, who 
 devoted much attention professionally to the several water- 
 sources around Manchester, has recorded his observations 
 on this subject, and cites the confirmatory remarks of per- 
 sons residing in the valley of Longdendale in that locality, 
 that “upon heavy rains following a drought in the summer 
 time, the water flowing down the streams is about the colour 
 of London porter, and so strongly impregnated with moss 
 and peat, ‘that it can at such time be smelled a field off.’”* 
 When the water derived from peat lands passes through 
 mineral rocks of particular formation, a process of natural 
 filtration is effected by which the colouring matter is ab- 
 sorbed, and the water emerges in a tolerably pure state. 
 This fact was observed by Mr. Thom in examining water 
 which flowed over or through a particular species of lava or 
 trap-rock (amalgoiloid) in the hills above Greenock, and was 
 found to have thus become purified equal to fine spring-water. 
 Mr. Thom made good use of this observation by substitut- 
 ing this rock, obtained in that neighbourhood at a nominal 
 price, for charcoal in the subsequent process of artificial 
 filtering. 
 
 296. The town of Nottingham, which is chiefly at a con- 
 siderable elevation above the surrounding country, on the 
 southern, eastern, and western sides, occupies the declivity 
 of the southern termination of a long range of hills, and 
 has the valley of the Trent about one mile in width at its 
 foot. 'Three-fourths of the town has an elevation from 50 
 to 200 ft. above the valley, and stands immediately on the 
 new red sandstone rock, which, being absorbent, remains 
 
 * “ Report on the Water that can be Supplied to the Inhabitants of Man- 
 chester and Salford, p. 85.” Weale, 1848. 
 
84 LIVERPOO?T.. 
 
 dry on the surface. The remaining portion of the town 
 has a sub-stratum of similar material, but stands immedi- 
 ately on an alluvial deposit of gravel silt, and decayed vege- 
 table matter, lying in the valley of the Trent or its tribu- 
 tary streams. By two of these, the Leen on the south, 
 and the Beck on the east, which flows into the Leen, the 
 waters are conveyed into the Trent. The town is supplied 
 mainly by two water companies, whereof one derives its 
 supply from springs, situated about 14 mile north of the 
 town; and the other from the river Trent, on the banks of 
 which a reservoir and other works have been constructed. 
 A small part of the population is supplied by minor works, 
 which, by means of steam-engines, raise their supply from 
 wells sunk in the new red sandstone rock. The quality of 
 all these waters is described as being good, but those from 
 the sandstone contain “ carbonate of magnesia in notable 
 quantity,” besides the sulphate and carbonate of lime, mu- 
 riate of soda, &e. It is quite certain, therefore, that this 
 water is, for all ordinary purposes, impaired in its purity 
 axd value. 
 
 297. Liverpool is situated partly on the side of the 
 ridge of hills forming part of Everton, Edge-hill, &., and 
 partly on the crest of a minor elevation, the valley between 
 the two having been the original streamlet or channel, 
 which discharged into the old pool. The sub-stratum of about 
 two-fifths of the city of Liverpoolis clay. Along the banks 
 of the intermediate valley the soil is chiefly a deposit of 
 mud, with occasional beds of gravel, and in some parts 
 irregular masses of rock. Between this valley and the 
 southern and eastern boundaries of the town, a mixture of 
 yellow sand and rock is found in small thin beds, but gene- 
 rally resting upon solid rock at an average depth of 15 ft. 
 Liverpool is supplied with water by two public companies, 
 one of which derives its supply from springs at Bootle, 
 distant 3 miles from the town, and the other from wells in 
 various parts of the town. These waters were analysed by: 
 Dr. Trail in 1825, and found to contain “ muriate of soda 
 
BILSTON.—NEWCASTLE. 85 
 
 and of lime, the last in very small quantity ; sulphate of 
 soda, and possibly a minute quantity of sulphate of lime, 
 carbonate of soda.” 
 
 298. The town of Bilston has a declivity towavds the 
 brook called Bilston Brook, at its base, the fall being steep 
 in the upper part of the town, and gentle in the lower 
 part. ‘The geological character of the country is that of 
 the coal measures overlying the Wenlock limestone. The 
 only peculiarity is the presence of porphyritic greenstone, 
 and occasionally compact basalt. The soil of Bilston, where 
 collieries have not been opened, has a preponderance of 
 aluminous earth. The subsoil is generally brick earth. 
 The sandstone is rather an important feature in the geology 
 of Bueion, on account of its compactness and great thick- 
 ness.” ‘The water for the town is chiefly supplied by a 
 Waterworks Company, and, being collected by land-streams 
 which flow over beds of limestone, becomes impregnated 
 with lime, and thus acquires a considerable amount of 
 hardness. 
 
 299. Newcastle-under-Lyne stands partly on the old red 
 sandstone formation, and partly on a strong mine of clay 
 which extends into the coal formation of the Pottery dis- 
 trict. The water springing from the former formation is 
 somewhat hard, containing a small portion of carbonate of 
 lime. That from the clay is much more hard, from its 
 greater quantity of this carbonate. 
 
 300. Bath, which is built partly on the slope and lower 
 part of a hill, rising from the right bank of the river Avon, 
 where it forms a considerable bend round from east and 
 west to north and south, stands upon the nearly horizontal 
 beds of clays, limestones, sands, and sandstones, which 
 constitute a portion of the series of rocks to which the 
 term oolitic has been given—from the oolite or oviform 
 grains in many of the limestones. From the interstratifi- 
 cation of these different kinds of rocks, conditions for the 
 occurrence of springs are numerous, and they are accord 
 ingly often met with, and from these the town is supplied 
 
86 BATH. 
 
 with water for domestic purposes. These springs occur at 
 various elevations above the height of the river Avon, from 
 120 to 160 ft. The qualities of the water raised from the 
 several wells vary according to the beds of limestones, 
 clays, marls, sands, &c., in which they are formed. In the 
 alluvial ground, on the right bank of the river and lower 
 parts of the town, trees are sometimes met with in great 
 abundance. ‘These lie beneath an alluvial red loam, about 
 8 ft. thick, resting on gravel of about the same thickness, 
 and this upon lias clay. The water where these trees are 
 found is abundant, but never good. Some of the wells in 
 the lias furnish tolerable water, but there are examples of 
 sinkings in it to a depth of 200 ft., from which no water 
 has been obtained. The sections of many wells sunk in 
 the neighbourhood of Bath show that the water is retained 
 among the various beds of clays at great depths beneath 
 the Great and Inferior Oolites, and produces springs by 
 cropping out on the sides of the hills 
 
 301. While the topographical and geological character 
 of the site of the town, and of the soil and sub-strata on 
 which it stands, are the admitted guides as to the source 
 or sources from which the town may be supplied with an 
 adequate quantity of water of average goodness of quality, 
 the criterion of quality as measured by relative hardness 
 must be allowed a prevailing consideration. River waters, 
 rendered impure chiefly by organic, animal, and vegetable 
 matters, are susceptible of improvement by methods of 
 filtration ; whereas waters derived directly from drainage or 
 internal springs are comparatively pure in these respects 
 but, on the other hand, are charged in various degrees with 
 earthy and mineral matters, which at once render them less 
 fitted for domestic purposes, and far less readily susceptible 
 of purification. The economical results of the qualities of 
 the water supplied to towns have been adverted to at some 
 length in the first Part of the Rudimentary Treatise on 
 Drainage. (Paragraphs 57, 58, and 59.) 
 
 802. In concluding these remarks on the qualities of 
 
CHATHAM. 87 
 
 waters from various sources as subjects for consideration in 
 estimating their comparative value, we may usefully refer 
 to the confirmatory evidence supplied by analyses made 
 under the direction of the Superintending Inspectors to 
 the General Board.of Health, of the waters available in the 
 several towns of Chatham, Uxbridge, Croydon, and Dart- 
 ford, reported upon by Mr. Ranger. The analyses were 
 made by Dr. Lyon Playfair. 
 
 303. The water now used in Chatham is cbtained prin- 
 cipally from surface drainage from the upper chalk, but it 
 varies greatly in the degrees of hardness. Adopting, as is 
 presumed, the same measure of hardness as that used by 
 Dr. Clark, and explained in Part I. (58), the hardness of 
 the surface water from nine places of collection varied from 
 17° to 56°, the average of the nine being 27°, while the 
 water of the River Medway has only 52° of hardness. This 
 water, however, contains a large quantity of a yellow de- 
 posit; and, comparing the qualities of all the waters, the 
 Inspector recommended that the supply should be taken 
 from the Boxley Abbey Spring, of which the hardness 
 stands at 17°. This spring is about 5 miles from the town, 
 and the situation being backed by elevated ground and 
 considerably higher than any part to be supplied, is pecu- 
 liarly adapted for the construction of reservoirs and filter- 
 ing beds if required. ‘The Report leads us to suppose that 
 the reasons for preferring to bring water a distance of five 
 miles, while that from the river is accessible to all parts of 
 the town, is to avoid the expense of artificial raising of the 
 latter. The relative hardness is, however, an item of ereat 
 moment, and should receive full consideration. The de- 
 posit remarked in the river-water occurs, there is no doubt, 
 from earthy matters held partly in solution, which would 
 be readily removable by filtering. 
 
 304. Uxbridge is now supplied with water from four 
 public pumps, from wells, and by dipping from the branch 
 of the river Colne. The hardness of the water from three 
 town pumps and two others varied from 26° to 52°, the 
 
88 UXBRIDGE.—CROYDON.—-DARTFORD. 
 
 average being nearly 36°. The hardness of the water from 
 one of the Artesian wells was found to be 34°; of that from 
 two others 143° and 16° respectively. From the small 
 degree of hardness in these two latter waters, we might 
 conjecture some communication between these wells and 
 the river Colne, the water of which has 152°, but the 
 Xeport does not remark on this circumstance The In- 
 spector -advised that the adequate supply for the town 
 should be derived from the river Colne, at a part which 
 would be favourable for the construction of reservoirs, — 
 filtering beds, and other necessary works. 
 
 305. The waters now supplied to the town of Croydon 
 from springs and wells are found to have an average hard- 
 ness of 254°. That from the river Wandle has 16°1, and 
 Dr. Clark reports than an expenditure of 1lb. of burnt 
 lime will, by his “ lime-water softening process,” suffice to 
 purify 800 gallons of this water, reduce its hardness to 
 3°°9, and effect a saving of curd soap required to form a 
 lather with 100 gallons of the water, of 241 0z. The 
 Inspector recommended the river Wandle as the most eli- 
 gible source, from its contiguity to the town, the favourable 
 quality of its water, and its sufficiency to afford the means 
 for a supply upon the constant system. 
 
 306. The town of Dartford is now supplied by wells and 
 pumps, and dipping from the river Darent. The water 
 from seven of these sources, excluding the river, has an 
 average hardness of nearly 18°, while that from the river 
 has only 133°, and was recommended by the Inspector as 
 being the most desirable for the supply of the town. 
 
 307. The third consideration affecting the supply of 
 water for towns is the relative expense at which this supply 
 can be obtained. Springs and other sources of the less 
 pure waters, are, doubtless, usually of more ready and eco- 
 nomical adaptation than rivers. Upland streams and water- 
 courses are generally applicable to some extent for supply- 
 ing the adjacent parts of the town and suburbs, but the 
 higher elevations frequently involve extra cost in forcing 
 
RESERVOIRS: 89 
 
 water from these lower sources. With a great scarcity of 
 records of the cost of works and conducting of the exist- 
 ing arrangements for supplying water to towns, we are 
 driven to form estimates which can only be assumed as 
 approximate, but will nevertheless suffice probably to indi- 
 cate the relative economy of the several methods of supply 
 which may be adopted. 
 
 308. The main items of cost of the supply of water to 
 towns are:—l, collecting; 2, storing; 3, filtering; and, 4, 
 conveying. If the supply be derived from surface-drainage 
 or springs at superior level, so that no raising is required, 
 the first of these items will comprise the construction of 
 open channels, aqueducts, or artificial rivers with tributary 
 or catch-water drains where necessary If the supply be 
 derived from a river or other source at lower level, this 
 item for collection must be understood to include the ex- 
 pense of raising the water and delivering it to the storing 
 or filtering beds, with such constructions of channels or 
 piping as may be necessary for that purpose. The storing 
 places or impounding reservoirs for drainage waters are 
 sometimes so constructed as to answer also the purpose of 
 filtration, and thus combine in one cost the items Nos. 2 
 and. 3. 
 
 309. Mr. Robert Thom, who has successfully supplied 
 several towns with water collected from surface-drainage 
 and natural collections or basins, considers it desirable that 
 the reservoirs should be large enough to hold at least four 
 months’ supply of water, this being necessary to provide 
 against the irregularities of supply of water obtained from 
 these and similar sources. For the storing of water taken 
 directly from rivers and other ample sources from which an 
 abundant quantity can at all times be commanded, reser- 
 voirs of less capacity are sufficient, and the first cost of 
 construction is therefore reduced. The catch-water drains, 
 in which the water is first received, are made to communi- 
 tate either directly with the main reservoirs, or by the 
 medium of aqueducts From the main reservoir the water 
 
90 SELF-CLEANSING FILTERS. 
 
 is conveyed by another channel or aqueduct into other 
 reservoirs or regulating basins near to the town, and each 
 of them.so situated in elevation that the water from them 
 shall rise above the highest desired service, and of such 
 capacity that each will contain enough for two entire days’ 
 supply of water for the town. 
 
 310. If the water cannot be delivered into the regulating 
 basins at sufficient elevation, artificial power will of course 
 be required to raise it from the natural to the desired 
 height. Fyrom the regulating basins it is delivered into two 
 or more self-cleansing filters (as before described, Part I. 
 paragraph 72), and from these into two distributing basins, 
 whence the water is carried through the streets by a system 
 of piping. Thus the town appliances are provided in 
 duplicate, and the object of this, is to enable one set of 
 apparatus to be constantly commanded, and each to be 
 alternately cleansed or repaired when necessary. 
 
 311. In our fifth Section of this Division we shall have 
 to enter into the details of apparatus for conveying and 
 distributing water. Our present purpose is to enumerate 
 the general varieties of arrangements required according to 
 the source from which the supply is derived. 
 
 312. The increased expense incurred in the formation 
 of large reservoirs to hold a supply fur a long period, such 
 as four months, is certainly great, but not so when com- 
 pared with the first cost of machinery and current ex- 
 penses of raising water from rivers and sourees of low 
 elevation. The upper sources of springs and drainage 
 waters are, moreover, applicabie in some cases where the 
 others are inaccessible, or rendered so practically by the 
 great distance and low elevation from which river-water 
 can alone be conveyed and raised. The cost of construct- 
 ing reservoirs may be estimated at about three-pence per 
 cube yard on an average, if no extraordinary difficulties or 
 expensive works are required. With reference to reservoirs. 
 as proportioned in capacity to the number of houses or 
 persons supplied, the following particulars may be asefully 
 
CAPACITY OF RESERVOIRS. 9} 
 
 cited, referring to the operations in seven of the large towns 
 in Lancashire; and reported upon by Dr. Lyon Playfair :— 
 
 } Height of Surfate 
 of Water in Reser- 
 Number | Number Capacity fie ta 
 of Houses} of Houses| of Reservoir 
 in Town jor Tenants] in Gallons. | 
 in 1841. Supplied. Highest Lowest 
 Parts of | Partsof , 
 
 Towns. 
 
 Town. Town. 
 
 Manch ’ — Feet. 
 anchester . 2,000,000 155 
 
 Salford |. 4 | 02728 | 20,000 | } o49'360,000| 0 129 
 Preston. . . 9,984 5,026 50,000,000 36 160 
 Tene Vali ie okt « 5,260 2,980 4,181,760 50 130 
 On ae 4,700 4,000 100,000,000} 200 260 
 Rochdale . 8,266 2,800 22,781,253 6 96 
 Oldiiam.....‘;.. 8,220 5,620 85,000,000 30 300 
 
 The capacity and expense of reservoirs for drainage or 
 surface-collected water will of course be regulated with a 
 view not only to the wants of the population, on the one 
 hand, but also with reference to the extent of surface to 
 _be drained, and probable quantity which will thus accu- 
 mulate. From some statements given in the Report by 
 Mr. Homersham, before quoted from, we may present the 
 following figures :— 
 
 Contents Areaof | Per Acre 
 Names and Situation of Reservoirs. Ere Drainage of 
 Reservoirs. Ground. Area, 
 
 —————— ——— $= 
 
 Cubic feet. Acres. |Cubie feet. 
 Turton and Entwistle Reservoir, 14 
 
 miles N.W. of Manchester . . .| 100,000,000 | 2036 49,110 
 Belmort Reservoir, 14 miles N.W. 
 
 of Manchester . rae 
 Bolton Waterworks Reservoir, 4 
 | miles W.of Bolton . . . . . 
 Ashton Waterworks Reservoir, 13 
 
 mile N.E. of Ashton . . . .| 14,436,397 378 38,453 
 Sheffield Waterworks — 
 
 Redmires Reservoir . . . . .| 80,000,000 82,894 | 
 912 Total. | 
 
 78,000,000 | 1796 | 48,430 | 
 22,471,910 | 595 | 87,767 
 
 Newerd@ee do...” « «| 22,000,000 57,050 
 
 | 
 
 eee eee eee 
 
 i - 
 
99 PAISLEY FILTERS. 
 
 The aqueducts for passing a supply of 20 gallons per diem 
 
 for each individual of a population of 500,000 may be esti- 
 mated at from 4001. to 6001. per mile, according to the 
 ruggedness of thé ground and other items of expense 
 
 The cost of filters upon the self-cleansing principle will 
 average from 60000. to 80001. to supply the same quantity. 
 That constructed by Mr. Thom at Paisley, which produces 
 regularly every 24 hours a quantity equal to 106,632 ‘cubic 
 feet of pure water, cost about 600l., and he estimates that 
 the expense of a filter “to give a supply of water of the 
 best quality for family purposes, to a town of 50,000 inhabit- 
 ants, may be safely taken at 8001.” ‘This supply, however, 
 allows only 13 gallons to each individual. We prefer 
 allowing a minimum of 20 gallons, as already estimated. 
 Adopting the facts stated by Mr. Thom, as experienced in 
 supplying four towns in Scotland, viz., Greenock, Paisley, 
 Ayr, and Campbelltown, which are served by his system, 
 but allowing the greater quantity stated, to each individual, 
 and assuming the cost to increase in the same proportion, 
 we find that the average annual expense per person will 
 amount to no more that eight-pence, that is, for a regular 
 daily supply of 20 gallons of good sprirg-water throughout 
 the year. ‘This expense includes wear and tear of appara- 
 tus, charge for superintendence, &c., and 5 per cent. per 
 annum upon the capital employed. In the towns here re- 
 ferred to there is such declivity that allows of. high reser- 
 voirs and constant high service to the buildings without 
 any expenditure for power. Mr. Thom states that the cost 
 for apparatus for the smallest of these towns, Campbell- 
 town, of 7000 inhabitants, amounted to about 2500/.; or 
 say 3800/., being about 10°85 shillings to provide for the 
 daily allowance per individual of 20 gallons instead of 13 
 gallons. 
 
 313. At Nottingham, about 8000 houses, or 35,000 inha- 
 bitants, are supplied with water raised from the river Trent 
 by a Waterworks Company... The actual supply is found to 
 amount daily to between 80 and 90 gallons per house on 
 
COMPARISON OF COST 93 
 
 an average, including breweries, dye-works, steam-engines, 
 inns, and other places of large~consumption. The levels 
 of different parts of the town vary, perhaps, 80 ft., and the 
 water pumped up from the river is raised above the town, 
 so that an average pressure of 80 ft. is maintained, the 
 ereatest pressure being about 120 ft. The water is drawn 
 from the river into a reservoir formed on its banks, and ex- 
 cavated in a stratum of clean gravel and sand, through 
 which the water percolates to a distance of 150 ft. from the 
 river. Besides the filtration which thus naturally occurs, 
 the water is still further clarified by passing through a tun- 
 nel 4 ft. in diameter, which is laid through a similar stratum 
 for a considerable distance up the adjacent lands, and con- - 
 structed of bricks, without mortar or cement. The expen- 
 diture for the supply of these 8000 houses amounts to about 
 30,000/., and the average annual charge per house is about 
 7s. 6d., the water being supplied at any level required, even 
 into the attics of four- or five-story buildings. The average 
 daily allowance to each individual supplied is here equal to 
 about 20 gallons; and reducing the total expenditure and 
 the annual charge per house to an original cost and current 
 expense per individual, as we have done in reference to the 
 four towns supplied by reservoirs and aqueducts from sur- 
 face collections and higher springs, we shall find the two 
 items stand thus :—original cost per individual, 17:14 shil- 
 lings ; current expense per individual per annum, including 
 per centage on capital, &c., 1s. 8d. The comparative state- 
 ment for the four Scotch towns and for Nottingham will, 
 therefore, be this per head of the population supplied :— 
 
 Original Current 
 
 cost of appa- = annual 
 
 ‘ ratus, &e. expense, 
 Scotch towns supplied with peers and 3. d. 
 spring-water : : . 10°85 8 
 Nottingham supplied ahi rive Sacer é 17°14 20 
 
 The qualities of the waters, their comparative hardness, &c., 
 should be fully known and duly estimated as items in the 
 relative economy of the two sources 
 
94 PUBLIC FILTERING. 
 
 314. For the supply of some towns it will be found de- 
 sirable to combine the two sources, namely, a river—and 
 springs, or perhaps upper streams, which, flowing from 
 lands much higher than the general level of the river, pre- 
 serve a greater elevation, and may thus be applied to fur- 
 nish the higher parts of the town, and effect a judicious 
 economy of artificial power in raising the required quan- 
 tity. . 
 
 315. The expense of public filtering of water has already 
 been stated, Part ‘L, p. 65 and 67, as varying from about 
 2000 to 9000 gallons per penny. An average rate of 6000 
 gallons may be safely assumed as the quantity which can 
 be filtered at an expense of one penny. ‘The annual ex- 
 pense of filtering the supply for each individual of the 
 population thus appears to average only 1:2 penny. This 
 calculation is quite conclusive as to the superior economy 
 of public over private filtering, smce no separate house 
 apparatus for this purpose can possibly be maintained in 
 working order at this insignificant rate of expense. 
 
 316. The public filtering of water, before distributing it 
 into the mains and service pipes by which the streets and 
 buildings of a town are supplied, is, however, palpably in- 
 sufficient to secure purity in the water as used by the inha- 
 bitants, if the quantity for each house be received and 
 stored in a separate tank or cistern, which is seldom or 
 never emptied or cleansed. In these receptacles the minute 
 impurities brought in with each day’s supply accumulate 
 into a mass of growing foulness, stirred up by the daily 
 delivery, and undergoing constant decomposition, and thus 
 contaminating the entire contents of the cistern and every 
 pint of water which is drawn from it. This consideration, 
 which may be confirmed by volumes of evidence, but is too 
 palpable to require proof, leads to the desirability of dis- 
 pensing with these separate household accumulations of 
 water, by providing a constant supply in the mains and 
 service pipes, so that any required quantity may be at all 
 times instantly commanded ‘The supply rendered by the 
 
CONSTANT SERVICE 95 
 
 Trent Waterworks Company to the town of Nottingham, 
 and before referred to, is maintained upon this principle, 
 the several advantages of which have been pointed out by 
 the engineer to the works, Mr. Hawkesley, and since 
 adopted as a general rule in the recommendations of the 
 Superintending Inspectors to the General Board of Health. 
 
 317. The superiority of the constant service principle of 
 the supply of water to towns over the occasional or inter- 
 mittent principle is not greater in the comparative purity of 
 the water thus obtained for the current use of the persons 
 supplied than it is in the economy of the supply. The 
 first cost of cisterns or tanks, with all the expensive and in- 
 efficient paraphernalia of ball-cocks, waste-pipes, &c., &c., 
 is entirely obviated by keeping the mains, service and com- 
 munication pipes always charged. It is well known that 
 the due care and cleansing of the house-receptacles for 
 water, whether tanks, cisterns, or butts, are greatly neglected, 
 especially among those classes who are actively and inces- 
 santly engaged in their business or daily labours, and who 
 are equally unable to command the services of others for 
 such purposes. ‘These receptacles are often imperfectly 
 constructed and covered, open to the entrance of soot, dust, 
 and dirt of all kinds, frequently exposed to the action of 
 the sun, and neglected when repairs become indispensable. 
 If these separate and inefficient means are superseded by 
 keeping the water-pipes constantly charged, one large reser- 
 voir suffices for a whole town, or extended section of one, 
 and this one reservoir may be so devised, constructed, and 
 managed, that the combined supply shall be always main- 
 tained and delivered in the best possible condition. The 
 economy of the system here advocated arises in many 
 ways. ‘lhe spaces occupied by the house-tanks are saved, 
 and the damp which always arises from the evaporation of 
 bodies of water is avoided, besides preventing accidents, 
 leakage, and the occasional inconvenience of finding the 
 cistern empty, or its contents reduced to a few inches in 
 depth of foul mud. Another source of economy is the re- 
 
. 96 DEFECTS OF HOUSE-CISTERNS. 
 
 duction in the sizes of main and service-pipes required, as 
 the delivery is distributed over a longer period than by the 
 intermittent supply, which limits the actual delivery for 
 present and prospective purposes to a few hours, or some 
 still shorter extent of time. Added to this diminution in 
 the sizes of pipes permitted by the constant supply is the 
 fact of their non-liability to be burst by the sudden gush of 
 water which compresses the air within the pipes with a 
 force which the strength even of iron cannot resist. ‘Lhe 
 alternate absence and presence of water within them, more- 
 over, hastens their corrosion, as it has been found that 
 much oxide of iron accumulates in them under these cir- 
 cumstances. And beyond these advantages, the constant 
 supply system possesses the further one of immense eco- 
 nomy in management. It is found at Nottingham that one 
 experienced man and one lad are sufficient to manage the 
 distribution of the supply to about 8000 tenements, and 
 keep all the distributory works, including cocks, main and 
 service-pipes, &c., in perfect repair. Under the intermit- 
 tent supply system, a numerous staff of assistants would 
 be required to discharge similar duties. 
 
 318. The “ Commissioners of Enquiry into the state of 
 large Towns” have quoted a statement to the following 
 effect :—That the expense of machinery or capital invested 
 in the arrangements for supplying the metropolis with 
 water, exclusive of the communication pipes to the houses, 
 the tenants’ water-butts, tanks, &c., amounts to 3,310,342/., 
 or about 8l. per individual supplied; that the annual in- 
 come is 276,2431., and the expenditure 133,724/, leaving a 
 balance which is equal to an average dividend of 4 per 
 cent. ‘The income from each individual supplied would 
 thus appear to be somewhere about 5s. annually. Now, 
 the metropolis is supplied mainly from the river Thames, 
 the river Lea, and the New River, from a spring at Amwell. 
 In the year 1843,*the entire supply was furnished by nine 
 companies, the names of which, and the sources of their 
 water, were as follows :—- 
 
 * For later years, see Appendix, No. 7, p. 235. 
 
COST OF CONSTRUCTION, 9O7 
 
 Companies. . Sources cf Water, 
 Chelsea ae... River Thames, 
 West Middlesex. . . Do. do. 
 Graomdunction. . . Do. do. 
 
 Bominwark - . . - Do. do. 
 
 Panes. Do. do. 
 
 Vauxhall ne LO; do. 
 
 East London. . . . River Lea. 
 
 New River . . . Amwell and River Lea 
 Hampstead . . . Springs on Hampstead Hill. 
 
 The cost of construction for the water-supply at Notting- 
 ham, as already stated (paragraph 313), is between 17s. and 
 18s., and the expense attendant on the supply of water and 
 management of the works amounts to about 44 per cent. 
 on the income, which will be found somewhat less than the 
 proportion of the like expense in London. ‘The expenses 
 both of formation of works and of current supply are evi- 
 dently controlled to a considerable extent by the natural 
 facilities for the former, and by the distance from which 
 the water has to be conveyed and the height necessary to 
 raise it. The expense to individuals must, of course, be 
 also liable to be affected by the proximity, or otherwise, of 
 the several tenants to be supplied 
 
 319. Another principle to be observed in conjunction 
 with that of constant service of water is, that it shall be 
 delivered from such an elevation, or with such a pressure, 
 that the service may take place at least 20 ft. higher than 
 the tops of the highest houses to be supphed. ‘The vast 
 ultimate economy and value of this provision are cheaply 
 bought by the additional expense involved in the works, 
 and current cost for making it. The experience of the 
 Trent Water Company in supplving the town of Notting- 
 ham from the river Trent has shown that the expense of 
 raising and delivering the water 50 ft. higher than at pre- 
 sent would amount to only 5 or 6 per cent. additional upon 
 the present cost. On the other hand, the advantages of this 
 high service ave too great to be easily calculable, saving, as 
 
 i 
 
98 WIGH SERVICE. 
 
 it does, all the expenses of force-pumys or other separate 
 apparatus for raising the water from the lower floors, and 
 affording means of supplying baths ‘and other accessories 
 of cleanliness, health, and comfort, to all parts of each 
 house without restriction, labour, or cost. The total ex- 
 penses of supplying water in the town referred to, with all 
 the benefits of constant and high service, including wear 
 and tear of engines, interest on capital for machinery and 
 distributing pipes, expenses of management, &c., amount 
 to 2°88 pence per thousand gallons. 
 
 320. The value of constant and high service of water to 
 towns is strikingly important in its application for the ex- 
 tinction of fires, and for the occasional washing of streets, 
 and cooling them by jets of water in warm seasons and 
 times of drought. The bearing of these purposes upon 
 the preservation of life and property, and the promotion of 
 health and comfort, is too evident to need much illustra- 
 tion, although the details of the arrangements will claim, 
 on account of their extended utility, some notice in our 
 fifth section, which will be devoted to a brief account of 
 all the essential apparatus for carrying these principles into 
 practice. | 
 
 821. Finally, let us recount the leading objects to be 
 kept in view in the supplying of water to towns :—Jfirst, 
 that the supply shall be ample in quantity for all the pur- 
 poses of personal and domestic cleansing; for the public 
 purposes of supplying baths, fountains, and gardens; for 
 the extinction of fires, the thorough cleansing of streets 
 and thoroughfares, and the occasional cooling of them in 
 dry seasons, and for all such manufacturing purposes as 
 may be required or permitted within towns. 
 
 Secondly, that this abundant supply should be procured 
 of the best possible quality for the several uses to be made 
 of it. ‘That, if several sources are available at various rates 
 of expensiveness, the economy of any one of them as com- 
 pared with another, or others, is to be duly estimated, with 
 @ governing reference to the quality of the water so de- 
 
RECAPITULATION 99 
 
 rivable; and that the question of adopting an inferior 
 water shall be affirmed only in cases where the expense of 
 the better quality amounts to a practical impossibility. 
 That, besides the always recognised impurities of an animal 
 and vegetable character, and those held in mechanical sus- 
 pension only, with which some waters are usually adul- 
 terated, there are others of a soluble nature, which are 
 consequently commonly imperceptible except to chemical 
 analysis, but the presence of which deteriorates the quality 
 of water in a high degree, and occasions a necessity for 
 chemical processes to purify it, mere filtering being utterly 
 inoperative for the purpose. That, generally, these soluble 
 matters are found in spring- and drainage-waters in far 
 larger proportion than: in river-waters, which are more sus- 
 ceptible of being purified by a process of self-filtration, 
 and are; therefore, commonly preferable for most purposes 
 to waters of the former character. That the expense of 
 raising river-water by steam-pumping is really very small, 
 and unworthy of consideration, although often regarded as 
 a weighty argument in favour of seeking the required sup- 
 ply from districts of land from which the water descends by 
 gravity, without artificial aid. 
 _ And, thirdly, that the complete utility and greatest ulti- 
 mate economy of the supply of water to towns can be 
 realised only by a service of it which is constant in duration, 
 and sufficiently high to discharge over the highest buildings 
 in the town.* 
 
 SECTION III. ; 
 Width and Direction of Roads and Streets.—Substructure and Surface.— 
 Paving and Street Cleansing. 
 
 322. The drainage and cleansing of the roads, streets, 
 and thoroughfares of a town are acknowledged to be public 
 purposes of the highest utility. The facility of effecting 
 these purposes is dependent upon the several circumstances 
 
 * The London and Glasgow Water Supplies are further noticed in 
 Appendix No, 7, pp. 232—238, and Appendix No. 8, pp. 2389, 240, 
 
 F 2 
 
160 DRAINAGE OF STREETS. 
 
 of the dimensions and situation, and the sub- and super- 
 structure of the thoroughfare The width of the streets is 
 influential in admitting or preventing the access of air and 
 winds, by which the wholesomeness of their condition is 
 largely affected; and also in rendering the process of 
 cleansing by hand or other labour easy or difficult. The 
 direction of roads and streets—vertically in their relative 
 levels and inclinations, and, laterally, in their coincidence 
 with or opposition to the courses of the prevalent winds— 
 is a condition of great importance in affecting the facility 
 and economy of the processes of drainage and cleansing. 
 And the relative dampness and dryness and quantity of 
 debris produced upon any public thoroughfare are mainly 
 attributable to its construction in the subsoil, and superfi- 
 cial formation. 
 
 823. Courts and narrow passages, such as abound in 
 most towns—relics of public ignorance and private cupidity, 
 destined to be destroyed in the progress of enlightened 
 sanatory reformation—limited in width and bounded by 
 elevated buildings, never receive their due share of light, 
 air, or water, and thus present the greatest combination of 
 difficulties to the vital processes of drainage and cleansing 
 And these purposes can never be economically and efhi- 
 ciently fulfilled until a minimum of width and a maximum 
 of height of buildings are recognised as the elements of 
 street proportion. ‘The recorded and repeated evidence on 
 this point is more than enough to establish the general 
 principle, although the precision of the details requires ob- 
 servations of a more exact nature than have yet been made. 
 It is certain, however, that no street should be less in width 
 than the height of the buildings on either side of it—that 
 is, that the angle formed by the transverse surface of the 
 street, with a line from its extremity on one side to the 
 summit of the buildings on the other, should never exceed 
 45°, And in proportion as this angle can be reduced will 
 be the facility afforded for the desirable operatien of the 
 air and of such rain as may fall. 
 
DRAINAGE OF ROADS. JO} 
 
 324. Provided this principle be strictly observed, the 
 comparative declivity of the surface will become of minor 
 importance. Certainly, the greater the declivity the more 
 rapid and effective will be the action of rains in cleansing 
 and washing down the debris upon the surface of the 
 street; but it should be the peculiar province of the sub- 
 terranean sewers constructed beneath, to compensate for the 
 relative flatness of the surface, by affording a channel of 
 artificial declivity, that shall at all times free the surface 
 from these matters as quickly and effectually as possible. 
 
 825. Connected with the subject of road drainage as ap- 
 plicable in the suburban parts of a town, the necessity of 
 providing covered drains cannot be too rigorously enforced. 
 Open road ditches are known to become receptacles for 
 filth and refuse matters of various kinds, and the trouble 
 and expense of cleansing and keeping them in repair, in- 
 volving a constant making-up of the banks and clearing of 
 the beds, are commonly evaded by a total neglect, which 
 leads to a stoppage of the channels and a constant expo- 
 snre of decomposing matters, both offensive to the senses 
 and injurious to health. These roadside ditches are fre- 
 quently, moreover, adopted as the only available channels 
 _ for dispersing the sewage of the suburban buildings; and 
 being thus converted into open sewers with little or no 
 attempt at formation, and very little care in preserving even 
 their original rude form and capacity, the evils of retaining 
 them are multiplied to a degree actually dangerous to the 
 health of the inhabitants and of passengers. 
 
 326. Added to the inefficiency of open road drains or 
 ditches is the waste of surface which they involve. Pedes- 
 trians in the suburbs of towns know well that of a narrow 
 road nearly one-half the width is frequently occupied by a 
 wide and sluggish ditch, and that, in the absence of any 
 raised foot-path, they are frequently driven to a dangerous 
 proximity to its foulness in order to escape destruction by 
 the heedless and perhaps drunken drivers of vehicles. If 
 
 . 
 
102 SEWERS TO RECEIVE STREET-REFUSE. 
 
 these ditches were covered and converted into active sewers 
 by the use of pipe-tiles, of comparatively small and yet 
 ample dimensions, space would be afforded for the forma- 
 tion of convenient footpaths on which a walk would become 
 a luxury instead of being a task of danger and annoyance. 
 Those who have “picked their way” along the unpave- 
 mented strados of Rome, and contrasted them with the 
 easy security of some of the similarly narrow streets of our 
 own metropolis, will readily appreciate the value of the 
 change which might be thus cheaply effected in our sub- 
 urban roadways. 
 
 827. The quantity of surface wasted by the open road 
 ditches, and the corresponding area thus exposed for the 
 evaporation of stagnant moisture, may be readily calcu- 
 lated from the dimensions of the ditch. It may be safely 
 assumed that for each mile of road, at least half an acre of 
 surface is thus, on an average, misapplied. 
 
 328. The position of the main sewers of a town being 
 beneath and in the same direction as its streets, these 
 afford the proper channels for discharging the waste water and 
 all other matters from the surface of the streets. ‘This doctrine 
 is liable to be challenged by all those practical economists 
 who contend that street debris is so injurious in its admix- 
 ture with the excrementitious matters flowing from a town, 
 that it should be scrupulously kept separate. and period- 
 ically removed by hand and horse labour above ground. 
 But if we take into the account, on one hand, the small pro- 
 portion which the solid part of this debris bears to the 
 total of solid and liquid excrements, house refuse, street 
 drainage, waters, &c., which are universally allowed to be 
 the proper subjects of sewer discharge, and, on the other, 
 form a due estimate of the inconvenience, expense, and 
 disgusting annoyance of removing this street refuse by 
 any expedient above ground, the result of the calculation 
 will lead, we think, irresistibly to the conviction that the 
 whole of these matters sheuld be by the readiest possible 
 
PROPORTION OF STREE'T-REFUSE. 103 
 
 methods delivered into the sewers, and by them conveyed 
 at once to receptacles suitable for their collection and 
 treatment. 
 
 329 ‘The exact proportion between the solid street refuse 
 and the total of house-sewage and street-drainage (which 
 may he supposed to find its way unavoidable into the 
 sewers) is difficult to determine with any certainty ap- 
 proaching to exactness, but an approximate estimate may 
 be formed from such materials as we can command. The 
 excrementitious matters produced by each individual are 
 generally considered to amount to an annual quantity equal 
 to one ton in weight, and the other matters which are com- 
 prised in the total of house-sewage and street-drainage, 
 may be supposed equal to a similar quantity. We have 
 thus a total equal to two tons annually per head of the po- 
 pulation. Now, in the township of Manchester, of which 
 the population in 1841 was 164,000, the number of yards 
 of street-surface swept in the same year was 21,500,000, 
 and the number of loads of these sweepings removed 
 equalled 25,029, each of which is equal to a weight of one 
 ton. Assuming the proportion between the population and 
 street-surface of this township to be a fair average for most 
 towns, we have thus a total of house-sewage and _ street- 
 drainage equal to 164,900 x 2 = 828,000 tons, anda total 
 of street-sweepings equal to 25,029 tons, being 7th of the 
 former, or less than 7°7 per cent. This rough calculation 
 will be quite sufficient to show the small proportion in 
 which the manuring value of the sewage is liable to be 
 injured by the admixture with it of the street debris in the 
 common receptacles or sewers, and the consequent inadvi- 
 sability of engaging in the expensive operations of carting 
 and removing this debris by any combination of human 
 and animal labour. 
 
 330. Arrangements for the purpose of discharging the 
 street surface-drainage into any contiguous river or other 
 watercourse, instead uf allowing it to mingle with the 
 sewage in the receiving wells or receptacles to which they 
 
104 QUANTITY. OF STREET-DEBRITS, 
 
 are both conducted by the sewers, may, if thought neces- 
 sary, be provided as accessory apparatus in connection with 
 the wells, although it is highly probable that the growth of 
 our experience on this subject will develop preferable me- 
 thods of treating and disposing of these matters by subsi- 
 dence and chemical processes. 
 
 331. The amount of street debris, or the quantity remo- 
 vable from any extent of surface, is found to vary most ma- 
 terially, according to the structure of the street or roadway. 
 Thus, roads formed of broken granite or other similar ma- 
 terials are rapidly destroyed by the action of wet, which 
 loosens the superficial coating of the road, and passes into 
 the body of the materials; the finer particles also become 
 washed upon the surface, and act as sand in grinding 
 it down, by the action of the wheels: upon it. Paving 
 formed with stones of irregular shapes and sizes is also 
 productive of a large quantity of debris, although less than 
 the unpaved surfaces just referred to; upon this inferior 
 class of paving, water acts destructively by washing up the 
 soil and dirt between the stones, by which they become 
 ioosened, while a great proportion of these interposed ma- 
 terials have to be removed as they appear upon the surface 
 in the form of mud.  Pitch-paving formed with squared 
 blocks of granite, whin, or other stone of equal hardness 
 and durability set in lime grouting upon a substantial 
 foundation of concrete 9 to 18 in in thickness, according 
 to the nature of the sub-stratum, forms the most permanent 
 construction for the carriage-ways of streets and thorough- 
 fares, and affords a correspondingly small proportion of 
 materials to be removed from the surface, in order to pre- 
 serve its cleanliness. Wood-paving yields the minimum of 
 debris, and its economy, as a subject for the labours of the 
 scavenger, at any rate, is thus very great, as compared even 
 with the most perfect form of stone-paving. 
 
 332. By making the sewers thus directly available for one 
 of their proper purposes, that of receiving the waste mat- 
 ters from the streets and thoroughfares, the operation of 
 
WHITWORTH 8 STREET-CLEANSING MACHINE. 105 
 
 street-cleansing is reduced to mere sweeping of these mat- 
 ters to the side channels, which should be constructed so as 
 to afford a ready passage for them to the sewers beneath. 
 The economy thus obtained by dispensing with the raising 
 and carting to distances sometimes extended may be inferred 
 from the fact, that the average expense of sweeping and 
 carting away the refuse of 1000 square yards (in Manches- 
 ter) in 1843 was 4s. 6d. This was performed by the ordi- 
 nary hand labourers or sweepers. Jn London, at the same 
 date, the mere sweeping up of the refuse from the surface of 
 Regent Street, and depositing it in the street in loads for 
 another process of removal, was charged at the rate of 
 Is. 2d. per 1000 square yards, as executed by Whitworth’s 
 patent machine. The mere sweeping may be liberally esti- 
 mated to cost 9d. for the same extent of surface, and 
 thus éths of the entire expense of street-cleansing might 
 be avoided by adopting the sewers for the purpose sug- 
 gested. 
 
 333. Although we advocate the abandonment of all appa- 
 ratus for carting and removing street-refuse, it may be use- 
 ful to describe briefly the “ Patent Street-Cleansing Ma- 
 chine,” invented by Mr. Joseph Whitworth, which has been 
 applied to a considerable extent in. Manchester and else- 
 where, and been considered a very promising contrivance. 
 This will be best done by quoting the inventor’s own 
 description of his machine. as rendered in evidence before 
 the ‘Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Large 
 Towns and Populous Districts,” in 1843. ‘The principle 
 of the invention consists in employing the rotary motion of 
 wheels moved by horse or other power, to raise the loose soil 
 from the surface of the ground, and deposit it in a vehicle 
 attached. ‘The apparatus for this purpose consists of a 
 series of brooms suspended from a light frame of wrought 
 iron, hung behind a common cart, the body of which is 
 placed near the ground for greater facility in loading. As 
 the cart-wheels revolve, the brooms successively sweep the 
 surface of the ground, and carry the soil up an incline 
 
 F 3 
 
106 MAIN SEWERS. 
 
 or carrier-plate, at the top of which it falls into the body of 
 the cart. The apparatus is extremely simple in construc- 
 tion, and has no tendency to get out of order, nor is it 
 liable to material injury from accident. An indicator, 
 attached to the sweeping apparatus, shows the extent of 
 surface swept during the day, and acts as a useful check on 
 the driver. It also affords the opportunity of working the 
 machine over a given quantity of surface. The average 
 rate of effectual scavengering by hand in Manchester, taken 
 for a whole year, is from 1000 to 1500 square yards of sur- 
 face daily for each scavenger. The manner of sweeping is 
 different in London, and therefore an apparently larger 
 amount of work is done, but not so effectually. When the 
 machine is in operation, the horse going only 2} miles per 
 hour, it sweeps during that time 4000 square yards; thus 
 performing in a quarter of an hour nearly the days work 
 of one man. The average amount of surface which can 
 be swept by a machine during the day depends upon the 
 distance of the places of deposit. In Manchester we have 
 seven places of deposit, and the average number of yards 
 swept daily, by a machine drawn by one horse, is from 
 16,000 to 24,000.” 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Nain Sewers; Proportions and Dimensions, Inclinations, Forms, and Con- 
 struction.—Upper and Lower Connections.— Means of Access and Cleans- 
 ing.—Adaptation for Street-cleansing, &c. 
 
 334. In drainage, as in many other subjects, controversy 
 has frequently been found to be excited upon those very 
 details of the art which appear to be the most simple and 
 the most readily deducible fre observation, while the 
 proper ground for discussion, in which it is really urgently 
 needed, in order to determine general principles and mark 
 out leading rules, has been left nearly or quite unoccupied. 
 Thus the forms, sizes. and thicknesses of sewers have re- 
 
FUNCTIONS OF SEWERS. 107 
 
 ceived the most elaborate investigation, and provoked the 
 expression of the most widely-differing opinions; while the 
 principles of arrangement according to which the entire 
 system should be laid out, and the great questions of the 
 most healthful and economical disposal of the refuse of towns 
 have, till lately, remained unsought and unasked. Misled 
 by an instinctive adoption of the works of our forefathers, 
 we have been content to build our sewers in old channels, 
 and to put patch upon patch—add length to length of slug- 
 gish sewer or practical cesspool, in order to maintain an- 
 cient outfalls, while the subsidiary details of form and 
 capacity have become the vexed questions and grounds of 
 issue among the most practised advisers. 
 
 335. Not that the attention given to the details, and the 
 neglect inflicted upon the general principles are here eon- 
 trasted for the purpose of denying the importance of the 
 former, but that, had the principles been first determined, 
 the details would be found readily deducible from them in 
 a manner and with a certitude admitting little dispute or 
 discussion. 
 
 336. We have already, in the first section of this Divi- 
 sion, shown the general principles upon which the drainage 
 of towns should be arranged with reference to the inclina- 
 tions of surface, and the means of discharging and dispos- 
 ing of the sewage. From these principles it immediately 
 follows that the proper functions of sewers are twofold, and 
 twofold only, viz., the conveyance and collection of house- 
 drainage and of street-drainage. In the former are to be 
 included the drainings of roofs of buildings and of yards, 
 or other spaces attached to them. In these two purposes 
 is thus comprised the superficial drainage of each entire 
 town. Any attempt to add to this the drainage of the sub- 
 formation is a mistaken and a supererogatory aim. This 
 position will be denied by those who advocate the under- 
 drainage of London as one of the purposes of its sewerage. 
 Let us endeavour to understand the practical value of this 
 
108 FUNCTIONS OF SEWERS 
 
 purpose, and thence deduce the infinitely small amount 
 that would be mis-spent in any attempt to realise it. If 
 the proper functions of sewers be effectually discharged, 
 viz., the conveyance away from a town of all the rain-water 
 that falls upon its surface, and of all the solid and liquid 
 refuse produced in streets and buildings, what will be the 
 amount of submoisture which it can be necessary or de- 
 sirable to abstract in the form of land-drainage? The 
 entire surface being maintained constantly dry, the only 
 sources from which under-water can arise will be springs 
 or water-bearing strata beneath, and wherever these may 
 show themselves, they can be turned to good account, and 
 the water they yield converted to useful purposes, without 
 making expensive provision for their drainage beneath. 
 Whatever relation the site of a town may have to the sur- 
 rounding country, that is to say, whether the town be above 
 or below the lands around, or be on a similar level, none of 
 the drainage-water from these lands should be permitted to 
 enter the town or to mingle with the soil beneath it. ‘This 
 is to be effected by constructing around the town a system 
 of encircling catch-water drains, by which so much of the 
 surrounding drainage as would otherwise find its way into 
 the subsoil of the town will be intercepted and collected, 
 either to be returned by suitable channels to the rivers, 
 streams, and watercourses, to be made available in irriga- 
 ting adjacent districts, or diverted directly from the catch- 
 water drains into the main sewers of the town itself, and 
 disposed of with their contents. With this auxiliary ar- 
 rangement for preventing the access of surrounding drain- 
 age to the sub-formation of the town, all necessary provi- 
 sion for maintaining it in a dry and healthy condition will 
 be completed, and no necessity can possibly arise for con- 
 structing a duplicate system of sewers in order to drain 
 the subsoil of the town. With all due deference to official 
 experience, we venture to predict that, if ever tried, the 
 “system of permeable land-drains and sewers,” as a sepa 
 
DIMENSIONS OF SEWERS. 104% 
 
 rate addition to the “ system of permeable drains for house 
 and soil drainage,” will be found as utterly useless in prac- 
 tice as it will be expensive in construction. 
 
 337. The proportions, dimensions, inclinations, forms, 
 * and construction of main and all other sewers, are all more 
 or less affected and determinable by the general system of 
 drainage adopted. We will first cull from the mass of re- 
 corded experience at our command (up to the year 1843) 
 some detailed particulars of modes of construction (and 
 their cost), many of which have been found inefficient in 
 fulfilling the self discharge of the sewage matters of London 
 and other towns in England. 
 
 338. The experience in the city of London led the sur- 
 veyor to the Commissioners of Sewers to consider that the 
 form of a semicircular top and bottom, with straight (or 
 vertical) sides, “answered all the conditions of a sewer.” 
 Nevertheless, many have been constructed of an oval form. 
 The smallest size in a long street is 4 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 6 in. 
 The other sizes are 5 ft. by 3 ft.; but several are consider- 
 ably larger, where much water is expected to accrue from 
 the outer districts. The outlet for the main sewer at South 
 Place (Finsbury) is 6 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 6 in. The Fleet 
 sewer, which drains from the south-west of Highgate, is 18 ft. 
 6 in. by 12 ft. at the mouth, and 12 ft. 3 in. by 11 ft. 75 in. at 
 the city beundary; and, owing to the immense quantity of 
 water flowing into it, ‘this sewer has often been surcharged.” 
 The Eldon Street (Finsbury) sewer is 5 ft. by 3 ft. 2 in.; 
 the London Wall sewer is 6 ft. by 4 ft., and the main trunk 
 increases from 8 ft. 8 in. by 6 ft. 9 in. to 10 ft. by 8 ft. at 
 its mouth. For courts and alleys the sizes are 3 ft. by 2 ft. 
 2 in., and sometimes, according to the number of houses, 
 4 ft. by 2 ft.4 in. The sewers 4 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 6 in. are 
 built in brickwork 14 in. in thickness throughout. Adapt- 
 ing the size of the smaller drains so as to admit a man to 
 pass through them, they should be at least 2 ft. in width, 
 and, to allow crawling through, 2 ft. 4 or 6 in. in height; te 
 allow his crouching through, 3 ft. 6 in.; or to stoop through 
 
110 DIMENSIONS OF SEWERS. 
 
 4 ft. 6 in. The thickness of brickwork of these sewers 
 should not be less than 9 in., or the depth from the 
 ground less than 12 ft. at the shallowest part, in order to 
 provide for the drainage of a basement story about 7 ft. 
 6 in. in height. Assuming 2 ft. 6 in. as the minimum 
 height for a common sewer, and allowing 20 in. of deposit 
 to exist in a public sewer before it can rise into the com- 
 mon sewers, the surveyor deduced a minimum height for 
 public sewers of 4 ft. 2 in. 
 
 339. In the Westminster Division of Sewers the level of 
 _ the outfalls into the river varies from 10 to 15 ft. below the 
 level of high-water mark, and some of them have flaps. 
 Some of the main sewers have a fall of only half an inch to 
 100 ft. ‘The form of the sewers is that of a semicircular 
 arch at the top, and a segmental invert with upright sides. 
 The two sizes used are—first class, 5 ft. 6 in. high and 8 ft. 
 wide; and second-class, 5 ft. high and 2 ft. 6 in. wide. 
 The three centre courses of every invert are built in 
 cement, and the remainder of the work in Dorking lime- 
 mortar. The walls are 1} brick in thickness, and the arch 
 and invert 2 half-bricks, or 9 in. The cost for a sewer 8 ft 
 wide was, for the brickwork, 14s. 8d. per ft., and for a sewer 
 2 ft. 6 in. wide, 12s. 6d. 
 
 340. The sewers throughout the Holborn and Finsbury 
 Divisions discharge into the main sewers of the city of 
 London, and have no outfalls of their own into the Thames, 
 The Fleet. sewer conveys the drainage of about 4444 square 
 acres of surface in those divisions, and is calculated to re- 
 ceive annually from this surface about 100,000 cube yards 
 of matter held in mechanical suspension, and carried to 
 the Thames by the force of such waters as flow through 
 the sewer. These waters, by the experiments of Mr. Ree 
 having been found to amount to about 100 times the bulk 
 of the matters held in suspension by them, it follows, 
 that the Fleet sewer discharges from this surface about 
 10,000,000 of cube yards of sewage-water and suspended 
 matters into the river Thames annually. The total 
 
PROVINCIAL SEWERS 111 
 
 work of this sewor comprises also the quantity it receives 
 from the surface of the city, after passing through the dis- 
 trict here referred to. A sewer carried up to Holloway, in 
 this division, a length of nearly 83 miles, passes under 
 Canonbury (Islington) at a depth of 68 ft. from the surface, 
 and the drainage of the houses in that part is provided for 
 by a subsidiary sewer. 
 
 341. Sewers constructed on the Kingston estate, through 
 a very soft clay, are built of an oval form, the largest size 
 being 3 ft. 6 in. high, and 2 ft. 6 in. wide, the radius of 
 the side curves about 8 ft.; half a brick thick in cement. 
 The extent of cutting was from 16 to 18 ft., and the cost 
 15s. per lineal foot. The fall at the rate of 80 ft ina 
 quarter of a mile. » 
 
 342. ‘The practice in some of the provincial towns was 
 reported as follows :— 
 
 Lancaster. — Flag or slate bottom. Fig. 71. 
 Rubblestone sides, laid in common | y 
 mortar. Rough stone covers Mains 7/4 ae 
 2 ft. 6 in. x 1 ft. 4 in., 6s. per lineal Z 
 yard. Branch street drains, 1 ft. 4 in. 7 
 square, 4s. 67. ditto. Yard drains, Y 
 6 or 7 in. square, 2s. ditto. All found 7 
 to be very inefficient. 
 
 Nottingham. — Brick. Cylindrical 
 sewers. Upper half built in’ mor- 
 tar. Lower half. laid dry. Half- 
 brick thick. Diameter from 2 ft. to 
 2 ft.6in. Average cost 7s. per lineal 
 yard. 
 
 Birmingham and Walsall.—2 ft. cir- 
 cular culverts laid 5 ft. deep. 7s. per 
 lineal yard. 
 
 Chester.—Circular brick drains from 80 to 36 in. diame- 
 ter Average cost 12s. per lineal yard. 
 
112 PROVINCIAL SEWERS. 
 
 Bristol—Four sizes of ellip- 
 tical brick sewers. 
 
 Fee cin. Ft ms 
 UE RS: EN 9 le aetics Soc APS hy) 
 Bhs 0. sO oe Om 
 Neth Layette eae ere 1) 8 
 4th. 8 i Desa) oO) eae 
 
 All 9 in. thick. 
 
 Cylindrical drains, 1 ft. 2 in. 
 in diameter internally, 7 in. 
 thick. 
 
 Rate of fall from 1 in 60 to 
 1 in 360. 
 
 F’yome. — Stone and lime 
 cheap and abundant. Drains or “gouts” 18 in. square, 
 covered with stone to take any weight, exclusive of digging, 
 2s. per lineal yard. 
 
 Culverts 2 ft. square, dry walls, with rubbed stone arch, 
 turned in good coal-ash mortar, exclusive of digging, 4s. 9d. 
 per lineal yard. . 
 
 Swansea.—-Oval drains, 3 ft. 2 in. x 2 ft., including exca- 
 vation, 10s. 6d. per lineal yard. 
 
 Cylindrical drains, 2 ft. diameter, including excavation, 
 8s. per lineal yard. 
 
 Brecon. —Cylindrical drains, 2 ft. diameter, cost 8s. per 
 lineal yard. 
 
 Square drains, side walls of dry masonry, with flat cover- 
 mg stone, from 38 to 4 in. thick. 
 
 Cost.—12 in. 2s. 64. per lineal yard. i 
 15 in. 3s. 3d. # : 
 18 in. 4s. es 
 
 343. The egg-shaped or oviform section used in the Hol- 
 born and Finsbury divisions is shown in fig. 74, and the 
 section commonly used in the Westminster division, up to 
 the year 1843, is shown in fig. 75. The difference in ex- 
 pense between sewers of these sections has been estimated 
 a). 1660/7. per mile, upon the following data. Brickwork at 
 
COMPARISON OF FORMS. 1S 
 
 20s. per cube yard. Excavation 1s per cube yard. Filling 
 in 3d per cube yard. Carting 2s. per cube yard. Remaking 
 
 Tig. 74. Fig. 75. 
 
 “Li pf rr), YY) 
 MEY Wy 
 
 LL iypf 
 iit Go 
 y 
 Uy yy, 
 Cy, 
 iif jy 
 G 
 
 Hy 
 je 
 
 iM oF Yy 
 “ay 
 
 i 
 
 v 
 
 5 Yy 
 surface 1s. 6d. per superficial yard. Average depth of exca- 
 vation, 20 ft. The quantities per mile of each sewer are 
 
 shown in the following table; the size of the egg-shaped 
 sewer being 6 ft. 3 in. by 3 ft,.6 in.. and that of the upright- 
 sided sewer 5 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. 
 
 Finsbury, or Westminster, or 
 Eeg-shaped Upright-sided 
 Sewer. Sewer. 
 Bricks consumed . . . . . 924,140 1,378,080 
 Cube yards of brickwork . . PAO Pe ae 3.388 
 Do. do. of excavation . . 19,555 25,420 
 
 Excess in Westminster Sewer, per mile. 
 
 1116 cube yards of brickwork at 20s. . . £1116 0 0O 
 
 " 5865" ,, a excavation at]ls. . . 293 5 0 
 S865 ,, Me filling-in at 3d... . fa = 638 
 Neo ee rs earting at-25.. we LIS Loo 
 
 $80 super yards repairing at ls. 6d. . 66 0 0 
 
 Oth Mare 50 oh 3G 660) oece 
 
114 CAPACITY OF SEWERS. 
 
 344. One of the Westminster sewers, built in the Har 
 row Road, according to the section, fig. 75, failed, owing, aj 
 
 G---—+ =e 
 
 cok 
 
 a leged, to some difficulties in the nature of the soil, and 
 tc imperfect workmanship. This was replaced by another 
 form of sewer, which is shown in fig. 76, in which the 
 shaded parts represent brickwork in cement, the invert and 
 springers being bedded in concrete as high as the 14-inch 
 work, as there shown. 
 
 345. The capacity of sewers is determined by a con 
 sideration jointly of the quantity of sewage to be conveyed 
 through them, and of the rate of inclination or fall in 
 their vertical position. The capacity will vary directly as 
 the quantity and inversely as the fall; since the greater the 
 fall the more rapid will be the discharge. It has been usual 
 to prescribe another limitation as to the minimum capacity 
 of sewers, viz., that they shall at least, under all cireum- 
 stances, be large enough for a man to pass along them. 
 The necessity for this allowance has arisen from the fact, 
 that sewers are found to require cleansing by hand—that it 
 
CAPACITY OF SEWERS. 115 
 
 is utterly impossible to remove the accumulations which 
 are liable to occur within them by any other means, and 
 thus some 10,000/. has been annually expended in London 
 alone in an employment of a most disgusting and danger- 
 ous nature. We have no hesitation in saying, that, under a 
 thoroughly efficient and practicable system, no such process 
 could ever be needed and, moreover, that if deemed desi- 
 rable for any possible purpose, it would apply only to the 
 principal sewers, the size of which would admit of it, as 
 determined upon the joint data of quantity and fall alone 
 We will, therefore, dismiss this condition from the problem, 
 and study it upon the two data named. 
 
 346. Since the quantity of sewage due to any given ex 
 tent of surface will depend mainly upon the amount of 
 population to be served, it follows, that in an equalised 
 system aiming at an uniform size for the sewers of the 
 _ several classes, the points of collection or receiving wells 
 should be arranged at distances varying inversely as the 
 density of the population. Now, the maaimum density of 
 the population of London is estimated at 243,000 to a 
 square mile. Let us suppose the drainage of one quarter 
 ofa square mile of surface, populated to this extreme de- 
 gree of closeness, to be conveyed in one main sewer, and 
 endeavour to form a rough notion of the total quantity of 
 sewage which this sewer should be fitted to convey and dis- 
 charge. The entire bulk of sewage must consist chiefly of 
 the house-sewage and rain-water from the surface—at least 
 the other constituents are of too insignificant an amount to 
 require notice in a merely approximate estimate. And 
 similarly the entire house-sewage may be assumed as equal 
 to the bulk of water delivered to the total population. We 
 have calculated, in Section II., on the supply of water 
 (par. 283), that 20 gallons are, or ought to be, allowed u 
 each individual of the population per diem. The annual 
 quantity will, therefore, be 20 x 365 = 738,000 gallons, or 
 say 1200 cubic feet. ‘The population of the square quarter 
 
116 CAPACITY OF SEWERS. 
 
 of a mile being , or about 60,000, this number 
 
 243,000 
 4 
 multiplied by 1200 cubic feet for each person will produce 
 72,000,000 as the annual quantity of sewage in cubic feet 
 arising from this population. ‘To this is to be added the 
 bulk of the rain-water, which we will allow to amount to 
 24 inches, or 2 ft., in depth annually over the surface, and 
 that this quantity will be discharged into the sewer without 
 further diminution by evaporation. The total quantity to 
 be drained annually from the surface of the quarter of a 
 square mile will thus amount to 2640” x 2 = 138,539,200 
 cubic feet. Adding this, which we will call 133 millions, to 
 the 72 millions of house-sewage, we obtain a total of 855 
 millions of cubic feet of sewage to be discharged per 
 annum from the surface of a square mile of the most 
 densely-populated part of the metropolis. If this annual 
 quantity were in a state of constant transition along the 
 sewer, and with equal velocity throughout, and the effect of 
 friction was for the moment disregarded, the proportion to 
 be passed per minute would be of course easily calculated, 
 being 85,500,000 divided by 525,600 (the number of 
 minutes in a year), or 162°66 cubic feet. Now a recorded fact 
 will be a more useful datum for our calculation. here than 
 any elaborate investigation of velocities, friction, &c.; and 
 we will, therefore, refer to the experiments of Mr. Roe, 
 instituted for testing the value of the flushing system as 
 applied to sewers, and which showed that the sewage 
 passed through the river Fleet sewer with an average velo- 
 city of 83:47 ft. per minute; the run of water being spread 
 over a surface 10 ft. in width, and the stream being only 
 10 in. in depth, the passage every minute, therefore, was 
 equal to 692°8 cube feet of sewage, and the friction in this 
 case being greater than if the same sectional area of water 
 had been accumulated in a cylindrical drain of smaller 
 diameter. The solid matters held in suspension by this 
 water amounted to the proportion of 1] in 96 of the bulk of 
 water, and consisted, as all sewage usually does, of decom- 
 
‘© STORM-WATERS.” BEF 
 
 posed animal and vegetable matter, and detritus from 
 streets androads. At this rate of transit, it appears that a 
 sectional area equal to two square feet would Suffice to pass 
 the entire sewage of a thickly-populated area of a square 
 quarter of a mile, supposing the passage to be constant 
 and uniform, and the fall of the sewer and friction of the 
 sewage equal to that of the river Fleet sewer, on which the 
 experiments were made. 
 
 347. In modifying this result to provide for the difference 
 between the assumed and the real nature of the trarsit, we 
 will first admit that the bulk of the sewage, consisting of 
 that flowing from the houses, is’ delivered into the drains 
 during perhaps half the real time; that is, during 12 
 instead of 24 hours. The sewers will, therefore, be required 
 to discharge double the quantity estimated during each 
 alternate period of twelve hours, and during the intervening 
 periods of like extent to remain empty. We will, there- 
 fore, double the capacity, and allow four square feet of 
 transverse sectional area of main sewer for the drainage of 
 the given surface. 
 
 348. But we have another allowance to make; we have 
 the “‘ storm waters” to provide for, about which we have 
 heard so much,- because occasionally, during the rainy 
 month of July, a smart shower is observed to cover a flat 
 street, or form ponds on the low side of an ill-formed road- 
 way. Let us estimate the allowance required for this phe- 
 nomenon, and infer the advisability of providing for it in 
 the sewers. We have seen that 24 inches in depth of rain 
 falling upon our selected spot will equal a total bulk of 133 
 millions of cubic feet. We will suppose an extraordinary 
 case, viz. that some July day the whole quantity due to a 
 month (2 inches) falls in 20 minutes. Then, in order to 
 prevent any flooding of the thoroughfares, this quantity, 
 13,500,000 
 
 2 
 be disposed of in 20 minutes. Assume that the velocity 
 pcoduced by the pressure on the water will equal 1000 ft. 
 
 equal to = 1,125,000 cubic teet, will have to 
 
118 DISPOSAL OF STORM-WATERS. 
 
 per minute What would be the capacity of the sewer 
 
 equal to discharge this rain-water as rapidly as it falls from 
 
 the clouds? ‘The quantity accruing per minute being 
 
 1,125,000 | 
 20 
 
 1000 cubic feet, the capacity of the sewer must be equal to 
 564 square feet of transverse sectional area. Now, we have 
 found that an area of 4 ft. will suffice ordinarily for the 
 house-sewage. Is it desirable to increase the capacity of 
 our sewers fourteen fold in order to provide for an occasional 
 shower? ‘There can be no necessity to answer the query. 
 Economy of the most liberal disposition would not sanc- 
 tion any such arrangement. If the exact area of 4 ft. be 
 doubled, in order to make ample provision for all ordinary 
 contingencies, it will satisfy every reasonable requirement; 
 and then, by suitable inlets to the sewer, the deluge of 
 rain-waters will be prevented from overcharging it, and the 
 effects of the shower will disappear in some hour and a 
 half, and before any very serious mischief can be produced 
 by the water soaking into the subsoil through well-paved 
 streets and yards. 
 
 349. In proportion as the population is more extended, 
 the ratio of house-sewage to surface-sewage will of course 
 diminish, and vice versa; but we believe that economy and 
 facility of drainage will be best promoted by limiting the 
 sum of population and area to each receiving well, so that 
 a transverse sectional area of 8 or 9 ft. shall suffice for the 
 main sewers. 
 
 350. In the suburban districts of a town, where compara- 
 tively large surfaces exist in gardens, and where, therefore, 
 the effect of allowing the ‘storm waters” to gather might 
 be productive of mischief by saturating the soil, the dimi- 
 nished amount of house-sewage will tend to make the 
 operation of the mains more effective in relieving the sur- 
 face, besides which, natural declivities will usually aid the 
 fall of the sewers; and provision might frequently be made 
 at little cost for receiying the surface-water in auxiliary ~ 
 
 = 56,250 cubic feet, and the velocity equal to 
 
: POSITION OF RECEPTACLES. 119 
 
 wells or receptacles in which it could be made available for 
 subsequent service in irrigation, without allowing it to bur- 
 den the main sewers of the district. 
 
 5)1. Having based our calculation as to the capacity of 
 main sewers upon an area of the maximum density of popu- 
 lation, we will, with the same view of providing for the 
 utmost necessities, consider the question of declivity or fall 
 as to be applied to that description of natural surface which 
 presents the greatest difficulties to the operation of any 
 system of sewage—a perfect or dead level. The wells or 
 receptacles for the sewage being placed half a mile distant 
 from one another, so that the area drained into each of 
 them equals a square quarter of a mile (or each side 2640 ft. 
 long), half of this, or 1320 ft., may be taken as the length 
 of each of the main drains. The longest of the main 
 sewers thus measuring 1320 ft., the fall is to be computed 
 with reference to this length. We have seen that metropo- 
 litan sewer-practice has recognised a fall of half an inch in 
 10 ft., or 1 in 240, as sufficient for all the purposes of good 
 drainage. At this rate the fall due to 1320 ft. will be 54 ft. 
 But preferring to allow double this fall as proportionally 
 improving the system, by aiding the discharge, we should 
 require a fall of 11 ft. in our main sewers -of the maximum 
 length. And preserving 5 ft. above the head of the main, 
 it would lie at a depth of 16 ft. at the well. This 5 ft. will 
 usually be found sufficient to allow all necessary fail in 
 house-drains and: in branch sewers, to serve the superficial 
 draining of the intervening district. 
 
 352. The utmost economy of the system would be at- 
 tained by multiplying the main sewers as much as possible, 
 as by this means the length of the branches may be re- 
 duced to a considerable extent, and the necessary depth of 
 the mains also reduced correspondingly. On the other 
 hand, by sparing the main sewers, they are required to be 
 laid deeper, and the branches also; or, if depth be saved, 
 it. is at the expense of, efficiency, and the whole systern is’ 
 instantly filled with insuperable difficulties in vain attenipts 
 
120 DEPTH ‘OF SEWERS. 
 
 to reconcile the relative levels of an infinite number of 
 collateral sewers, and to adjust the details of the arrange- 
 ment to the minor variations of surface above. 
 
 853. In the depths we have assumed, as deduced from 
 the desirable rate of inclination for the main sewers, allow- 
 ance is not yet made for draining the basement stories ot 
 the buildings. It must be confessed that this purpose 
 involves the greatest difficulty in the details of the system. | 
 On the one hand, it is evident that the construction of 
 sewers as large as rivers, and at depths varying from 20 to 
 79 ft. below the surface, demands a most extravagant ex 
 penditure at the outset, and, after all, puts the works im 
 positions which are practically inaccessible. Yet, on the 
 other hand, we shall be reminded that the deep basements 
 and kitchens must be provided for, and that our branch 
 sewers must be sunk low enough to serve even the lowes’ 
 of these. In order to provide for these. the main sewers 
 will need to be laid some 8 or 10 ft. lower than the depths 
 we have given, viz., 13 or 15 ft. at the head, and 24 or 26 ft 
 deep at the well. Rather than permit the evils caused by 
 sinking sewers at these depths, it will probably be prefer- 
 able to reduce the distance between the wells, or even 
 adimit (although highly objectionable) some diminution in - 
 the rate of fall. We are satisfied, however, that the fullest 
 investigation into this subject will establish the principle 
 that no sewage matters of any kind whatever should be allowed 
 to be discharyed into a drain from any rooms or apartments 
 below the surface of the ground. The difficulties which would 
 attend any attempt to carry this principle into effect in 
 London and similarly ill-constructed cities, may be too for- 
 midable to be now encountered, but they must be over- 
 come before the sewerage of such towns can be reformed 
 upon the most efficient plan which our present knowledge 
 and experience suggest. 
 
 854. The dimensions of the branch sewers are to be. 
 determined upon the same two elements of population and 
 surface to be served that we have referred to in estimating 
 
SIZE OF SEWERS. 121 
 
 the required capacity for the mains; and, according to the 
 varying extent and proportion of these elements, a scale of 
 sizes may be determined for the severa] lengths, distances 
 apart, &c., of the branch sewers. 
 
 355. By the system of district collections here recom- 
 mended, one great difficulty felt in planning sewers for 
 concentrated discharge is at once obviated. In forming 
 sewers which are intended at the time to serve a certain 
 district, but which may hereafter be treated as trunks, and 
 called upon to discharge constant accessions of sewage 
 from an extending neighbourhood, no calculation can pos- 
 sibly be made as to the sufficiency or otherwise of the sec- 
 tion it is proposed to adopt. Thus, as truly remarked by 
 the Surveyor to the City Sewers Commission, “the sewer 
 from Moorfields to Holloway appears to measure upon the 
 map about three lineal miles. In process of time, and as 
 buildings increase, it may throw out branches in all direc- 
 tions, and the three miles may become thirty. Not only all 
 the atmospheric waters which may, upon an average, fall 
 within the valley south-eastward of Highgate (or at least a 
 sarge portion of them), but all the artificial supplies which 
 the wants of its yet future inhabitants, as well as of those 
 intermediate between Islington and Moorfields, may re- 
 quire, will have to be carried off by the City sewers.” The 
 necessary consequence of which doubtful condition is, 
 either that the sewers are at first constructed in a most 
 extravagant manner as to dimensions and depth, or that 
 they are afterwards found to be utterly inadequate to their 
 increased duty, and have to be reconstructed at greater 
 depth and of enlarged capacity. Whereas, if district col- 
 lections are adopted, each main sewer is at once properly 
 devised as to size, form, and construction, and continues to 
 perform its services efficiently ; and, as new districts are 
 formed, each of them is provided with another system of 
 sewers adapted to its defined limits, and made sufticient 
 for all the work it will be ever expected to perform. 
 
 3°6. In the form of sewers two conditions have to be 
 
 a 
 
122 FORM OF SEWERS 
 
 fulfilled, viz. strength, as obtained with economy of cost, 
 and efficiency of action. A hollow channel embedded in the 
 subsoil is evidently liable to be pressed upon and against 
 by the weight and bulk of the surrounding solid materials, 
 and it therefore becomes necessary that the form of this 
 channel be such as will enable it to resist effectually this 
 pressure from without. We all know that a curved form 
 of construction, in which the convex surface is opposed 
 against the pressure, is stronger in this way than a plane 
 surface, because the pressure applied to any point of the 
 convex surface is immediately distributed to all the surround- 
 ing points on that surface, and their combined resistance is 
 thus brought into action against the external force. And 
 since the complete co-operation of all parts of the surface 
 in resisting uniform pressure from the exterior is obtained 
 only when all those parts have a common centre, the circle 
 is the most perfect figure for this purpose. 
 
 357. But the pressure upon all parts of a sewer is not 
 uniform. The top of it will be subject to the entire weight 
 of the mass above it, minus only the friction and structural 
 tenacity by which that mass is prevented from moving 
 freely downward from the surrounding portions. ‘The 
 sides of the sewer are pressed against by the soil with 
 forces inversely proportional to the tenacity of the material ; 
 that is to say, the less the tenacity or power of self-support, ~ 
 the greater will be the pressure against the sewer. The 
 bottom of the sewer may be regarded as free from external 
 pressure, except such as is due to the resistance with which 
 the soil below meets the downward pressure exerted by 
 the sewer itself, and transmitted by it from the load 
 above. | 
 
 358. The greatest pressure being thus vertically from 
 above, a form of uniform strength would require to act 
 with greater resistance in this direction. Hence an ellip- 
 tical form, the longest diameter being placed vertically, 
 would appear to answer the conditions better than a circle, 
 and is, doubtless, the least imperfect form that can be 
 
FORM OF SEWERS. 128 
 
 adopted. Practically it has been deemed desirable to com- 
 bine, as far as possible, a considerable capacity with the 
 means of making a reduced flow active in its passage 
 through the sewer; and these requirements appear to be 
 fulfilled by a form of section that differs from an ellipse in 
 having the upper curve of larger radius than the lower one, 
 resembling the outline of an egg standing on its smaller 
 end, and to which the name of egg-shaped, or oviform, has 
 therefore been applied. 
 
 359. The value of the curved bottom of reduced radius 
 depends upon the well-known law, that the passage of fluids 
 through channels is retarded by the friction between the 
 water and the surface of the channel with which it is in 
 contact. And it is an evident result of this law, that the 
 greater the surface of contact the greater the friction. 
 Hence any given bulk of water will flow the most rapidly 
 in that form of channel in which this surface of contact is 
 reduced to the minimum. The form necessary to fulfil this 
 condition is presented at once by the well-known geome- 
 trical principle, that the circle includes a greater area 
 within its perimeter than any other figure of equal peri- 
 meter. And as the necessity for aiding the flow by dimin- 
 ishing the friction occurs chiefly when only a small stream 
 exists’ within the sewer, it follows that the radius of cur- 
 vature should be proportionally reduced within practical 
 limits. . 
 
 360. The exact proportion which the radii of the upper 
 and lower curves of the oviform section of sewer should 
 bear to each other, (adopting circular curves as preferable 
 in practice to elliptical or any indefinite curves,) would 
 depend on the precise average minimum of water to be 
 provided for, calculated jointly with the density and tena- 
 city of the soil, and the depth at which the sewer is laid 
 As it is manifestly impossible to determine all these ele — 
 ments with exactness in’ evolving any general rule for the 
 proportions of the section, they may be disregarded, since 
 the main form is established by the conditions stated in 
 
 G 2 
 
J24 RULE FOR FORMING SEWERS. 
 
 paragraph 858, and a practical rule may be formed which 
 will be found to answer all real purposes. 
 
 861. In the forming of sewers, as in all works of a 
 similar class, which are often necessarily entrusted, to a 
 great extent, to the charge of workmen, who cannot be 
 expected to pay much attention to the refinements of 
 geometrical principles, simplicity is evidently an object of 
 the first importance. The proportions of the several curves 
 required in marking out the section and forming the 
 moulds and gauges to be used in constructing and testing 
 the work should be such as can be readily understood and 
 exactly remembered ; ‘and in proportion as these rules are 
 observed in designing the form, will be the probability of 
 that form being preserved, and exactness attained in the 
 construction of the sewer. 
 
 362. In seeking this object we have worked out a diagram 
 of proportions, shown in fig. 77, that we can venture to 
 
 Fig. 77. 
 
 1 
 
 fe nm ese penn mre memnnenann= 
 4 
 ' 
 ‘ 
 ' 
 ‘ 
 i 
 4 
 A 
 4 
 ' 
 1 
 ' 
 t 
 ‘ 
 4 
 ‘ 
 ' 
 ‘ 
 1 
 1 
 i] 
 ‘ 
 5 
 ‘ 
 ‘ 
 i] 
 i] 
 t 
 
 Porreweee whey reece 
 ‘ 
 
 recommend on the score of simplicity and sufficiency, 
 which we hope will be made evident by the figure and the - 
 
RULE FOR FORMING SEWERS. 125 
 
 following description. In this section let the diameter Aa, 
 of the upper semicircle apa equal 1; that of the lower are 
 BB will equal ‘5. The entire height of the section pF will 
 equal 1°5, and the radius caa, of the side arcs aB (truly: 
 tangential to the upper and lower arcs) will also equal 1:5. 
 The centres cc being upon the produced diameter of the 
 upper are, that ar¢ will equal a semicircle, and the lower 
 arc BB will equal 120°, the points for the meeting of the 
 curves being at BB, found by drawing the radial lines, cp, 
 through the centre £ of the lower are. Suppose the greatest 
 diameter AA be determined at 8 ft., the several dimensions 
 will be thus :-— 
 
 Ft. In. 
 Beemmecer Of Upper arc | . 1... 8 0 
 Mo. or lowerarc . . . fe Pe ae el 
 
 mmmomeccion. . . . . . 2 . 4 8B 
 Sueeoreidedrcs . . eC. A OB 
 
 And the area may be taken (as a very close approximation 
 to the truth) as equal to that of a semicircle of 8 ft 
 diameter, added to the area of a circular segment whose 
 radius is 4 ft. 6 in., and versed sine 1 ft. 6 in.; the area 
 thus given being in excess only the small space shown in 
 shaded lines at a. 
 
 363. The construction of sewers is varied according to 
 their size, and should be also considered with reference to 
 the economy with which different materials may be obtained 
 according to the locality of the district, and also the nature 
 of the soil in which the work is constructed. For the 
 smaller sewers the “ glazed stone-ware” pipes are found 
 efficient substitutes for those built up of brickwork. They 
 have the advantages of being much more quickly laid than 
 the others can be built, and of presenting a very superior 
 surface for the rapid passage of the sewage. ‘They are also 
 constructed in various forms of bends and junction pieces, 
 and thus afford the means of ensuring proper form in these 
 points. From their comparative thinness, pipes of this 
 kind afford a much larger capacity with a given quantity of 
 
126 STONE-WARE PIPE SEWERS. 
 
 excavation for laying them, than sewers formed of brick- 
 work, which, even for the smallest diameter, cannot be less 
 than half a brick, or 44 in. in thickness. In laying them 
 care must, of course, be taken with the joints; which are 
 formed by a socket on one end of each length of pipe in 
 which the plain end of the adjoining length is received. 
 The prices at which these pipes may be procured in 
 London are as follows :— 
 
 Straight Tubes with Socket Joints. 
 
 Inches Price per 
 Bore. Lineal Foot. 
 
 8s. d. 
 In 8.ft. lengths ... », + \e:y)s |e 
 » 9 ote le ve ia 0 5 
 Petts Liles, eee 
 9” ” . o +)» jeu, Onan es 
 
 99 39 e e e e e e 9 ° e 1] 14 
 9 ” coe el ee 
 9 ” ote 8 8 
 ” ” o 8 ee 8} 
 
 Diameter of | pends ach. | RS |e 
 Inches. 831 ds iS. Ree BaP he 
 2 1 0 ge 1 Ee 
 3 ’ ba i ae vs 
 4 py 1) 8 ae 6 
 6 2 3 2 0 2 8 
 9 3 6 3 6 4 6 
 12 5 6 5 6 119 
 
 Egg-shaped tubes are also prepared of te same material in 
 2 ft. lengths with socket joints, at the following prices‘— 
 
 Size Inside. Lineal Poot 
 Ft. In. Ft. In sd. 
 doo 8 oytl8 3 6 
 1.85% 0) Oo 
 09x06. yal 
 
PRICES OF SEWERS. 127 
 
 In Chester the following prices have been paid, including 
 excavation of the maximum depth of 12 ft. :— 
 
 Inches. an wits 
 
 42 x 82 11 0 per lineal yard, ordinary earth 
 42x GRn%. 15 2 ay ~~ roek. 
 
 86 x 28 9 6 7 ordinary earth 
 ‘83 x 25 8 6 6 cf ‘ 
 30 x 22 ate! i ‘b . 
 24 x 18 6 6 2 3 be 
 take bhi; ii) 2 «6 ‘f ‘ re 
 Teix 12. . 4 °9 
 
 The stone-ware tubes may be manufactured with ample 
 strength for all purposes required in their application as 
 minor sewers. Some experiments, made with specimen 
 tubes of fire-clay at Glasgow, proved their power to resist 
 a pressure equal to that of a perpendicular column of water 
 900 ft. in height, being three times the pressure to which 
 it is found necessary to prove iron pipes used for the trans- ° 
 mission of water. Drain tubes of common clay are sup- 
 plied in Glasgow at the following prices :— 
 
 Gs 
 3 in. diameter 0 6 per lineal yard. 
 6 - ‘ 0 9 . 
 9 Y 0 : 
 }2 44 1. 3 33 
 18. 53 ae oy e 
 Pipes of fire-clay at Glasgow, cost — 
 So, di 
 4in. diameter . , 1 U per lineal yard. 
 6 * yas SN oe ‘ 
 12 ~ i ON a 
 
 Supplied in large quantities, it is presumed that all of 
 these prices for tubular drains would admit of considerable 
 reduction. The following estimates for works, as ordered 
 by the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers in the months 
 
128 PRICES OF PIPE SEWERS 
 
 of April and May, 1849, contain some useful figures as to 
 the cost of works of this class :— 
 
 Quantities. ; Localities, Estimated 
 
 245 ft. of 12 in. pipe ] To be put down an open sewer in South- 
 sewer . } ampton Street, Nine Elms, Surrey . 39 0 0 
 
 400 ft. of 9 in. and) To be put down in St. Mark’s Road, 
 500 ft. of 12in. . . Kennington . .,.» « © ©) auueinn escent 
 
 485 ft. of 12in. . . To be put down in James Street, Ken- 
 nington +40, ¢ | Yeyhuie Shen) Ee ees he 
 
 400 ft. of 9 in. and) To be put down on the south side of 
 415 ft.of 12in. . . Kennington Common . . . . . 11718 9 
 
 700 ft. of 4in. . . To be put down on the north side of 
 Kennington Common . . - ap 70" ® 
 
 483 ft. of sewer, 3 ft.) To be put down in the W jonny 
 6 in. by 2 ft. 8 in. Road, Camberwell .\ 4). sa sleuos aia 
 
 95 ft. of 18 in. pipe To be put down in Great Guildford 
 Aa Street, SG oi Ae ba) ieee ee a 
 TOON, LD AN, ees) ats o 8 8 eo: 0} 9) a on ees 
 665 ft. of 9 in.” ~. .~In’an open'ditch™ .” .  .) . sanee 
 
 800 ft. of half-brick sewer, 8 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 3 in. and 158 ft. — 
 
 of 12-in. pipe.sewer {)\ sje 6 lll elle lie! e © pints nena OnE 
 240 ft. of 9 im, . «© 1» jp \1e\) wie be Ne ) «filename 
 
 From these estimates the average costs of supplying 
 and laying the pipe sewers of several sizes appear to be as 
 follow :— 
 
 8. 
 »4in, 2,0 0 ch.) 2) OF Oe 
 OA. .4 5 keds Bes ee 
 
 99 
 
 12 in. e ri e ° ; e 3 3 99 
 TDN... su 5 os fe ue, - 
 18 in. {as pee 
 
 99 
 
 And of the scare sewer, half a brick thick, and 
 measuring 8 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 3 in., 6s. 103d. per foot. 
 
 364. In commonly good soils brick sewers may be con- 
 structed of a single half brick, or 44 in. in thickness, of 
 curved form, of considerable size. In the Finsbury division, 
 half brick egg-shaped sewers have been constructed, 4 ft. 
 6 in. by 2 ft. 9 in., and are found sufficient. Sewers of 
 
EGG-SHAPED SEWERS. ° 129 
 
 these dimensions would be ample for the mains of properly 
 limited and defined districts. If the soil be of a loose and 
 uncertain character, it will be necessary to build them 9 in. 
 in thickness, or two half-brick rings. In the small curve 
 of the invert all brick-built sewers should be very carefully 
 constructed, the unavoidable interstices between the bricks 
 (if of the common square form) being filled in with pieces 
 of slate or tile, and the whole floated in with cement to 
 make it as one solid mass. If this be not honestly done 
 and carefully superintended, the action of the declivity will 
 be nullified by irregularities in the interior surface of the 
 waterway, and a liability created to the formation of bars 
 by the settlement of the solid portions of the sewage. 
 Kgg-shaped sewers 3 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 6 in., in an average 
 excavation of 15 ft., have been executed at a cost of about 
 14s. per lineal foot in the neighbourhood of London. 
 These sewers were built half a brick in thickness and in 
 cement throughout, and the cost included excavation and 
 refilling the soil. 
 
 365. Eegg-shaped sewers formed according to the rule 
 given (362), built half a brick in thickness and with inverts 
 in cement, in an average excavation of 10 ft., may be esti- 
 mated to cost per lineal foot as follow :— 
 
 Pia, toe: Kt. In. Kags st) Oe 
 Class 4. 0.x 2.8 10 0 per lineal foot. 
 Morar OX A, 8 6 +3 
 Pea) 0.x), 2...0 (my, ke 
 eee OX 1, 8). D> 6 x 
 eee Onx 14... 4,6 
 
 99 
 
 866. In forming the connections of drains with each 
 other, viz. those of the house drains with the branch drains 
 or sewers, and of these with the mains, through the several 
 classes of sizes which it may be necessary to adopt, two 
 rules should be in all cases imperatively insisted upon,— 
 first, that all junctions shall be formed with curves, and of 
 as large radii as possible in the direction of the current; 
 
 a 3 
 
130 CONSTRUCTION OF SEWERS. 
 
 and, secondly, that wherever a minor drain discharges into 
 a larger one, the bed of the former shall be kept as much 
 as possible above that of the latter as the relative sizes of 
 the two sewers will admit 
 
 367. The importance of the first of these rules has 
 been long recognised and admits of proof, both theoretical - 
 and practical. It is found that in a sewer of 2 ft. 6 in. in 
 width, -a stream of water, flowing with a velocity equal to 
 250 ft. per minute, meets a resistance in suffering a change 
 of direction, the amount of which depends upon the direct- 
 ness with which that change is made; the resistance occa- 
 sioned being three times as great by a right angle as by a 
 curve of 20 ft. radius, and double that produced by a curve 
 of 5 ft. radius. The resistance thus diminishes as the radius 
 of curvature of the junction is increased. The effect of junc- 
 tions in which considerable resistance is opposed to the free 
 passage of the sewage is, that the solid particles become 
 deposited, and, being left by the flowing water, they accu- 
 mulate until a bar is formed, which still further impedes 
 the progress of the sewage, and eventually arrests it alto- 
 gether. 
 
 868. The practical value of keeping the mouths of minor 
 sewers above the level of the bed of the mains into which 
 they discharge, arises from the prevention by this means of 
 a return of the sewage up the minor drains, supposing 
 a deficient declivity or any untoward circumstance should 
 produce a retrograde movement within the mam. The 
 connection should also be formed in the most perfect 
 manner, so that the mingling of the currents shall not 
 have the effect of impeding either of them. The mouth 
 of the minor drain should be spread into a bell-form, and 
 the whole surface of the junction made solid and even with 
 good cement. 
 
 369. The upper connections of the minor sewers, viz 
 with the house drains, are small works, requiring the 
 greatest care and circumspection. ‘hey are frequently 
 disregarded and carelessly executed, because they appear 
 
CONNECTIONS OF SEWERS. 131 
 
 individually trivial matters; and, moreover, are trouble- 
 some and tedious, and correspondingly expensive. But it 
 is clear that the efficiency of the entire arrangement of any 
 system of town drainage is primarily dependent upon the 
 completeness with which the individual drains of houses 
 convey the separate contributions of sewage into the minor 
 or branch drains. If these tributaries fail, the trunk of 
 course remains idle, and all care bestowed on the larger 
 works is thrown away. Supposing the house drains to be 
 formed with clay or stone-ware pipes, and the receiving 
 branch sewer to be of the same material, lengths of the 
 latter should be introduced at intervals having sockets into 
 which the ends of the house drains may be fitted. If the 
 branch sewer be of brickwork, the junction of the house 
 drains should be carefully made good with a ring of cement, 
 and the work nicely finished on the interior surface. It 
 will of course be necessary to lay these house drains and 
 branch sewers at the same time (if the latter are of brick 
 work and not large enough to admit a workman), in order 
 to complete this work in the best manner. And as this is 
 not always convenient, the stone-ware pipes offer the great 
 advantage of jointing without any hand work inside the 
 branch, by simply laying the branch sewers with sufficient 
 socket outlet lengths at intervals, which may be communi- 
 cated with by house drains at any future time, the sockets © 
 being temporarily plugged up with wood. 
 
 370. The lower ends of the main sewers will communi- 
 cate with the receiving wells, and should be well lipped 
 downwards to promote the ready discharge of the sewage 
 the moment it arrives at the mouth. These being principal 
 works, and few in number, are more likely to be well at- 
 tended to and carefully executed than the multiplied minor 
 connections. The wells, adapted in capacity to the quantity 
 of sewage they are intended to contain, will require sub- 
 stantial and sound work. Being in towns necessarily sunk 
 to some depth in the ground, the cylinder will be the best 
 form in which to construct them. Behind and around the 
 
182 ACCESS TO SEWERS 
 
 brickwork a backing of concrete should be filled in, the 
 excavation being made sufficiently large for this purpose, 
 and the whole interior surface should be lined with cement 
 or asphalte. If this be done it will not be necessary to — 
 build the work in cement, although this would, perhaps, be 
 a wise additional precaution. Proper economy in this mat- 
 ter will be best arrived at by experiments, upon which an 
 adequate. sum of money would be well expended before 
 extensive operations are commenced. 
 
 371. Means of access to the main sewers are best afforded 
 by side entrances, such as those which have been introduced 
 in the Holborn and Finsbury division for the purposes of 
 inspection and flushing. Although, if the entire system 
 were properly constructed, no necessity could occur for 
 artificial cleansing, it will be desirable to provide means of 
 getting at the interior of the main sewers at intervals, and 
 the side entrances referred to are well adapted for this pur- 
 pose. The side entrance consists of a vertical square or 
 rectangular aperture, formed in brickwork, and covered by 
 a hinged iron cover, fitted in the foot-pavement of the 
 street. This aperture is carried down to a level of about 
 2 ft. above the bed of the main sewer, and terminates in a 
 short passage or tunnel, which opens into the side of the 
 sewer. The vertical entrance is provided with hand-irons, 
 built into the wall, by which descent and ascent are ren- 
 dered easy. 
 
 872. We have already insisted on the necessity of so 
 arranging and constructing the sewers of a town that they 
 shall not require any cleansing by hand, and have denied * 
 the condition of admitting workmen as an essential one in 
 determining the size of sewers. A sewer cannot be con- 
 sidered as properly constructed if it retain the matters 
 committed to it in a quiescent condition. It should act 
 simply as a place of passage, and instantly transfer the 
 sewage onward towards the receiving well. Failing in this 
 purpose, and containing all the solid matters in a con- 
 stantly-growing accumulation, the sewers of a town act as 
 
CLEANSING SEWERS ~~ A&E 
 
 combined cesspools, and the several gully-holes serve as 
 the outlets for the escape into the atmosphere of some of 
 the deadly gases constantly engendering below The ex- 
 pense of cleansing by hand is, moreover, an item of con- 
 siderable importance, although, of course, never incurred 
 until the subterranean nuisance becomes intolerable. In 
 the Holborn and Finsbury division, the cost of removing 
 the soil from the sewers provided with man holes is about 
 7s. per cubic yard, and from those without, 11s. per cubic 
 yard, including the expense of breaking the arch and 
 making it good again. 
 
 373. The method of cleansing the sewers in which 
 matter accumulates, by flushing water through them, was 
 practised to a great extent in the Holborn and Finsbury 
 division of sewers, and has been adopted by the New 
 Metropolitan Commission of Sewers. The principle of 
 this method consists simply in retaining the sewage water 
 for a period of time by flushing gates fitted in the sewer, 
 and periodically admitting the accumulated water to pass 
 by opening the gates, and thus producing an artificial rush 
 sufficient to carry all accumulations before it. The relative 
 economy of the process, as practised in the Holborn and 
 Finsbury division, and, as compared with the hand clean- 
 sing, was stated as follows :— 
 
 Washing away 6688 cubic yards of deposit by 
 board-dams (a process always performed 
 preparatory to fixing and using the flush- FE ag 
 ing apparatus) . « O44 12) 7 
 Putting inside entrances svt flushing gates 1293 0 0 
 
 £19387 12 7 
 
 The cost of removing these 6688 cubic yards by hand 
 would have amounted to 2387/. The preliminary cleansing 
 and providing flushing apparatus were, therefore, effected 
 at a saving of 449]. 7s. 5d. The current expenses of the 
 two methods are thus stated : — 
 
134 FLUSHING SEWERS. 
 
 : an Ae 
 Annual cost of cleansing 16 miles of sewers by 
 hand . ' ‘ : ‘ whe Ma 3 AO 
 Annual cost of cleansing 16 miles of sewers by 
 working flushing gates. . . 106 0 0 
 
 Annual saving by flushing method £220 17 0 
 
 The cost of this method, as subsequently practised under 
 the New Metropolitan Commission of Sewers, has been 
 reported as being about one-third that of cleansing by 
 hand; thus 22,400 ft. of sewers, in which the deposit varied 
 from 6 in. to 3 ft. 6 in. (in depth) were cleansed, and 3386 
 double loads washed away at an expense of 500/., whick 
 process, under the old system, would have cost 1500/. 
 
 374. The method of flushing is attended with one, and 
 that a very serious, evil consequence, and the mischief of 
 which is the greater in proportion to the force and velocity, 
 and corresponding efficiency of the process. ‘This is, the 
 violent driving forward of the foul gases with which the 
 otherwise vacant portion of a sewer holding stagnant refuse 
 is usually filled. The flushing of the higher part of an 
 extended line of sewer is thus frequently productive of a 
 rising of these gases into the house-drains connected with 
 the lower portion of the sewer, and any imperfection in the 
 trapping of these admits the most noisome effluvia into the 
 houses, while the streets are always poisoned with the 
 gases thus driven up through the gratings and gully holes. 
 Sometimes, indeed, the flushing water is forced into the 
 house-drains, and, of course, occasions a total suspension 
 of the flow of the sewage in the reverse direction. Accord- 
 ingly, we find that the process of flushing has been dis- 
 continued during the warm season, the very time when 
 it is most needed as an artificial means of cleansing the 
 sewers. 
 
 875. For the efficient cleansing of the streets and 
 thoroughfares of a’town two provisions are requisite, viz. 
 an abundant supply of water for occasional application, 
 
OLEANSING STREETS. 135 
 
 when the self-supply of rain is suspended, and a complete 
 arrangement of sewers through which to discharge all the 
 surface-water when its purpose of cleansing has been ful- 
 filled. For the supply of water, the system of constant 
 supply affords the greatest facilities, giving an instant com- 
 mand of the required quantity. 
 
 376. It has been ascertained in London, that one ton of 
 water is sufficient to lay the dust over a surface of 600 
 square yards of gravel or macadamized roads, or of 400 
 square yards of granite paved streets. The average number 
 of days per annum in which it is found, from twenty years’ 
 experience, to be necessary to apply water for this purpose, 
 is about 120. The common charge for this work is at the 
 rate of 2d. per square yard for the season, the water being 
 applied only once per diem, or 501. per mile of a main road. 
 The common assessment per house for watering roads 
 twice a day is ll. for the season. The cost of doing the 
 same work by means of jets, supplied from the main water- 
 pipes, is estimated at 5s. per house. At Nottingham, where 
 the constant service of water is rendered, a charge of 7s. 6d: 
 per annum is made for a single street plug, by which some 
 of the proprietors of shops command a ready supply, at all 
 times, for watering the street in front of their own premises, 
 and often of the adjoining houses also. 
 
 377. The scouring effect of jets of water thrown upon 
 the surface of the streets is far greater than when merely 
 dropped or thrown from the perforated pipe of a water- 
 
 cart. A single jet, supplied with a force equal to throw the 
 water vertically upward to a height of fifty feet, will, directed 
 at an angle of 45°, command an area of about 2000 square 
 yards, and this surface will be really cleansed by the pro- 
 cess, whereas the mere distribution of the water, without 
 "pressure, wets without cleansing. The mud which is formed 
 on the surface of the streets, during certain states of the 
 weather, is well known to have an unctuous character, which 
 resists all cleansing action less vigorous than that of jets of 
 water under pressure 
 
1386. CONVEYANCE OF WATER. 
 
 378. The position of the main sewers beneath the streets 
 of a town affords ready means of directly discharging the 
 waste waters from their surface. The adaptation of the 
 sewers for this purpose requires inlets, at intervals, fitted 
 with iron gratings, by which large substances are prevented 
 from passing into the sewers. These inlets and gratings 
 being situated at the sides of the carriage-way, while the 
 sewer is beneath the middle of it, they communicate by 
 means of transverse drains or passages, which should be 
 formed with sufficient declivity to prevent any accumulation 
 of surface-water or road-sweepings beneath the gratings. 
 The narrower the interstices between the bars of the grat- 
 ings are, the better. Very small spaces will suffice to admit 
 the water with great rapidity, and also the mud which is 
 formed upon the surface of the streets, and the narrow 
 spaces are useful in preventing the admission of these mat- 
 ters during heavy showers with a force which might endan- 
 ger the safety of the sewers 
 
 SECTION Y. 
 
 Conveyance of Water.—Piping, Aqueducts, Reservoirs.— Pumping Appa- 
 ratus, Steam Draining and Pumping, &e. 
 
 379. For the conveyance of water from upper surfaces 
 and sources to towns, open channels, or aqueducts, some- 
 times afford cheaper means than the laying of piping be- 
 neath the surface of the ground. In supplying water from 
 these sources to some of the towns in Scotland, Mr. Thom 
 has had occasion to construct several miles of aqueducts 
 and in preference to adopting direct lines, which are com 
 monly obtained at great cost in the necessary aqueduct 
 bridges for crossing valleys and other expensive works for 
 meeting the difficulties presented by the natural rugged- 
 ness of the country, Mr. Thom designs his aqueducts by 
 winding along the slopes, however circuitous the course ~ 
 thus involved, and descending only with such a fall as will 
 
NEW RIVER 137 
 
 allow the water to flow with a gentle current. Aqueducts 
 thus formed are simply artificial rivers, and the entire 
 expense is limited to that of constructing suitable banks 
 and bed for the channel. An aqueduct thus constructed 
 at Greenock, passes through very rugged ground, and has 
 cost not more than 400/. per mile. The New River, by 
 which a large section of London is supplied with water 
 from the springs of Chadwell and Amwell, with an addi- 
 tional supply out of the river Lea, near Chadwell, in Hert- 
 fordshire, is a fine example of an aqueduct of this kind. 
 This channel, the enterprise of Sir Hugh Middleton, was 
 commenced in 1609, and completed in 16138. The direct 
 length between its extremities is about 20 miles, but its 
 actual length is 39 miles. The average annual quantity 
 supplied by this aqueduct is 614,087,768 cubic feet. De- 
 ducting from this the larger consumers and street-watering, 
 together about 33,529,400 cubic feet, the remaining 
 580,558,368 cubic feet per annum are equal to about 463 
 cubic feet per tenement, supplied each alternate day. The 
 reservoirs, in which this supply is stored, are equal to con- 
 tain the quantity consumed in seven days, or 11,774,006 
 cubic feet. 
 
 380. The city of New York is partially supplied with 
 water from the Croton river by an aqueduct 40 miles in 
 length, The receiving reservoir of these works con- 
 tains 150,000,000 gallons, and the distributing reservoir 
 21,000,000 gallons. The supply is effected without either 
 pumps or water-wheels. An interesting work of this kind, 
 a suspension aqueduct, has been constructed for a canal 
 over the Alleghany river at Pittsburgh. This aqueduct 
 consists of seven spans of 160 ft. each, from centre to cen- 
 tre of pier. On the piers are pyramids rising 5 ft. above 
 the level of the side walk and towing-path, and measuring 
 3 ft. by 5 ft. on the top, and 4 ft by 6 ft. 6 in. at the base. 
 The two wire cables which support the structure are placed 
 one on each side. Each is 7 in. diameter, perfectly solid 
 and compact and constructed in one piece from shore to 
 
138 CROTON AQUEDUCT. 
 
 shore, 1175 ft. long, of 1900 wires of 3 in. thickness. Each 
 wire is varnished separately, and the whole cable has a 
 close, compact, and continuous wrapping of annealed wire 
 laid on by machinery. Transverse beams of timber, 27 ft. 
 long, and 16 x 6 in., are placed in pairs at 4 ft. apart. 
 Each pair of these beams is supported on each side of the 
 aqueduct with a double stirrup of 1 in. round iron, 
 mounted on a small saddle of cast iron, which rests on the 
 cable. Into these beams, wooden posts 7 x 7 in. at top, - 
 and 7 x by 14 in. at bottom, are mortised. These posts 
 are the side supports of the water-trunk, which is of wood, 
 1140 ft. in length, 14 ft. wide at bottom, and 163 ft. wide 
 at top, and 83 ft. deep. The sides and bottom are com- 
 posed of a double course of 24 in. white pine, placed so 
 that each course crosses the other diagonally at a right 
 angle. The extremities of the cables do not extend below the 
 ground, but are connected with anchor-chains which, in 
 curved lines, pass through the masonry of the abutments. 
 The bars of these chains average 13 x 4 in., and from 
 4 to 12 ft. in length. They are formed of boiler scrap 
 iron, and forged in single pieces without welds ‘The ex- 
 treme links are anchored to cast-iron plates 6 ft. square. 
 The total length of each cable and its chains is 1283 ft., 
 and the weight of both cables 110 tons. ‘The weight of 
 water in each span (4 ft. deep in the trough) is 295 tons. 
 The total solid section of anchor chains is 72 superficial 
 inches. Deflection of chains, 14 ft.6in Elevation of 
 pyramids above piers, 16 ft. 6in. The tension of each 
 wire is 206 lbs., while its ultimate strength will be 
 1100 lbs. 
 
 381. Cast-iron pipes are now universally employed for 
 the conveyance of water. They are formed with socket 
 ends, so that all necessary motion is permitted according to 
 the expansion and contraction of the metal, caused by va- 
 riations of temperature. Until the commencement of the 
 present century all the water supplied by companies to 
 London was conveyed in pipes bored out of elm, and at 
 
WATER-PIPES. - 489 
 
 that time the New River Company had 400 miles of these 
 wooden pipes in use. The general use of water-closets 
 among the higher class of tenants, about the year 1809, led 
 to the projection of new companies, who undertook to meet 
 the growing want of water-supply at high service, by the 
 use of steam power and iron pipes, a duty for which the 
 old wooden pipes were inadequate. The bore of the 
 wooden mains was from 6 to 7 in., and of the service pipes 
 38in. The principal iron mains now vary from 12 to 30 in. 
 in diameter; the sub-mains are 6 and 7 in., and the service 
 pipes usually 4 in. ‘The interior of the cast-iron pipes 
 used for conveying water should be coated with a prepa- 
 ration of lime-water, to prevent corrosion and the conse- 
 quent injurious effect upon the quality and flavour of the 
 water. 
 
 382. Several methods have been adopted for forming the 
 joints of iron water-pipes. Originally they were formed 
 with flanges screwed together, but these were rapidly de- 
 stroyed by the variations in the total length of piping pro- 
 duced by changes in temperature. Socket joints were then 
 introduced, the joining parts being so formed that an annu- 
 lar space is left within the socket, and outside the entering 
 pipe, for a ring of solder to be poured in, for the purpose 
 of making the joint water-tight. An improvement has been 
 effected in this kind of joint, by making the parts to fit 
 each other, and turning them accurately to a conical form 
 so that a water-tight joint is produced without any stuffing 
 or packing of any kind, a little whiting and tallow only 
 being used to assist the close adhesion of the parts. ‘This 
 kind of joint is so perfect that it has been adopted in form- 
 ing the joints of a steam-engine suction pipe, 30 in. in dia- 
 meter, with perfect success. Wooden plugs of suitable 
 taper form have also been successfully and economically 
 applied for forming the socket joints of water-pipes pre- 
 pared with an annular space, in which they are driven. 
 
 $83 The weights of cast-iron pipes, as applied for 
 
140 SIZE AND WEIGHT OF WATER-PIPES. 
 
 water-supply, are as follows, according to the size or diame- 
 ter of the bore. 
 
 In. Cwt. qrs. lbs. 
 
 8 diameter of bore . ; egy Bae ) 7 
 Ai,» ne 1074s 
 pitas y; a RCue Loy S_ 0a 
 Boras. & ; ~ 29 0 aie 
 7 ” ” e e de a a) Lg. 
 8 ” ” ° .. 4. 0, 0 Tene 
 apa % oh ae 
 12 9 0 4 Gee 
 Do Aria: < soalilet_gt Pape 2 S 
 36s ” « Luo a «ted iene ai J 
 
 884. In determining the proper size for pipes, according 
 to the quantity to be conveyed, the following formula has 
 been employed— 
 
 Lise 
 
 15\/ hj 
 in which q represents the number of gallons to be delivered 
 per hour, / the length of the pipe in yards, h the head in 
 feet, and d the diameter of the pipe in inches. In applying 
 this formula, Mr. Hawksley, Engineer to the Trent Water- 
 Works Company, calculates that for supplying a street of 
 
 aati: 
 
 600 yards in length, the total length should be divided into ° 
 
 three spaces of 200 yards each, and the quantity allowed 
 for each of these spaces should be respectively as fol- 
 lows :— 
 Gallons per diem. 
 Final 200 yards ; ’ - 13,000 
 Middle 200 yards, 11,000 n 13,000 = 24,000 
 First 200 yards, 8,000 + 24,000 = 32,000 
 
 The calculation also assumes that the delivery of these 
 entire quantities will take place in four hours, and that the 
 whole of the water taken off from each length has to be 
 passed to the end of that length. The delivery of these 
 quantities respectively will require, according to the formula 
 quoted, pipes of the following sizes :— 
 
 Ty a 
 
COST OF PUMPING 14] 
 
 Inches. 
 
 For the first 200 yards ; . 62 diameter. 
 » middle 200 yards ; » th 53 
 » final 200 yards. ; ab/6 " 
 
 Adding about half an inch to each of these for possible 
 contraction by corrosion, the practical diameters become 
 6 in., 5 in., and 4 in. respectively. The difference in 
 the size of pipes needed for the intermittent and the con- 
 stant supply systems is exhibited in the following com- 
 parative statement :— 
 
 Periodical ‘ Constant 
 Supply. Supply. 
 Mains , , 20 in. diameter . 12 in. diameter. 
 23, . e 7 29 ' > 5 2) 
 ” ‘ ‘ 6 $9 * 4 ” 
 Service pipes 38 — Sex 2 
 
 385. Of the cost of raising water with pumps worked 
 by steam-engines exaggerated conceptions are frequently 
 formed, and it is therefore desirable to collect the best 
 evidence on this subject. from which it appears that this 
 cost is really an insignificant item, when the expense of the 
 power is fairly compared with the quantity of water raised, 
 as appears from the table of results (page 143), as stated by 
 Mr. Wicksteed :—In all these cases the -coals are taken at 
 12s. per ton, and all charges for working the engine, coals, 
 labour, and stores, are included, but no charge is allowed 
 for interest upon outlay, or repairs of machinery and build- 
 ings. ‘To raise 160,000,000 of gallons 100 ft. high would 
 cost according to the 
 
 Ist statement . j : » £3862 
 Qnd “ ‘ ; ; 238 
 ord x ; : : : 222 
 4th fe z . 100 
 
 386. Of the performance of Taylors pumping engine, 
 in use at the United Mines, the late Mr. Farey made the fol- 
 lowing computation :— The average duty performed by this 
 engine during the years 1841 and 1842 was equal to the 
 
142 COST OF PUMPING. 
 
 raising of 953 millions pounds weight of water, 1 foot high, 
 by the combustion of 1 bushel of coal. Each bushel of 
 coal weighs about 94 lbs., therefore each lb. of coal con- 
 sumed by Taylor’s engine raises 1,000,000 lbs. of water 
 1 ft. high. The unit of horse-power adopted by Mr. Watt, 
 viz. a force equal to 33,000 lbs., acting through a space of 
 1 ft. per minute, is found to be half as much more as the 
 average performance of a good draught horse working 
 8 hours a day and 6 days a week. A steam engine which 
 raises 94,000,000 per bushel (as Taylor’s engine does) con- 
 sumes only 1:98 lbs. of coal per hour for each horse power 
 which it exerts independently of overcoming its own fric- 
 tion, and that of the pumps ‘That is, when it exerts a 
 power equal to that of 100 horses, it consumes only 198 lbs. 
 of coal per hour. 
 
 387. Mr. Hawksley has furnished a compendious state- 
 ment of his experience in raising and conveyance of water 
 for the town of Nottingham, to this effect :—“The cost of 
 transmitting water to a distance of 5 miles, and to a height 
 of 200 ft., including wear and tear of pumping machinery, 
 fuel, labour, interest of capital invested in pipes, reservoirs, 
 engines, &., amounts to about 24d. per ton.” The same 
 gentleman calculates the resistance from friction in convey- 
 ing water in pipes according to the formula 
 
 in which p represents the horse-power necessary to over- 
 come the friction, / the length of the pipe in inches, qg the 
 quantity of water to be delivered in one second in gallons, 
 and d the diameter of the pipe in inches. For the trans- 
 mission of 500 gallons of water per second, two mains, 
 each of 60 in. diameter, would be required, and the resist- 
 ance arising from friction in these mains, 25 miles long, 
 would, according to this formula, require about 450-horse 
 power. The power required to raise this quantity to a re- 
 servoir at a height of 220 ft. would amount to that of 2000 
 horses nominally. The total power required to raise and 
 
TABLE OF RESULTS 
 
 143 
 
 transmit a distance of 25 miles, through pipes, 500 gallons 
 of water per second would thus equal that of 2450 horses. 
 These figures are sufficient to show that the cost of raising 
 and transmitting water by steam power is so small in pro- 
 portion to the quantity of water thus placed at our com- 
 mand, that a pure but distant source may generally be eco- 
 nomically applied in preference to supplying an inferior 
 
 quality of water from more proximate sources 
 
 | Cost of 
 
 : Height | Raisin 
 Description of Engines. Quantity of |to which|1q)0Gal- 
 Water Raised the _ | jons 100 
 
 per Diem. | Water is| Peet 
 
 Raised. | High. 
 
 —S> 
 
 Gallons. .| Feet. d. 
 1. A single pumping engine, ) 
 by Boulton and Watt, in | 
 1809, working 104 hours 612,360 | 100 "543 
 per diem, 6 days per week, ( ; 
 mean power 294 horses.) 
 (Average of 2 years’ working.) 
 
 gines, by Boulton and Watt, 
 in 1809, working 24 hours f 
 per diem, 7 days per week, f p,928 280 he ts 
 mean power of each engine } 
 0 ES ee 
 (Average of 10 years’ working.) 
 
 2. Two single pumping | 
 
 3. Two single pumping en-) 
 gines, by Boulton and Watt, 
 one in 1816, and one in ; 
 
 1828, working 12 hours +} 3,601,116 | 100 "3338 
 
 per diem, 7 days per week, 
 
 mean power of each td 
 
 gine 76 horses . . . .J 
 (Average of 10 years’ working.) 
 
 4, One single pumping en-) 
 gine, by Harvey and (Co., 
 upon the expansive prin- 
 ciple, in 1837, working 24 >} 4,107,816 | 110 150 
 hours per diem, 7 days per 
 week, mean power 951 
 Pee). 
 
 (Average of 4 years’ working.) 
 
 No. of 
 Gallons 
 Raised 100 
 Feet High 
 for One 
 
 Penny. 
 
 22,099 
 
 33,519 
 
 36,036 
 
 80,000 
 
DIVISION II. 
 
 DRAINAGE OF BUILDINGS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Classification of Buildings. 
 
 888. THE principal classes of buildings, as subjects for 
 water-supply and drainage, are—1l, Dwellings; 2, Manufac- 
 tories; and 3, Public Buildings. Each of these admits of 
 several subdivisions, which should be briefly enumerated, 
 in order to indicate the extent to which they are recipients 
 of pure water and contributors of refuse matters to the sum 
 total of town sewage 
 
 389. Dwellings are to be sub-classified according to the 
 superficial area which they occupy, and the average number 
 of residents whom they accommodate, and the arrange- 
 ments to be provided for the joint purposes of supplying 
 water and discharging sewage are required to be propor- 
 tional to these two data combined. Upon the extent of 
 area the quantity of rain water will depend, and this has to 
 be entered in the account in two ways, first, as affording an 
 integral portion of the supply, and secondly, as contributing | 
 to the sum of the sewage. ‘The principal datum will be the 
 number of persons for whom water is required in each 
 dwelling, and each of whom will yield an average share of 
 the refuse to be removed. The calculations of Water Com- 
 panies are usually based upon the rental paid for each house 
 as an index to the consumption of water within it, and in 
 this way they recognise an almost infinite number of 
 classes. It is clear, however, that the mere rental fur- 
 nishes no exact criterion of the number of occupants of a 
 house. Nor would the number of rooms in a dwelling 
 
SUPPLY OF WATER TO DWELLINGS 145 
 
 show this with much incre accuracy. On the contrary, it 
 is well known that houses of small rental and compara- 
 tively few apartments are frequently receptacles of a greater 
 number of human beings than the more costly and capa- 
 cious habitations of the wealthy classes. Nevertheless, it 
 is a fact, that, with the present habits of the poorer sections 
 of the population, the rental is generally in approximate 
 proportion to the quantity of water consumed,—a fact to be 
 accounted for only upon the recognised and deplorable 
 principle that poverty and uncleanliness are mutual ex- 
 ponents and companions in the social condition of civi- 
 lised beings. 
 
 390. We have estimated (283) 20 gallons as the average 
 daily quantity for each inhabitant of a town, and have sup- 
 posed this quantity to be sufficient to allow also for an or- 
 dinary proportion of manufacturing operations, for the sup- 
 ply of public buildings, and for the extinction of fires (284). 
 This estimate is founded upon the experience had in several 
 towns in which the supply is considered adequate. Reserv- 
 ing the details of the appropriation of this quantity for the 
 next section, we now refer to this general estimate as the 
 datum upon which the proper supply of water to dwelling- 
 houses should be provided, and as being at least approxi- 
 mately correct, if the service be constant, and proper in- 
 ducements be offered to all classes to cultivate habits of 
 ‘cleanliness. We would, therefore, subdivide the First Class 
 of Buildings or Dwellings according to the average number 
 of occupants of each, and provide the means of water-sup- 
 ply and drainage accordingly. 
 
 391. The Second Class of Buildings, or Manufactories, 
 including all consumers beyond households, admits ot a 
 subdivision according to the operations carried on. Che- 
 mical works, including those for dyeing, calico-printing, 
 &¢., rank high as consumers of water. Factories for the 
 making of paper, distilleries, breweries, bakehouses, malt- 
 ing-rooms, slaughter-houses, stables, &c., also consume 
 large quantities. Steam-engines are among the wholesale 
 
 H 
 
146 SUPPLY OF WATER TO MANUFACTORIES. 
 
 consumers. The charges made by the Nottingham Trent 
 Water-Works Company are worth quoting m reference to 
 the consumption of water, as their supply is constant, and 
 provides for high-service, the two essential conditions of a 
 complete water-supply. ‘The charges for house service \ac- 
 cording to rental, varying from 51. to 100/.) are from 4s. to 
 60s. annually, being 10s. for 10J. rental ; 20s. for 281. or 244 
 rental ; 80s. for 39/. or 401. rental; 42s. for 60/. rental; 50s. 
 for a rental from 71l. to 75/.; and 60s. for 1002. rental. ‘he 
 incidental charges are as follow :— 
 
 a a. 
 Stable and one horse . ‘ ° ° ° Rater ee 
 Stable and more than one horse, fot edzh faite . . . » 2.86 
 Cows, each ; 5 4 ; ; 5 : ‘ 5 1 6 
 Warehouses—upwards from . ; ° , F ° shart 0 
 Offices ‘ ; . > ° ° ° ° . 3 2B 0 
 Gardens . . . . . . : ° - 2. 0 
 Private baths in a waning Noteee’ ° . ; ° . 57210? 0 
 Slaughter-houses : . . : . ° : : 5 0 
 Water-closets in private houses . : : ; : ‘ -10 0 
 Water-closets in warehouses, &c. . ' » : 5 - - 20. 0 
 Victuallers’ brewhouses, two brewings per week . . ° « 20D 
 Ditto ditto, less than twice per week. . 4 econ 
 Pipe for watering street in front of private house . r 70 
 Boilers of high-pressure steam-engines, working 10 hours bee aie 
 per horse power. . . 9 0 
 Lace-dressing rooms, per } mute in ako vice hen 6 - 0. 22 
 Ditto ditto, double frames. ’ . . . Bi Ba 
 Bakehouses 5 ° ‘ ‘ 5s. to 8 0 
 Malt-rooms, per hha of thal buikiners in steeping cistern. 2 6 
 Water consumed in erection of new buildings, per yard superficial 
 on plan of each story . : va Opt 
 
 Water consumed in erection of fines «ism per ane nape ry OF 
 Mill-hands, for drinking and washing en per individual em- 
 
 ploved . ; : . Poy, | ee 
 Workhouses, including baths and nae rooms, per indiyidull on 
 the average of the whole year . : ° : . . 2 a6 
 
 The supplies to dyers, &c., are estimated and charged for 
 according to the size of the service pipes, by the following 
 scale :— 
 
SUPPLY OF WATER TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 147 
 
 Estimated 
 Diameter of Pipe. 
 
 Supply. Charge. 
 
 Inches. Gallons. £3 «da 
 oe ee 50,000 110 0 
 g. . ° ° . : 100,000 212 0 
 3. ° ° ° ° 200,000 412 0 
 4. e . . ° ° 800,000 610 0 
 Rot ° ° : . - ‘ 400,000 S. Gund 
 14. ° . . . . a 500,000 Gift pa tba | 
 1}. . . . : . . 600,000 LY) 32:0 
 ie andl ins 4 : ‘ , 700,000 13 2 0 
 Te Od 1 xy yo . ° . : 800,000 1410 0 
 ed 900,000 1516 0 
 ljandl,, . : . . . 1,000,000 Vise Of: 0 
 liandl},, . . . « -| 2,000,000 382 0 0 
 1} and 1},, Meme i. 4. |: 8,000,000 45 0 0 
 
 The waste water from condensing steam-engines of 500- 
 horse power in the aggregate will amount to at least 1500 
 gallons per minute, or 3 gallons per minute per horse 
 power. 
 
 392. Public buildings requiring constant service are to be 
 divided according to the number of residents or persons to 
 be supplied. Thus, union workhouses, prisons, lunatic 
 asylums, &c., are to be provided at the minimum rate of 
 20 gallons per diem for each occupant. Baths and wash- 
 houses require quantities in proportion to the maximum 
 number of bathers and washers. Churches, theatres, and 
 other places of public congregation are to be supplied for 
 cleansing purposes according to the cubic contents of each 
 building, In the baths, it may be estimated that a bulk of 
 water measuring 6 ft. in length by 13 ft. in width, and | ft. 
 in depth will suffice for the ablution of each person. This 
 quantity of water will equal 9 cubic ft., or about 54 gallons. 
 The cost of supplying 1000 gallons by the Nottingham 
 Trent Water-Works Company is, as we have seen (para- 
 graph 319) 2°88d., or nearly 3d., and, as this quantity will 
 be adequate to supply about 19 baths, the expense of water 
 
 H 2 
 
148 EXPENSE OF BATHS. 
 
 per bath will be something less than one-sixth of a penny. 
 The expense of fuel for heating 100 hogsheads of water— 
 sufficient for 100 of these baths—from a medium temper- 
 ature of 52° to 98°, including the replacing of heat lost by 
 radiation, evaporation, and conduction, may be taken at 
 about 540 Ibs. of Newcastle coal, which at London prices 
 may be averaged to cost 6s. The cost of heating each bath 
 will thus amount to about :75d., and including the water, 
 ‘916d., or less than 3d. If as much more be added for 
 attendance, and a similar amount for interest on capital in 
 building, and for incidentals, it appears that a hot bath may 
 be well afforded at a charge of 3d. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Supply of Water Levels.— Constant Service.—Quantity required.—Cisterns. 
 —Reservoirs.—Filters.— Valves and Apparatus.—Piping, &c., &c. 
 
 393. The relative levels at which water is required to be 
 supplied to buildings in a town will necessarily govern the 
 height to which the main quantity must first be raised. But, 
 practically, as the entire arrangements of the supply should 
 be devised to command delivery at and above the most ele- 
 vated of the buildings, the heights at which the delivery 
 actually occurs will be found to affect only the current cost 
 of raising, or the duty to be exacted from the power em-. 
 ployed. And if this power be derived from steam-engines, 
 its cost will appear to be insignificant in comparison to the 
 space through which the water is raised. ‘he expense of 
 raising 1000 gallons to an average height of 80, ft. is found 
 by the Trent Company to be, excluding interest on capital, 
 less than 14d., and the cost, according to Mr. Wicksteed’s 
 Table of Results (page 143), of raising 1000 gallons to a 
 height of 100 ft. with a single pumping engine on the ex- 
 pansive principle, excluding interest on capital and repairs 
 of machinery, is less than one-sixth of ld., or 15d Al 
 
CONSTANT SERVICE OF WATER. 149 
 
 though the first cost of engines and pumping machinery of 
 this class is very heavy, it will be a liberal allowance to ba- 
 lance this with the remaining ‘85d., and we shall then have 
 an average current cost of ld. for raising 1000 gallons to 
 an elevation of 100 feet. From this it will be readily in- 
 ferred how small a difference will arise from diminish- 
 ing or increasing this height to the extent of 20, 50, or 
 100 ft. 
 
 894. The necessity for constant service, great as it is in 
 all buildings, is still more imperative in supplying those of 
 which the demand is of a variable character. In certain 
 seasons, when the occasion for repeated bathing of persons 
 and cleansing of apartments is greatest, these duties require 
 a much larger quantity of water than will suffice at other 
 periods, and this demand of course increases in the same 
 ratio with the number of persons and apartments to be 
 supplied. Thus workhouses, prisons, and all public asy- 
 lums vary considerably from time to time in the quantity 
 of water required, and all methods of supply, short of con- 
 stant service, and all provision for storage, fail in one way 
 or another in securing the constant and unlimited command 
 of fresh and pure water. Thus, house-tanks, cisterns, and 
 reservoirs, however capacious and well designed, serve to 
 receive only limited quantities ; and if these be ample for all 
 purposes, it follows that if the consumption be lessened the 
 greater quantity of water will remain in a stagnant condi- 
 tion, to be added to but not replaced by the next delivery 
 from the main. The lower body of water in the cistern 
 will thus remain slightly changed, and stirred up only, and 
 in this way a lower bed of impure water, surcharged and 
 rendered heavy with deposited matters, gradually accumu- 
 lates, suffering a slow diminution by the proportion of im- 
 purity which it imparts to each portion drawn off for imme- 
 diate use. Pure or fresh water is, by this arrangement, put 
 altogether out of the questien. 
 
 395. In large public asylums, properly constructed, ar- 
 rangements would be made for supplying a bath at least 
 
150 PRIVATE FILTERING. 
 
 once a week for every inmate. For this purpose an institu- 
 tion having 1000 residents would require weekly 54,000 
 gallons, or about 6000 cubic ft. of water. And if the 
 supply be derived by a daily delivery, and the bathing be 
 divided equally over 6 days in the week, a tank to hold the 
 quantity for bathing only must have a capacity equal to 
 1000 cubic feet, or of the minimum dimensions of 20 ft. in 
 length by 10 ft. in width, and 5 ft. in depth. The other 
 purposes of cleansing would require (allowing 20 gallons 
 per diem for each individual) 66,000 gallons weekly, or 
 11,000 gallons daily, and a tank to be daily emptied and 
 refilled of the capacity of about 2000 ft., or measuring say 
 20 ft. in width and length, and 5 ft. in depth. For con- 
 tingencies, provision should be made for about half this 
 ‘quantity in addition, and thus the entire capacity of the 
 tanks should equal 4000 cubic ft., or dimensions of 80 ft. 
 in length by 10 in width and 5 in depth. And if the con- 
 sumption one day be reduced one-fourth, and the tanks be 
 not emptied before the fresh delivery, which it is practically 
 impossible to effect,—this quantity of stale water will re- 
 main in the lower part of the tanks, and each day’s reduced 
 consumption will tend to increase the impurity of the water, - 
 unless duplicate tanks be provided, and a large amount of 
 water be wasted in their periodical cleansing. 
 
 396. In cases where the constant service of water cannot 
 be obtained, and it consequently becomes necessary to pro- 
 vide cisterns for buildings, they should be so constructed 
 and furnished as to combine the operation of filtering with 
 the purpose of storing the water. For this purpose the 
 best form of cistern will be that of which the bed inclines 
 downwards, so that the discharge pipe may be inserted at 
 the lowest point, and the water always drawn from that part 
 of the cistern. ‘The material used being commonly slate, 
 the bottom may still be formed in a single slab for house 
 cisterns (so as to avoid extra joints), declining in both direc- 
 tions. The filtering media, consisting of beds of sand and 
 sravel of different degrees of fineness (as described in 
 
USE OF RAIN-WATER. 151 
 
 Part I., p. 64), will be arranged in horizontal layers, except- 
 ing the lower one, which will lie in the bottom of the cig 
 tern, and be dressed to a level on its upper surface. The 
 head of the discharge pipe should be protected with a fine 
 wire-gauze cap, to prevent the gravel washing into the pipe. 
 Below this pipe another cistern for the filtered water should 
 be provided of proportionate capacity, and if the process 
 be too tedious to admit of the filtration of all the water 
 used, that for inferior purposes may be drawn from a pipe 
 entering the cistern just above the filtering beds. 
 
 397. The superior quality of rain water in respect to its 
 softness, as compared with water from all other sources, 
 renders it exceedingly desirable, in an economical view, that 
 allthe supply derivable from this source should be carefully 
 collected and preserved. In towns this water is commonly 
 wasted, or at least allowed to subserve only the inferior 
 purpose of assisting the flow of the drainage. Yet the 
 quantity which might, by efficient arrangements, be com- 
 manded of this superior water is by no means insignificant. 
 The roof of a house of the average dimensions of 20 ft. 
 square, presenting a plane surface of 400 square ft., receives 
 at least 800 cubic ft. of rain water annually, or about 4800 
 gallons. If well-constructed and capacious gutters are 
 provided, this quantity may be collected with little loss 
 from evaporation, and will form a reserve stock for such 
 special household purposes as it is peculiarly adapted for 
 This quantity should be immediately received in a filtering 
 tank, and the best available method be adopted of purifying 
 it from the carbonaceous matters with which it becomes 
 saturated in passing through a smoky atmosphere and 
 flowing over roof-surfaces covered with a deposit of similar 
 impurity. An economical and well-devised apparatus for 
 effecting this purpose, and applicable to private and public 
 buildings of all classes, is a desideratum yet wanting in the 
 economical supply of water 
 
 398. All valves and other apparatus for regulating the 
 admission and use of water in buildings are required to be 
 
152 USE OF RAIN-WATER 
 
 constructed in the simplest and most efficient and durable 
 manner. Complicated contrivances are utterly inadmissible 
 to be entrusted to the ordinary carelessness and inattention 
 with which these things are treated in separate households. 
 Apparatus of costly construction will never receive the 
 sanction of landlords, nor will temporary tenants incur the 
 charge of expensive repairs, or devote regular attention to 
 keep ball-cocks and similar appendages in working order. 
 And in proportion as the rental of houses is less, these 
 difficulties are increased. Landlords become more par- 
 simonious, and tenants less interested and more neglectful 
 In this point of view the advantages of constant and higk 
 service are rendered more conspicuous than in its applica- 
 tion to tenements of a superior class in which a higher 
 rental enables the landlord to be liberal in the construction 
 and appliances of the building, and the tenant shares his 
 disposition to preserve their proper action in order to secure 
 his own comfort and convenience. 
 
 399. If the rain-water be not collected for household 
 cleansing purposes, it should at least be made as efficient 
 as possible for scouring the house-drains. An apparatus 
 for this purpose has been suggested by Mr. W. D. Guthrie, 
 a gentleman who has paid much attention to the subject of 
 town sewerage, and was one of the early advocates for the 
 use of small tubes in substitution for the larger drains, 
 constructed of brickwork, which were formerly prescribed 
 by Commissioners of Sewers as the only form of channels 
 which should be permitted access to their subterranean and 
 gigantic sewers or extended cesspools. Mr. Guthrie pro- 
 posed that the rain-water from the roof be conducted into a 
 cistern, the lower part of which should be formed like an 
 inverted cone, and fitted with a conical valve at the head of 
 a pipe, discharging into the house-drain. This conical 
 valve is to be attached to a vertical chain above it, and con- 
 nected with the short end of a lever to the other arm of 
 which a cord or chain is fixed, and by which the valve may 
 be occasionally raised from its seat, and the water dis- 
 
EXTINCTION OF FIRES. 153 
 
 charged from the cistern into the drain-pipe with a force 
 proportional to the quantity in the cistern. From the 
 upper part of the cistern a waste pipe is to descend exter- 
 nally and communicate with the drain pipe below the valve, 
 so as to prevent the cistern overflowing, in case the water 
 accumulates faster than it is discharged; the lower end of 
 the waste-pipe being trapped, to prevent the effluvium in 
 the drain-pipe passing into the cistern. 
 
 400. One of the most important of the occasional ser- 
 vices for which a supply of water is required for application 
 to buildings is, the extinction of accidental fires. For ex- 
 tensive buildings, such as warehouses, factories, and work- 
 rooms, tanks have been suggested, and, in some cases 
 adopted, in which a considerable quantity may be con- 
 stantly stored and ready for instant application for this 
 purpose. This arrangement is, however, scarcely applicable 
 for private buildings, and, where it is employed, the quan- 
 tity commanded is of course limited, and can never be 
 safely trusted to as affording an adequate supply for ex- 
 tinguishing the fire. In this application of water, again, 
 the system of constant service offers great advantages. 
 Thus, if the mains are kept always filled, an adequate 
 supply is at all times at hand in every direction, and the 
 grievous losses and dangers incurred by delay in obtaining 
 water on these occasions are avoided. 
 
 401. ‘The combination of high service with constant ser- 
 vice in the supply of water also affords the means of in- 
 stantly applying jets of water upon the fire until the fire or 
 pumping-engines arrive. These jets are thus available as 
 substitutes for the engines, and the experiments made to 
 ascertain the height to which a jet of water will rise from 
 the main and service-pipes under a fixed pressure, have 
 shown considerable facility in applying jets for this purpose 
 and a corresponding efficiency in their action. The prac- 
 tical limitation to this mode of delivery appears to arise 
 from the extent of supply required, the economy of the use 
 of jets depending upon the amount of pressure that can be 
 
 H 3 
 
154 EXPERIMENTS WITH JETS 
 
 obtained, and the small number of jets which will suffice 
 for the extinction of the fire. The available power in this 
 case is found to decrease in proportion to the extent to 
 which it is employed, and the loss by friction in the leather 
 hose reduces the delivery, and, consequently, the height or 
 force of the jet, 24 per cent. for every 40 lineal feet of hose 
 through which the water passes. The importance of the 
 results of the experiments with jets here referred to will 
 justify a brief account of them in this place. They were 
 tried on the 31st of January, 1844, upon jets supplied from 
 the mains and services belonging to the Southwark Water- 
 Company, under a fixed pressure of 120 ft. 
 
 The first experiment was made over an extent of 800 
 yards of 7 in. main, which were connected with 500 yards 
 of 9 in., this length being joined to 200 yards of 12 in., 
 continued by 550 yards of 15-inch main to the great main 
 leading from the Company’s works at Battersea, the total 
 distance from the works to the experiment being 5500 
 yards. The heights to which the water was thrown from 
 21 inch stand pipes, with 40 ft. of hose and a 4-inch jet, 
 were as follows :— 
 
 With 1 stand pipe the water rose 50 ft. 
 
 ely * La 45 ,, 
 ‘ae x - 40 ,, 
 sty ae tes . 35 4, 
 ina) + : 30°3. 
 
 6 ¥ ~, i bal 
 
 When all the fire plugs on the main were closed, except 
 the first and one 22-inch stand pipe, and 160 ft. of hose 
 with a 74-inch jet applied, the water rose to a height of 40 ft. 
 
 The quantity of water delivered from the same (7 in.) 
 main through one stand pipe, and different lengths of hose, 
 was as follows :— 
 
 With 40 ft. of hose . : ° . 96 gallons in 59 seconds. 
 bags tye be J! OS 
 1160 Ces JOT LOE Sag? 
 
 » 40 ft. and 23-in. jet . 4 116 Mi QT 
 
EXPERIMENTS WITH JETS. 155 
 
 The second experiment was made with a 9-inch main 1400 
 yards in length, joined to a 15-inch main of 1000 yards in 
 length, and at a distance of 6650 yards from the works. 
 The stand pipes used were 23 in., the hose 40 ft. long, and 
 the jet 4 inch, as before. 
 With 1 stand pipe the water rose . : . 3 oO it 
 a a 3 fy , . imperceptible difference. 
 we 4 Pi Fy F Pasa : ahi 4st 
 66 o - : : : : - 40 ft. 
 The quantity delivered with the same pipes, length of hose, 
 and size of jet, being 
 With 1 stand pipe . : ‘ . 114 gallons in 64 seconds. 
 
 UO Pa ee . ; of LES ry 75 2 
 i MO TB, 
 These experiments, with the two sizes of main-pipe, will 
 indicate the rate at which the quantity is diminished by 
 the friction of the water in smaller pipes, a result confirmed 
 by another experiment made with the addition of 200 yards 
 of 4-inch service and 200 yards of 5-inch pipe to the 9-inch 
 main last referred to. ‘The hose, 40 ft long, and the jets 
 
 Z inch, as before. | 
 With 23-inch stand pipe fixed on the 4-inch service near the 5-inch 
 
 pipe, the water rose . j ‘ ; ‘ ° : . 40 ft. 
 With 2 do. do. aoc . : . ol ft. 
 With 1 do. fixed at end of service, or 200 yards from 
 
 5-inch pipe, the water rose. ‘ : ‘ : : . 34 ft. 
 With 2 do. do. do. . ° . 23 ft. 
 
 The quantity delivered in each of these last four cases 
 being respectively as follows :— 
 
 112 gallons in 82 seconds 
 
 117 . Harn, 
 
 112 # OU 3, 
 
 B47 4s Advind Bx 
 
 402. In an interesting paper by Mr. James Braidwood, 
 
 upon the means of applying water for the extinction of 
 fires, read at the Institution of Civil Engineers, it is shown 
 that elevated tanks for a reserve of water for this purpose 
 should be adapted to contain 176 tons of water for each 
 
156 USE OF JETS AT PRESTON 
 
 fire-engine to be employed. This allows for six hours 
 working of an engine having two cylinders of 7 in dia- 
 meter with a stroke of 8 in., making 40 strokes each per 
 minute, and fitted to throw 141 tons of water in six hours; 
 and, allowing one fourth for waste, the supply required will 
 be as stated, 176 tons. In the case of a large building, 
 provision should be made for working ten engines for this 
 period, and the quantity required will be 1760 tons, or 
 63,360 cubic feet of water. From this calculation, it will 
 be evident that the dimensions of the tanks would be 
 enormous. If steam engines can be commanded upon the 
 premises to maintain the supply through the mains, the 
 reserve may be reduced to a consumption for two hours, 
 before the expiration of which time it may be expected that 
 the engine could be got to work. ‘This provision is such 
 as may be supposed requisite in dockyards and for large 
 stacks of warehouses, manufactories, &¢ 
 
 403. In the town of Preston, the advantages of the con- 
 stant and high service have led to the general use of jets 
 and the comparative disuse of engines for the extinction of 
 fires. For this purpose the hose is carried upon a reel, 
 and should be fixed upon a light spring cart, by which the 
 ladders may be also conveyed. The ladders are found to 
 be invaluable appendages for the economical application of 
 the hose without the engines, because the higher the water 
 is carried upward in the hose, that is, the higher the nozzle 
 of the hose is placed, the less is the resistance suffered from 
 the atmosphere. If a jet forced by a pressure of 100 ft. 
 attain a height of 50 ft. when delivered at the ground level, 
 it will still attain an additional height of 20 or 25 ft., when 
 the nozzle is carried up these 50 ft., and the discharge will. 
 then take place at a total height of 70 or 75 ft. from the 
 level of the ground And another advantage derived from 
 carrying the hose as high as possible is, that of command- 
 ing a more effective discharge of the water than can be 
 obtained when the direction of the jet is conducted on the 
 ground 
 
GRADUATION OF PIPES 157 
 
 404, The piping for the conveyance of water to buildings 
 has to be graduated in capacity according to the quantity 
 required, in the same way that the mains and service-pipes 
 are proportioned to the extent of district and number of 
 buildings they are intended to serve. In supplying towns 
 with drainage water collected in high reservoirs, and thence 
 conveyed by aqueducts to “ distributing basins,” Mr. Thom 
 adopted a general system of piping, which is so arranged 
 that the water shall always flow within them in one direc- 
 tion, entering at the upper and passing to the lower end 
 At the lower end of each range of piping a cleansing cock 
 is provided, by opening which occasionally any improper 
 accumulation within the pipe may be removed. ‘The pipes 
 are kept constantly full. and laid at a minimum depth of 
 8 ft. below the surface of the pavement. In some cases, in 
 order to provide very fine cold water to private houses, an 
 iron cistern, to hold about 20 gallons, is sunk 8 or 10 ft 
 below the bottom of the cellar, and supplied with water. 
 through a small lead pipe entering it at the top, while the 
 water is drawn off for use through another small pipe, 
 inserted a few inches above the bottom of the cistern. It 
 would appear, however, that the cleansing of cisterns thus 
 situated must be a somewhat troublesome duty, and the 
 means of regular access to a cistern so deeply sunk in the 
 ground must involve a considerable additional expense in 
 
 construction 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Varieties of Manufactures and best available Methods of Draining.— 
 Arrangement of Separate and Collective Drains.—Proportion of Area of 
 Drain to Cubic Contents of Dwelling-Houses.—Fall of Drains.—Mode of 
 Construction. Connection with Main or Collateral Sewers.—Means of 
 Access, &c., &c. 
 
 405. The several operations carried on within a building 
 devoted to manufacturing purposes should afford the data 
 
158 FOUR CONDITIONS IN CONSTIIUCTING DRAINS,— 
 
 upon which to determine the extent of drainage required, 
 but the most ready way of estimating the amount of refuse 
 waters produced, will be reached by assuming this to equal 
 the supply of water rendered to the building. The appli- 
 cation of the same rule to domestic buildings or dwellings 
 admits of a more exact calculation as to the capacity of 
 drains required, but these must all alike be governed by 
 the principle, that ample capacity for immediate discharge 
 is to be sought, with due regard to the fact that all passages 
 for the conveyance of liquid or semi-liqnid matters are efh- 
 cient in proportion to the narrowness of the surface over 
 which these matters are required to flow. ‘This is one of 
 the most important results which recent inquiries have esta- 
 blished. Sewers and drains were formerly devised with the 
 single object of making them large enough, by which it was 
 supposed that their full efficiency was secured. But sluggish- 
 ness of action is now recognised as the certain consequence 
 of excess of surface equally as of deficiency of declination. 
 A small stream of liquid matter extended over a wide sur- 
 face, and reduced in depth in proportion to this width, 
 suffers retardation from this circumstance as well as from a 
 want of declivity in the current. Hence a drain which is 
 disproportionally large in comparison to the amount of 
 drainage, becomes an inoperative apparatus, by reason of 
 its undue dimensions; while, if the same amount of drain- 
 age is concentrated within a more limited channel, a greater 
 rapidity is produced, and every addition to the contents of 
 the drain aids, by the full force of its gravity, in propelling 
 the entire quantity forward to the point of discharge. 
 
 406. There are four conditions which are to be regarded 
 as indispensable in the construction of all drains from all 
 buildings whatsoever. These conditions are—First. That 
 the entire length of drain is to be constructed and main- 
 tained with sufficient declivity towards the discharge into the 
 sewer to enable the average proportion and quantity of 
 liquid and solid matters committed to it to maintain a con- 
 stant and uninterrupted motion, so that stagnation shall never 
 
NEGLECT OF THEM. . 159 
 
 accur. Second. That the entire length of drain is to be 
 constructed and maintained in a condition of complete imper- 
 meability, so that no portion of the matters put into it shall 
 accidentally escape from it. Third. That the head of the 
 drain shall be so efticiently trapped that no gaseous or volatile 
 properties or products can possibly arise from its contents. 
 And, Fourth. That the lower extremity of the drain, or the 
 point of its communication with the sewer, shall be so pro- 
 perly, completely, and durably formed, that no interruption 
 to the flow of the drainage or escape shall there take place, 
 and that no facility shall be offered for the upward progress 
 of the sewage in case the sewer becomes surcharged, and 
 thus tends to produce such an effect. 
 
 407. These conditions appear so simple in their state- 
 ment, that we are disposed to regard them as self-evident 
 necessities, yet an acquaintance with the details of house- 
 drainage as commonly regulated reveals the fact that they 
 have been generally neglected, and that, at the best, the at- 
 tention they have received has been most unwisely crippled 
 by considerations of cheapness in first cost at the expense 
 of permanent economy and usefulness. Thus we know 
 that house drains are frequently laid with very imperfect 
 fall, not sufficient indeed to propel the matters sent into 
 them except with the aid of gushes of drainage-water ; that 
 they are often composed of defective and carelessly-built 
 brickwork with wide joints of sandy mortar; that the head 
 of the drain is commonly untrapped; and that the entire 
 formation is badly designed and defectively executed. We 
 will endeavour to show the arrangements by which the effi- 
 cient action of the separate drains of houses and other 
 buildings is most likely to be secured 
 
 408. The utmost practicable declivity being obtained in 
 the direction of the drain, the efficiency of its action will 
 be further much controlled by the construction adopted 
 and the kind of surface presented to the sewage Any 
 roughness or irregularity in this surface will of course im- 
 pede the passage of the sewage, and hence arises the neces- 
 
160 BASEMENT-DRAINAGE 
 
 sity for the greatest care in the construction, whatever the 
 material and kind of formation. The first step in the 
 arrangement is, to collect the whole of the drainage to one 
 point—the head of the intended draining apparatus, and 
 the determination of this point requires a due consider- 
 ation of its relation to the other extremity of the drain at 
 which the discharge into the sewer is to take place. In 
 buildings of great extent this will sometimes involve a 
 good deal of arrangement, and it will, perhaps, become de- 
 sirable to divide the entire drainage into two or more points 
 of delivery, and conduct it in so many separate drains to 
 the receiving sewer. The length of each drain being thus 
 reduced to a manageable extent, the necessary fall will be 
 more readily commanded, and the efficiency of the system 
 secured. 
 
 409. The cost of constructing these minor works, and 
 also the main sewers with which they are connected, is so 
 enormously aggravated by the depth to which they are fre- 
 quently laid in order to accommodate the basements of 
 buildings, that, for the sake of economy, basement-drainage 
 should either be altogether abandoned or so modified that 
 efficiency shall never be sacrificed in a vain attempt to re- 
 concile the depth of’ the basement with the position of the 
 sewer. In arranging the drainage of buildings, therefore, 
 the head of the drains should be kept at the minimum 
 depth which will suffice to sink the construction beneath 
 the surface. We have already (353) expressed a conviction, 
 that a thoroughly perfect and economical system of town- 
 drainage must recognise this as a leading principle, and 
 under this conviction we could not be satisfied to admit 
 the difficulty now experienced to be one which should en- 
 cumber our proceedings so as to involve comparative inef- 
 ficiency in action and extravagant costliness in construction 
 and repairs. 
 
 410. Although it is not within our province in this place 
 to discuss the governmental measures which would be re- 
 quired to authorise and direct such an adjustment of the 
 
MINIMUM DEPTH FOR DRAINS 161 
 
 details of private drainage as would be necessary to insure 
 their conformity with the principle here advucated, we may 
 be permitted to observe that this direction was, to a con- 
 siderable extent, assumed and exercised by the old Com- 
 mission of Sewers, who always declared their authority in 
 prescribing the manner in which private drains should 
 alone be allowed to communicate with the sewers under 
 their jurisdiction. These prescriptions determined the 
 rate of declivity, the relative levels, and the dimensions of 
 the drains, and were enforced by the Commissioners’ exe- 
 cution (by their contractors) of that portion of the work 
 which joined with the sewers. The regulations enforced 
 in the City of London (and which, from its independence 
 of the new consolidated commission, are, it is supposed, 
 still enforced) are based upon the following calculation, the 
 stated principle being that “A house cannot be called 
 effectually drained unless the water is taken away from the 
 floor of its lowest story.” * 
 
 Take the least height which a basement story ought to be 7 0 
 Thickness of a timber flooring on sleepers . . ° ° Pb 
 Covering of the drain, say brick flat 0 23 
 Height of drain inside 0 9 
 Current of drain inside the premises, say, 1: in. to 10 ft for a pis 
 50 ft. deep. ; ; 3 ‘ : 6 Ceo 
 Current outside the Pensa ¢ z. é. in Phen street . : ° <3e Gard 
 Height of cross-drain above the bottom of main-drain, 4 least <2) aD 
 9 103 
 
 This would give (9 ft. 103 in., or) 10 ft., at the least, 
 depth from the surface of the street to the bottom of a 
 main drain (of 18 in. diameter), and this may be fairly 
 assumed as the least depth at which a private house of the 
 most ordinary description can be effectually drained; but 
 this considers it only as for the drainage of one house. 
 
 * It should be borne in mind that this principle becomes impracticable if 
 the lowest story of any house should, at the free will and option of its 
 owner, have another “lower deep” excavated below it, a practice which has 
 
 been indulged in in the formation of some of the leviathan warehouses in the 
 
 City. 
 
162 MINIMUM DEPTH FOR DRAINS. 
 
 “When a series of houses, situate in a public way, 
 inhabited by some who will use, and some who will not 
 use, a drain fairly, is to be drained, the question has to be 
 looked at differently. 
 
 “ For a retail shop, in which the basement story is often used as a ead 
 warehouse, it cannot be unreasonable to say that the story shall 
 not be Jess in height than ‘ ; , : . . So iG 
 Flooring . ‘ , ° ° > 0 9 
 Covering of drain. : : 0 23 
 Height of drain . : : rs 
 Current inside . ; ° ID 
 Current outside . : ; ; ; : J 0 3 
 Height above bottom of common sewer . . ; . apy Mm 
 12 103 
 
 “As it may be said that a story of less height might 
 do as a wareroom, and, in order to keep the calculation 
 as low as it fairly can be kept, I would assume that the 
 bottoni of a common sewer ought not in any part to be 
 less than 12 ft. beneath the surface of the street.” * 
 
 We have thus quoted these calculations at length, in 
 order that we may be enabled to refer to the details as- 
 sumed without fear of mistaking the meaning of the official 
 provisions of the Commissioners. 
 
 411. By another of the regulations of the Commissioners 
 of the City Sewers, affecting the details of the house drains, 
 we find that since the year 1832 the Commissioners have 
 required that their own tradesmen should be employed to 
 make the whole of the drains up to the front of the build- 
 ings, these drains, 15 in. in diameter, being charged at the 
 rate of 5s. 6d. per lineal foot. And the reason alleged for 
 this regulation was, that the Commissioners found great 
 difficulty in getting individuals to make the drains sub- 
 stantially. 
 
 412. The regulations inid down by the Commissioners of 
 
 * Memorandum,” laid before the Court of Commissioners of Sewers for — 
 the City of London, &c., by their late Surveyor. 
 
SEWER3-COMMISSIONERS’ RULES. 163 
 
 Sewers for Westminster for the construction of private 
 drains were as follows :—‘‘ That no drains shall be laid into 
 a public sewer, without a special leave for that purpose 
 from the Commissioners. That when such leave shall be 
 obtained, the opening into the sewer shall be made, and 
 the drain built, for a length of 3 ft. from the sewer, aecord- 
 ing to a plan and section approved by the Commissioners ; 
 the whole to be done by a workman to be employed by the 
 Commissioners, and paid by the party requiring the drain, 
 at the prices undermentioned :—For cutting through the 
 springing wall of a sewer, putting in a cemented brick ring, 
 and soundly underpinning the wall round the same, the 
 sum of 10s. 6d. for each opening. For building a length 
 of 8 ft. 4 in. of 9-in. barrel drain, with proper York keel 
 stone, sound stock bricks and blue lias lime mortar, the 
 sum of 10s. 6d. for each such length of drain. For the 
 same length of 12-in. barrel drain, 12s. 6d. The digging to 
 be done at the expense of the party requiring the drain ; 
 and notice to be given at the office of the Commissioners 
 when the excavation shall have been made, in order that an 
 officer may attend, and that a workman may be sent to do 
 the required works. As a guide to persons about to build, 
 it is recommended that the private drain of each house or 
 other premises have a current not less than a quarter of an 
 inch to each foot in length, making in the length of 60 ft. 
 a fall of 15 in., to which, adding 13 in. for the height of 
 the drain and brick arch over it, also 8 in. for the depth of 
 ground and paving over the drain at the upper end, and 
 12 in. from the lower end of the drain to the bottom at the 
 side of the sewer, will make, in the whole, 4 ft. from the 
 bottom at the side of the sewer to the lowest pavement of 
 the building, being the least height necessary to guard the 
 premises from being flooded by water from the sewer.” 
 413. These notices of the regulations which were enacted 
 and enforced by two of the old Commissions of Sewers are 
 sufficient to show that the powers which may now be 
 required for instituting an entire system of house-drainage 
 
164 DEFICIENCY OF FALL,— 
 
 under public authority, or that derived from a Commission 
 under the Great Seal, would be no new entrenchment upon 
 private rights. The following order of the Westminster 
 Commission declares its power to deny the right of drain- 
 ing into the.pabli¢ sewers if the depth of the building 
 would require a rate’ of declivity less than then deemed 
 necessary to insure the proper action of the drain :—‘‘ The 
 Commissioners give noticé, that whenever the lower floors 
 or pavements of buildings shall have been laid so low as 
 not to admit of their being drained with a proper current, 
 they will not allow any sewers, or drains into sewers, to be 
 made.for the service of such buildings.” 
 
 414. The regulations we have quoted are, we submit, 
 
 ficient to show also that the details thus prescribed were 
 not calculated to contribute to a system of efficient house- 
 drainage, being inadequate, in some of the several indis- 
 pensable conditions before stated (406). 
 
 415. Thus for cylindrical drains of 9 in. in diameter, a 
 construction composed of the ordinary rectangular bricks, 
 with mortar joints, is essentially unsuitable and imperfect, 
 being unavoidably permeable to a considerable extent; the 
 irregularities which occur at every joint, moreoyer, impair 
 most seriously the effectiveness of the declivity which, if 
 only 1 in. in 10 ft., or 1 in 120, as allowed in the City of 
 London, is, even if fully preserved, inadequate for the pur- 
 pose. ‘The Westminster allowance of a quarter of an inch 
 in each foot, or 1 in 48, is barely sufficient to make the 
 rapid passage of the sewage a matter of certainty. And 
 drains are much more likely to act efficiently if laid with a 
 fall of 1 in 20 or 80. These regulations illustrate the two 
 alternatives to which the present system reduces the prac- 
 tice and the utility of house-drains. In the one division 
 we have an utterly inefficient declivity of 1 in 120, coupled 
 with a minimum depth of 12 ft. from the bottom of the 
 common sewer; while, in the other division, the Commis- 
 sioners, with an arbitrary kind of wisdom, decline to at- 
 tempt the task of draining any premises with basements 
 
AND CONSEQUENT STAGNATION. 165 
 
 “laid so low as not to admit of their being drained with a 
 proper current.” The “propriety” of the current would, 
 however, be considerably enhanced by still increasing the 
 fall of 1 in 48, which they adopted 
 
 416. The common occupation of the Jasna “yt stories of 
 houses as kitchens and water-closey 6 
 desirable to depress the drains a 
 receive the refuse matters below § 
 ments; but as this object involves|pne or both ofthe ENN 
 we have pointed out, viz. deficient Yechvity and ‘consequeps \\ 
 stagnation in the drains, and a ge} geal syaients ‘tg 
 
 and difficulty 2 are created in constructidS 
 pairs, the purpose of basement-draining Shx <h 
 doned, and practicable methods sought of pace hie 
 tire drainage immediately beneath the surface of the pais 
 If, indeed, no practicable methods could be devised of 
 doing this so as to render basement-draining unnecessary, 
 it must of course be admitted as part of the purpose of 
 house-drainage, in order to avoid the sacrifice of the healthi- 
 ness of human habitations, which we all readily admit 
 as the final object of the art of draining towns and _ build- 
 ings. 
 
 417. The selection of the methods to be adopted for this 
 purpose will be dependent mainly upon the internal ar- 
 rangements of the building and the occupation of its lower 
 apartments. In the first place, water-closets must in all cases 
 be constructed above ground, or, at any rate, so nearly above, 
 that the discharge shall take place within a foot or so of the 
 surface. However valuable the ground-floor space of any 
 premises may be, sufficient room may and always should be 
 reserved for this purpose, as this level is the most desirable 
 for the situation of these accommodations. If placed higher, 
 they cannot be so readily aided with the sewage water pro- 
 duced in the domestic offices, unless these occupy a simi- 
 larly-elevated position ; and besides this objection, is that of 
 haying an unnecessary length or extent of drains above 
 
166 A GENERAL SYSTEM SHOULD BE ENFORCED. 
 
 the ground. The most desirable arrangement, therefore, 
 is that which collects the entire drainage at or near the 
 ground level, and there at once and immediately delivers it 
 into the subterranean channels. If, however, it is in any 
 case unavoidable that the kitchen and similar domestic 
 offices are situated in the basement of the building, it will 
 be still equally imperative that all the sewage water shall 
 be delivered into the drain at or near the ground level. No 
 sink or other apparatus for discharging refuse water should 
 be retained in the basement, and the extra labour of carry- 
 ing this water up to the surface level, or head of the drain- 
 age, must be incurred as the penalty of this misconstruction 
 or misappropriation of the building. 
 
 418. These arrangements, although involving expense in 
 the alteration of some of the existing buildings in towns, 
 are not to be magnified into impracticabilities. As essential 
 parts of a general system conducive to the health of the 
 entire population, they should be commanded and enforced 
 by adequate public authority, and carried into immediate 
 effect without favour or evasion. And in the construction 
 of new buildings, they should be regarded as imperative 
 general orders, sanctioned by the public well-being, and, if 
 necessary, to be obeyed under official superintendence 
 The truth of principles and advantage of modes of action, 
 established by experiment, should command their adoption 
 without opposition, from the prevailing squeamish reluct- 
 ance to interfere with private arrangements, which, be it 
 remembered, are, if misdirected, really in these matters 
 public nuisances. 
 
 419. The keeping of the basement itself of a building 
 dry by draining is not, we submit, to be acknowledged as 
 a proper purpose of a correct general system. Sufficient 
 and sound construction are alone needed to maintain base- 
 ment stories of any depth in a perfectly dry condition, if 
 all sewage and rain-waters are, as they should be, collected 
 and discharged into the sewers before they reach the base- 
 ment. The draining of the surrounding subsoil to the 
 
GRADUATION OF DRAIN-PIPES 167 
 
 entire depth of the foundation of a building is a want 
 which cannot arise, if the entire structure up to the ground 
 level is waterproof, which we contend it should be; the 
 means of effecting this by the materials now at our com- 
 mand, being of economical and certain application 
 
 420. Discarding brickwork and all similar constructions 
 of small parts, as unsuitable for obtaining the imper- 
 meability and smoothness of internal surface which are 
 especially required in small drains, the current in which is 
 often reduced to a very small quantity of liquid or semi- 
 solid matter, we are led to seek some tubes or pipes, which 
 shall require only annular joining at distant points, and 
 thus admit of the regularity of surface which is so neces- 
 sary to assist the passage of the drainage. ‘The stone-ware 
 is now offered as a superior material for this purpose, ad- 
 mitting of much greater economy than iron, and being 
 entirely free from the chance of corrosion and permea- 
 bility. By glazing the interior surface, moreover, tubes of 
 this ware are made peculiarly suitable for adoption in 
 forming drains; and carefully-made socket joints laid in 
 the direction of the current are cheaply executed, if 
 moulded conically and luted with a little cement of best 
 quality. 
 
 421. The size of the drain-pipes has to be graduated 
 according to the quantity to be passed through them, limited 
 in the minimum extreme so as to avoid stoppage from the 
 excessive bulk of the sewage matters, and in the maximum 
 extreme so as to obtain all the rapidity of progress of which 
 a small stream of water is capable, retarded by the friction 
 of the surface over which it passes. For moderate-sized 
 houses, say of eight rooms, and holding some five or six 
 persons on an average, a tube of 5 in. in diameter will 
 suffice for the house-drain. The area of the drain may be 
 proportional to the cubic contents of the house, but if so, 
 in diminishing ratio. That is, if a 5-in. pipe will be large 
 enough for an average-sized house, a pipe of double the 
 area of such a pipe will not be required for a house of 
 
168 TRAPPING DRAINS. 
 
 double the cubic contents, or holding double the average 
 number of persons. <A 6-in. pipe, laid with sufficient fall, 
 will be ample for the most capacious private house. And 
 from 9 to 15 in. will, under a similar condition, be sufficient 
 to serve the average drainage of factories and other large 
 consumers of water. 
 
 422. The trapping of the head of the drain, so as to 
 prevent the ascent of smell and impure gas from the drain 
 into the building, is the next indispensable requirement in 
 the draining apparatus. So many contrivances have been 
 applied for this purpose, that we will not attempt to make 
 a selection; and it is beyond our limits to give any general 
 list or detailed description of them. Simplicity of con- 
 struction and permanence of action are, of course, required, 
 with the least original outlay at which these qualities can, 
 be obtained. If only one water-closet is to be provided 
 for, it will be desirable to gather the discharge from it and 
 from the house-sink, &c., into one trap at the head of the 
 drain. If two or more closets are to be served, so many 
 separate traps will sometimes become indispensable. But 
 for every separate inlet to the drain, which is equally an 
 outlet for smell and gas, an efficient trapping apparatus of 
 some kind is required. 
 
 423. The lower connection of the house-drain with the 
 public sewer is the last point of importance to which we 
 have to allude. A perfect construction of this portion of 
 the work has always been recognised as an essential feature 
 of good drainage, and the Commissioners have accordingly 
 stipulated that its execution should be entrusted only to 
 their own contractors, and be subject to the inspection and 
 approval of their own officers. The level of the bed of the 
 drain must be kept as high as possible above that of the 
 receiving sewer. If the sewer be also constructed of the 
 glazed stone-ware piping, lengths of it may be introduced 
 at convenient intervals, having outlet sockets for receiving 
 the ends of the house-drains, and those being slightly ta- 
 pered or conical in form will be readily jointed with a little 
 
CLEANSING HOUSE-DRAINS 169 
 
 of the best blue lias cement or other of equal quality. If 
 the sewer be constructed of brickwork, a good joint will be 
 obtained by introducing a separate socket of stone-ware to 
 receive the hovse-drain pipe, and formed with a flange at 
 the other end to surround and cover tue opening in the 
 sewer, which can then be made good with a ring of cement 
 carefully applied. 
 
 424. Means of access to house-drains are always desir- 
 able in arranging the details of the apparatus. And this 
 constitutes another reason against the deeply-sunk drains 
 required to serve the basement story of houses. If the 
 drains be constructed of glazed stone-ware pipes, carefully 
 jointed, and laid in directions as nearly uniform as possible, 
 the process of artificial cleansing and raking (should it ever 
 become necessary) will be much facilitated. If any angu- 
 lar turns are formed in the direction of the drains, it will 
 be worth while to consider the practicability of fitting a 
 movable cover at the angle, by removing which, direct ac- 
 cess should be afforded to: the two branches of the drain. 
 A long pliant rod with a stiff brush or scraper at the end 
 could then be readily introduced into the drain, and, if ne- 
 
 cessary, these means of access by trap doors and remov- — 
 
 able covers should be afforded at intervals throughout each 
 extended length of drain, so that thorough cleansing from 
 the head of the drain to the outlet in the sewer could be 
 performed as frequently as might be found requisite. Under 
 a complete and efficient system of drainage the task of pe- 
 riodically examining the separate drains from the buildings 
 would be ordered and performed with all the regularity and 
 readiness of a necessary duty, and the drains would be 
 maintained in a state of constant instead of intermittent 
 cleanliness, * 
 
 * The system of subways, recently introduced in some parts of the metro- 
 
 polis, will probably supply facilities for examining the minor drains, as well 
 as the main sewers, to a degree not hitherto practicable. (1865.) 
 
170 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Water-closets; Arrangement and Construction.—~Adaptation to various 
 circumstances.—Combined Arrangements for Efficient House-Drainage.— 
 Miscellaneous Apparatus and Contrivances, 
 
 425. The best position for a water-closet in any building 
 is that-in which all the waste water shall be made the best 
 use of in scouring the contents directly through the pan of 
 the closet, and propelling them forward through the private 
 drain into the common sewer. And since the matters dis 
 charged into the closet will be, if the house drain is re- 
 served for its proper uses, more solid and less readily con- 
 veyed than the other sewage matters, it will, moreover, be 
 desirable to place the closet as near as possible to the point 
 at which the drain discharges into the sewer. ‘The velocity 
 and force of the liquid sewage are increased at the lower or 
 sewer end of the drain, and its effect is thus augmented in 
 scouring away the contributions of the closet. But if this 
 preferable position cannot be commanded for the closet, it 
 must, at any rate, be so situated with regard to the head of 
 the drain and the inlet for the liquid sewage, that these 
 shall be behind or above it. When the closet and the 
 house-sink are near to each other, the water from the latter 
 may be conducted directly into the trap or basin of the 
 closet, and thus secure at once a rapid discharge of its 
 contents and a constant supply of liquid to preserve its 
 action and efficiency. 
 
 426. The rudest form of domestic accommodation or 
 open privy over a cesspool is a contrivance which deserves 
 notice only on account of its several imperfections, and 
 which will, it may be hoped, be soon reckoned among tne 
 obsolete mistakes of our forefatherz, ‘These cesspools are 
 sometimes mere pits or holes excavated in the ground, and 
 the contents of course rapidly permeate the surrounding 
 soil; by which process pits of this kind frequently are. 
 found ‘o drain themselves, the perviousness of the material 
 
CESSPOOLS. 171 
 
 permitting the escape of the sewage, so that little aceumu- 
 lation takes place within the pit itself until the whole 
 neighbourhood becomes fully saturated with the drainage, 
 which will then ooze through and appear upon the surface, 
 or find its way through some defective foundation, and poi- 
 son the basement of an adjoining building. Constructed 
 cesspools formed with brickwork of substantial quality will 
 prevent this saturation in proportion as their walls are care- 
 fully and imperviously built. The matters daily discharged 
 into these depositaries accumulate, and their decomposition 
 is constantly proceeding and engendering gases of the most 
 noisome and pestilential kind. The open privy formed 
 over a pit of this description affords an outlet for the escape 
 of these gases, which are thus regularly supplied to the 
 building above or adjacent to the closet. If a trap or water 
 basin and pan be applied to this privy, so that the pan dips 
 into the trap, the escape of effluvia may be prevented so 
 long as the trap is kept supplied with water. The supply 
 of water for this purpose will, however, considerably aug- 
 ment the bulk of the sewage, and necessitate cleansing 
 much more frequently than otherwise, unless some defect 
 in the joints of the work afford a passage for the liquid 
 matters in the surrounding strata, or a communication be 
 afforded with a drain. In this latter case of combination 
 of a cesspool with a drain, a waste pipe may be laid from 
 the former into the latter, so that the contents of the cess- 
 pool shall always be maintained at the same quantity and 
 depth ; the trap may then be dispensed with by attaching 
 a vertical pipe to the lower part of the pan, so that this 
 pipe shall dip into the sewage, and being thus constantly 
 kept below its surface, no gas can pass upward through the 
 pipe. The cost of the pan or basin and pipe required for 
 this contrivance, if of stone-ware, will not exceed 13s. in 
 addition to that of a common privy, and its advantages in 
 preventing the escape of effluvia are obvious. The sim- 
 plest and cheapest form of trap and basin is that in which 
 they are formed in one or two pieces of the stone-ware, 
 I2 
 
t72 CESSPOOLS TO BE ABANDONED 
 
 and may be purchased at about 7s. 6d. together. Allowing 
 5s. 6d. for the fixing, and also providing and fixing a short 
 length of pipe of the same material to connect with the 
 trap so as to dip into the sewage, this complete trapped 
 apparatus may, at a cost of 13s., be added to a common 
 privy over a cesspool, so as to prevent to a great ex- 
 tent the escape of effluvia into the house or adjacent 
 building. 
 
 427. The great importance, however, of avoiding all 
 sources of unwholesome and offensive effluvia, and of pre- 
 serving the foundations of the buildings and the substrata 
 of the soil of a town in adry and clean condition, creates 
 a severe necessity for relinquishing cesspools, and all recep- 
 tacles for sewage, within or connected with all buildings 
 and places whatsoever, except those to which it is con- 
 ducted for the purposes of collection and treatment. The 
 sole purpose of all house apparatus of water-closets, sinks, and 
 drains, and of all public constructions of branch or tributary 
 sewers, and main sewers, should be that of affording a passage 
 for the conveyance of the refuse waters and other matters pre- 
 duced in a town. This conveyance should be immediate, every 
 particle committed to the entire ramification of passages being 
 preserved in ceaseless motion until tt arrives at the final collect- 
 ing place. 
 
 428. Discarding cesspools upon these grounds, we are at 
 the same time led to the principle which should govern the 
 whole of the details of house-draining apparatus, which 
 should be so arranged and combined as to afford the fewest 
 possible inlets for effluvia from the matters committed to 
 the drains, and to make the total of the liquid refuse useful 
 in advancing the current within the drains. The position 
 of the water-closet being determined (425), it becomes desi- 
 rable to select the most economical and efficient construc- 
 tion for it, and for the apparatus connected with it. 
 
 429. We have already (422) stated that the head of 
 the drain, and every inlet to it, requires to be fitted with a 
 trap to prevent the escape of effluvia, and this will equally. 
 
WATER-CLOSET APPARATUS. 173 
 
 form an indispensable part of the closet apparatus. The 
 perfect action of the trap will demand a means of supplying 
 water on each use of the closet, and although all possible 
 advantage should be taken of the house-sewage water in 
 promoting the action of the drains, a separate and constantly- 
 commanded source should be provided for this purpose. 
 If the supply of water to the house or building be rendered 
 upon the constant service system, a mere tap will be suffi- 
 cient to afford the means of discharging a velume of water 
 through the trap of the closet. If the water be supplied 
 upon the intermittent system, a cistern or reservoir of some 
 kind, provided for the house supply, must be made to com- 
 municate with the pan of the closet by a pipe with a valve 
 and apparatus for workingit. or general use it is espe- 
 cially desirable that economy and simplicity be combined 
 in the whole of the apparatus of the closet. Delicacy of 
 adjustment, requiring a complicated arrangement of parts, 
 and a corresponding costliness of construction and repairs, 
 and carefulness in management, is inadmissible in a design 
 adapted for general adoption; and combinations of levers 
 and cranks, liable to accidental derangement and injury by 
 roughness of treatment, are therefore to be avoided as much 
 as possible. ‘The position of the cistern in relation to the 
 closet will affect, in some degree, the force and efficiency of 
 the volume of water discharged on each occasion; and, if 
 the supply of water to°the building be constant, the service- 
 pipe should be so conducted over the closet that the tap 
 can be conveniently placed for admitting the required quan- 
 tity to the pan. If the supply is obtained from a house- 
 cistern, this must, of course, be placed above the pan, and 
 at such elevation that the water may acquire a sufficient 
 impetus to flow with rapidity. 
 
 430. The glazed stone-ware basins or pans, with syphon- 
 traps combined, before referred to (426), are the most eco- 
 nomical and effective for general purposes. These are made 
 in several forms: viz. with the pan and trap in one piece, 
 and adapted to communicate either with a vertical or a hori- 
 
174 STONE-WARE PANS 
 
 zontal drain; with a separate trap, having a screwed socket 
 on the head in which the lower part of the pan is received, 
 being formed with a collar and screwed end; or, aS asome- 
 what more complicated arrangement, consisting of a trap 
 with a flanged head and a separate dip pipe having a pro- 
 jecting flange about its mid-length, and a spreading mouth 
 above, into which the lower part of the pan is fitted with 
 cement. The dip pipe, extending downwards into the trap, 
 below the level at which its contents flow out, is secured to 
 the head of the trap by bolts passing through the holes in 
 the flanges. The reason for making the pan separate from 
 the dip pipe would appear to arise from a difficulty in form- 
 ing them together with the wide projecting flange so as to 
 give sufficient steadiness to the pan above. ‘This latter 
 form was designed especially for prison use, under cireum- 
 stances which do not allow of any fixed seat or framing 
 above to which to secure the pan. The previous forms are 
 found to answer all purposes in cases where this kind of 
 support is afforded, and are preferable for their fewer num- 
 ber of parts. The pan in each of these forms of construc- 
 tion is provided with an aperture and inlet at the upper 
 part, having a socket to receive the water-pipe. They are 
 retailed at the price of 7s. 6d. each, and recommended by the 
 present authorities in drainage matters. 
 
 431. The combined arrangements for efficient house- 
 drainage comprise, besides the means of adequate water 
 supply, as explained in section II. of this Division, the 
 water-closets, house-sinks, and drains in which the matters 
 committed to the closets and sinks are conveyed and deli- 
 vered into the public sewers. And if the rain-water falling 
 on the roof of the building and on the yard or space 
 attached to the house, is not applied to any other purpose, 
 it will have to be conducted into the drain to be discharged 
 with the sewage. These waters being the purest of the 
 contents should be received as near as possible to the head 
 of the drain, and made to traverse its entire length, and 
 thus exert all the cleansing action of which they are capable. 
 
TERRO METALLIC PIPES. 175 
 
 The house-sink or place at which the ordinary waste water 
 of the household is discharged should communicate with 
 the drain at a subsequent part of its course, and the closet 
 be so placed that its contents shall traverse a minimum por- 
 tion of the drain, thus reducing the liability to the escape of 
 effluvia, and deriving the greatest scouring force from the 
 accumulation of the rain and house waters. The drain 
 being formed as a complete and impervious channel receiy- 
 ing the entire sewage and waste waters of the premises, 
 made easy of access and examination, and provided with 
 traps at every opening or inlet for receiving the drainage, 
 may be graduated in size from the one extremity to the 
 other, and, if of considerable length, it may be provided at 
 intervals with self-acting valves or traps to prevent the pos- 
 sible return of any matters, waters, or gases, from the lower 
 towards the upper end. 
 
 432. Self-acting valves or traps are constructed of the 
 stone-ware; and the valves being hung at a slight inclina- 
 tion, and well fitted with a rim on the meeting surface, 
 they remain closed against any retrograde movement of the 
 sewage or gases, but are readily opened by a slight force 
 of water in the outward direction of the drain. Sink traps 
 are also formed of this material, with perforated heads 
 or covers, and syphon bends below, which, remaining filled 
 with the drainage water, prevent the escape of any effluvia 
 from the drain into which they give access. 
 
 433. Beside the socket drain pipes of glazed stone-ware 
 which we have described, another material, known under 
 the name of “ Terro-metallic,” has been applied in the pro- 
 duction of a superior quality of piping, which is manufac- 
 tured in cylindrical forms both with socket ends and plain 
 butt ends, and also in a conical form with plain ends, the 
 cones fitting one another so that the joints are similar to 
 conical socket joints, and may be made to fit with a great 
 degree of exactness. The material of these pipes is of the 
 same quality as that used in making fire-bricks, and has an 
 extreme density with a very durable glaze upon the surface. 
 
~ 
 
 176 PORTABLE PUMPING APPARATUS. 
 
 The prices of these pipes at the Tileries, Tunstall, Staf- 
 fordshire, where they are manufactured, and in London, are 
 as follows :— 
 
 Trrro-MrraLuic DRAIN PIPEs. 
 
 | Plain Jointed Conical Pipes Cylindrical Pipes 
 
 Cylindrical Pipes. to Fit one another. with Socket-Joints. 
 Diameter 
 OLaBOres | aa ee Po) a 
 Price per | Price per | Price per | Price per | Price per | Price per 
 Foot at Foot in Foot at Foot in Foot at Foot in 
 Tunstall. | London. | Tunstall. | London. | Tunstall. | London. 
 Inches. Bs) ids SF ds & ‘dd. aed. s. d 8. a 
 2 0.2 0 8 0 28 QO. D8. lc. see ee 
 3 0 2] 0 4 0 8 0 5 0 33| O- 5} 
 4 0 88] 0 5 0 38| 0 6 0 43} 0 68 
 6 0 4 0 6 0 4% 0 9 0 6 0:40 
 9 0 6 a2: 0 8 La Osa BE. 
 12 oo oy | 5 ee 1 dey ag 
 16 2 3 oD) 4 eae ee 216 4 0 
 
 Curved and Junction pipes in the same material are charged at double the 
 prices of the cylindrical pipes. 
 
 434. One of the most valuable improvements recently 
 effected in the practical cleansing of buildings is a portable 
 pumping apparatus, with hose for emptying cesspools. For 
 conveying the sewage, this consists of a close tank mounted 
 upon two or four wheels, according to its size, with a hose 
 fitted to an aperture in it, and an air-pump attached, so that 
 the chamber communicates with the interior of the tank. 
 The hose is provided of such length that it may be laid 
 through the passage, &c. of a house, and dipped into the 
 cesspool, while the other-end is attached to the tank at the 
 door, into which the contents of the cesspool are rapidly 
 transferred, without offence or nuisance, by a labourer at the 
 pump. A small pumping apparatus with hose, but without 
 tank, has been extensively applied for removing the con- 
 tents of the cesspools into the sewers, a second hose being 
 attached to the pump-chamber for this purpose. This ap- 
 paratus, with hose complete, is furnished at the price of 
 151., and the economy of its use as compared with the cost 
 
HOSMERS CISTERN. 177 
 
 of cleansing cesspools by the old method, effects a saving 
 of 95 per cent. Among the instances reported by the Sur- 
 veyors to the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers, the 
 following may be quoted:—“'The contents of one large 
 cesspool, equal to 24 loads of soil, were pumped out in 
 3% hours, at a cost of 24s. Under the old system, three 
 nights would have been occupied in emptying the cesspool 
 and it would have cost at least 241.” 
 
 435. Among the many contrivances which have been 
 suggested for improving the house-apparatus for regulating 
 the disposal of the watcr supplied, is a simple form of cis- 
 tern, introduced by M1. John Hosmer, which appears well 
 calculated to prevent the waste of water which now fre- 
 quently results from the inefficiency of the apparatus em- 
 ployed. The amount of this waste may be inferred from 
 the proved fact that, in one district of the metropolis, an 
 average quantity of twenty-nine gallons per house is wasted 
 at each delivery from the works, by dribbling over the 
 waste-pipes of the cisterns after they have become filled. 
 Mr. Hosmer’s cistern has a partition, dividing it into two 
 spaces, one considerably larger than the other, and contain. 
 ing the supply for domestic use, while the smaller space is 
 intended to contain a reserve for cleansing the drains and 
 sewers. A two-way cock is fitted on the cistern with ball 
 and lever, and one aperture of the cock opens into each of 
 the spaces in the cistern. ‘The large division of the cistern 
 is fitted with a pipe or pipes to deliver the house supply as 
 required, and the small division has a syphon-trapped pipe, 
 leading into the drain and covered by a valve, the vertical 
 rod of which is attached to the lever of the two-way delivery 
 cock. The water from the main first fills the small division, 
 the position of the lever being such that the valve at the 
 lower part remains closed. ‘The water then flows over the 
 partition (which is kept a trifle lower than the sides of the 
 cistern for this purpose) and fills the large division, the 
 rising of the ball in which overcomes the pressure upon 
 the valve in the small division, and lifts it suddenly to sueh 
 
 Tos 
 
178 BUNNETT’S WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 a height as to permit of a rapid discharge of water through — 
 the syphon-trapped pipe into the drain. Similar cisterns 
 thus fixed and fitted, deriving their action simultaneously 
 from the delivery at the main, would, it is supposed, dis- 
 charge streams of water at one and the same time into the 
 several house-drains connected with them, and thus act 
 with considerable efficiency in scouring these drains and 
 the sewer into which they discharge. 
 
 486. Although complexity of parts is to be avoided in 
 water-closets intended for use in the greater number of 
 dwellings, some of the more complete forms of apparatus 
 adapted for self-action, and which necessarily comprise 
 considerable detail of arrangement, are preferable in supe- 
 rior buildings in which close economy of construction is 
 not a first condition, and regular care and attention can be 
 secured for the action of the apparatus employed. Insome 
 of these closets, the valve which opens and closes the open- 
 ing into the water-pipe is attached by a rod toa lever, which, 
 by means of a cord or chain, is connected with the door of 
 the closet, so that the opening of the door opens the valve 
 and thus discharges a quantity of water into the pan. In 
 another form of apparatus, the pressure of the person on 
 the seat produces a similar effect. One of the most im- 
 proved of these is that patented by Messrs. Bunnett and Co., 
 which will be found fully described and illustrated in the 
 “ Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal ” for the month of 
 April, 1849. This closet is self-acting and doubly trapped, 
 and designed to secure a supply and force of water which 
 shall always be efficient and uniform without waste. It is, 
 moreover, so contrived, that no soil can remain in the basin 
 after use, and an ample supply of water being secured in 
 the basin so as to form a “ water-lute ” between that and the 
 syphon-trap, the rising of smell is effectually prevented. 
 The lower part of the pan dips into a water-pan or trap, 
 which is hinged and maintained in a horizontal position by 
 a rolling balance weight. The effect of pressure on the 
 seat of the closet is to depress a lever and open a valve in 
 
GENERAL SUMMARY. 179 
 
 the supply-box of the cistern, and thus pom a volume of 
 water into the water-pan or trap sufficient to throw it open, 
 and afford a passage for the soil into the lower basin, 
 which terminates in a syphon, and is also trapped with 
 water. When the pressure is removed from the seat, the 
 water-pan or upper trap is immediately brought back to a 
 horizontal position by the rolling weight, and receives suffi- 
 cient water before the closing of the valve, to fill it, and 
 thus effectually shut off all communication with the lower 
 basin. | 
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 
 
 437. In the First Part of this Rudimentary Treatise, 
 devoted to the Drainage of Districts and Lands, an attempt 
 is made to exhibit an arranged outline of the facts which 
 have been observed and recorded with reference to the 
 several sources of water.for agricultural purposes, and the 
 best means of making these available. The methods of 
 filtering and purifying water for extended purposes in dis- 
 tricts comprising towns, are also briefly explained, and the 
 difference pointed out between the mechanical and chemi- 
 cal processes required. In the sections which treat of the 
 drainage of lands, as limited in its purpose to the discharge 
 of superfluous water, the peculiar method to be employed 
 is shown to depend on the united consideration of relative 
 levels of surface and structural formation of soils. The 
 importance of efficient draining of fens and the several 
 ‘works required for this purpose, are illustrated by grand 
 instances in our own country—in the counties of Lincoln 
 and Cambridge—and a brief description is introduced of 
 that celebrated Dutch work by English engineers, the 
 draining of the Lake of Haarlem. The construction of 
 catch-water drains, and the adoption of means for aiding the 
 supply of water to high or upland districts, are also alluded 
 to as among the duties of the drainer. The formation of 
 
L180 GENERAL SUMMARY 
 
 soils is described as affording a general knowledge of their 
 character, and aiding in the determination of the best 
 arrangement of drains. Adopting a general classification. 
 of soils in regard to their structure, under the three leading 
 characters of porous, retentive, and mixed, an extended 
 notice is devoted to the several arrangements of these soils 
 ~wyhich are met with, and the modes of proceeding in each 
 case are. briefly explained. A description of the several 
 modes of forming drains or artificial subterranean channels 
 through lands is accompanied by practical rules as to their 
 construction, dimensions, arrangement, and cost, and some 
 of the best experience on this subject is quoted. A brief 
 account of the several operations to be carried on, of con- 
 tour-mapping, and of the tools employed in draining, com- 
 pletes the First Division of the work 
 
 438. The Second Division, of which the purport is the 
 Drainage of Towns and Streets, aims at establishing a clas- 
 sification of towns as subjects for water supply and drainage 
 according to the relative levels of the surface, and witout 
 that reference to the contiguity of rivers which has been 
 dictated by the mistaken object of converting rivers into 
 general sewers. An illustration of the principle here advo- 
 cated is taken from the position and superficial character of 
 our own metropolis. ‘The value of sewage matters for agri- 
 cultural purposes, and the practicability of rendering the 
 distribution and use of these matters innocuous by chemical 
 processes, are also stated upon the highest authority, and 
 the evils of concentrating the sewage of large towns at few 
 points, and misusing the channels for its conveyance, are 
 pointed out and established upon past and extended expe- 
 rience. A brief notice is added of some of the general 
 plans which have been suggested for the drainage of Lon- 
 don, and some particulars given of the costly and inopera- 
 tive works executed in the department of Metropolitan 
 Sewerage. Upon the public supply of water to towns a 
 mass of evidence is collected from past experience in the 
 metropolis and the provinces, showing the effect of geologis 
 
GENERAL SUMMARY. 181 
 
 cal structure upon the quality of water, and the cost of sup- 
 plying, of filtering, and purifying it for the several purposes 
 required. ‘The circumstances affecting the cleansing and 
 draining of roads and streets are also shortly noticed. The 
 proper functions of sewers, their arrangement, dimensions, 
 and construction, are deduced from the data which it is be- 
 lieved should be referred to, and by calculations which our 
 past experience enables us to form. A rule for the correct 
 sectional form of sewers is also given, and recommenucd 
 for its usefulness and simplicity. The cost of several de- 
 scriptions of sewers is also cited from the records of expe- 
 rience, the stone-ware pipe sewers described, and the method 
 of cleansing by flushing adverted to, and its effects quoted. 
 The conveyance of water to towns and the several methods 
 adopted, with the cost of pumping by steam-power, are 
 described and stated. 
 
 439. The Third Division treats of the Drainage of Build- 
 ings as subjects of the entire system which embraces the sup- 
 ply of water as an accessory to the purpose of draining. It 
 is suggested that the classification of dwellings should be 
 determined by the number of persons to be served rather 
 than the rental paid for each house, and that larger’ build- 
 ings, in which human beings are congregated for manufac- 
 turing and other purposes, may be provided for according 
 to the cubic space inclosed by them. The arrangement, 
 construction, and dimensions of house-drains are described, 
 and the qualifications of impermeability, secure trapping at 
 the head and all other openings through which effluvia 
 might escape, and proper connection with the receiving 
 sewer at the lower end, are insisted upon as indispensable 
 to perfect and efficient construction. And in the concluding 
 section a general view is taken of the combined arrange- 
 ments for efficient house-drainage, and the simplest con- 
 struction recommended for water-closets and similar appa- 
 ratus designed for general adoption. 
 
APPENDIX No. 1. 
 
 STtraM DRAINING-PLOUGH 
 
 440. Tue following account of Fowler and Fry’s new 
 steam draining-plough is quoted from the “ Bristol Mer- 
 cury ” of February 11, 1854. 
 
 “On Thursday last some experiments of a deeply in- 
 teresting and important nature, in connection with the 
 question of land-drainage, were made at Catherine Farm, 
 on the estate of P. W. Miles, Esq., at Kingsweston, when 
 Fowler and Fry’s new steam draining-plough was for the 
 first time put in operation. The great utility of under. 
 ground drainage upon clay soils and in marshy districts is 
 now too generally known and appreciated to leave it a 
 matter of debate; but the heavy expense which the adop.- 
 tion of the system of hand-labour entails, especially in 
 neighbourhoods where that labour is scarce and dear, has 
 hitherto stood in the way of its general adoption. It will 
 be obvious that anything which has a tendency to facilitate 
 the operation and diminish its cost, must be, in an emi- 
 nent degree, beneficial to agriculture, and hence scientific 
 and practical men have been stimulated to bend their 
 efforts in a direction tending to those ends. The drainage 
 of moist lands was first attempted by the simple process of 
 digging, by spade labour, narrow trenches, and laying rude 
 stone drains in the bottom of them. The difficulty of pro- 
 curing stones and the cost of hauling them were found to 
 stand considerably in the way of that precess, and the use 
 of draining-tiles in various forms was by degrees intro- 
 duced, but without any decided improvement bing effected 
 in the mode of cutting the drain trenches. An important 
 
APPENDIX.— STEAM DRAINING-PILOUGH. 183 
 
 revolution in the process was introduced by our fellow- 
 citizen Mr. Fowler, of the firm of Fowler and Fry, agricul- 
 tural machine manufacturers, of Temple Street, in the 
 invention of his draining-plough, by which manual labour 
 was in a large degree superseded; but a deficiency still 
 remained. The plough had to be worked by horse-power, 
 four horses being employed by it in turning the windlass 
 by which it was set in motion, and the process, although 
 cheaper and more expeditious than spade-labour, was, 
 nevertheless, in a degree expensive and tardy. The desira- 
 bility of applying steam power to a plough upon the same 
 principle soon became apparent, and, impressed with the 
 importance of the object, Mr. Fowler directed his attention 
 to it, and now, as the result of a great deal of anxiety and 
 labour, and of no inconsiderable expense, he has perfected 
 a steam draining-plough, which we saw in successful ope- 
 ration on Thursday, and which we have no doubt will 
 speedily take rank among the most useful inventions of the 
 day. A brief description of the machinery may prove 
 interesting. 
 
 «The steam-engine, although mounted on wheels, and 
 capable of being transported from point to point, is, when 
 employed, a stationary one, and worked by a horizontal 
 cylinder. It has connected with it two drums, which are 
 loose on the axles. Attached to the larger drum, which 
 draws the plough forward, is a wire rope of beautiful manu- 
 facture, the breaking strain of which is 14 tons, the work. 
 ing strain being 5 tons. This drum is worked by two 
 motions off the fly-wheel shaft, which give a leverage of 
 22 to 1 on the plough, the drum making seven revolutions 
 per minute. ‘T’o the lesser drum, which is worked off the 
 second shaft, is attached a rope also of wire, but of smaller 
 calibre, which draws the plough back, when it has com: 
 pleted a furrow, to the side of the field from which it 
 started and where it has to begin again. By an ingenious 
 contrivance the drums are formed by the insides of two 
 spur wheels, so that practically the working is effected by 
 
184 APPENDIX.—STEAM DRAINING-PLOUGH 
 
 ordinary spur-gearing. The drums can be instantly. thrown 
 out of gear by clutches moving the pinions on a feather. 
 The larger wire rope, on being wound on to the drum. for 
 the purpose of impelling the plough forward, works round 
 a sheave-wheel or pulley-block anchored to the field at such 
 a point as to draw the plough at right angles to the engine, 
 by which arrangement the necessity of shifting the engine 
 is obviated to so great an extent that almost any field may 
 be drained without once removing it from the position first 
 taken up by it. To the front of the plough is attached a 
 second sheave-wheel, round which the rope is. doubled, 
 thereby, also, doubling the power. The coulter of the 
 plough is of iron, an inch in diameter at its widest point, 
 so that the furrow made by it upon the surface of the land 
 is scarcely perceptible and generally disappears after the 
 first storm of rain. It can be worked to a depth of four 
 feet, and indeed deeper, if necessary, and is so made that 
 it can be raised or depressed by a handwheel under the 
 control of the ploughman, and which works gear connected 
 with a rack at the back of the coulter. ‘The boring of the 
 land is effected by means of a cast-iron mole or plug (the 
 size of which is regulated by the size of the tiles to be 
 laid) keyed to the bottom of the coulter, and the most 
 striking feature of the machine is, that as fast as it bores 
 the land it lays in the tile-piping, thus completing the 
 drain as it goes at the rate (when we saw it working) of 
 85 feet, and probably, under very favourable circumstances, 
 40 feet per minute. It should be stated, in order to the 
 understanding of what follows, that as the engine winds 
 the large rope on the large drum and draws the plough 
 towards it, it at the same time unwinds the small rope 
 which is attached to the back of the plough from the small. 
 drum. 
 
 “The mode of operation we will now endeavour to 
 explain, assuming for our illustration a field of 1000 feet 
 square, which has to be drained by drains 10 yards apart 
 from east to west. The engine would be fixed at the 
 
APPENDIX.—STEAM DRAINING-PLOUGH 185 
 
 middle of the western edge; the plough would be placed 
 on the eastern edge at 10 yards from the southern edge of 
 the ground, and an anchor and sheave-wheel would be 
 rigged exactly opposite to it on the western edge. The 
 large wire-rope would be passed round the sheave-wheel, 
 and thence on to the front of the plough, while the small 
 wire-rope would be connected from the back of the plough 
 with another anchor, &c., rigged 10 yards north of the 
 plough—that is, at the point to which it would have to be 
 drawn back, and from which it would have to commence 
 again. ‘The machinery thus arranged, the pipe-tiles are strung 
 on ropes of fifty yards long (the length being thus limited 
 to economise time and labour in threading), but fitted with 
 ingeniously-contrived joints at either end, so that they can 
 be readily and firmly joined together at any length required. 
 These ropes are made of hemp for the sake of flexibility, 
 while, as a matter of economy and durability, and to 
 decrease friction as much as possible, they are coated with 
 wire. The ropes being threaded and joined, one end is 
 fixed immediately behind the mole, and the machine being 
 set in motion by the steam-engine, the coulter cuts its 
 narrow channel through the land, the mole bores and lifts 
 the subsoil, and the pipes are drawn through the aperture, 
 and closely and neatly put together, forming the drain. 
 The sheaye-wheels are then shifted, the plough drawn back 
 by the small rope, and the second and succeeding drains 
 are cut and piped in the same way. The ropes, after the 
 tiles have been laid, are drawn out by horses, which is the 
 only employment of horse-labour required. The plough is 
 attended by a man, whose only duty seems to be to keep it 
 upright where the land is out of level; but we were told by 
 Mr. Fowler that he-had perfected some self-acting level 
 guides, which would be shortly attached, and which would 
 enable the plough to adapt itself to any inequalities which 
 might arise, and make it independent of any guide. 
 
 “The advantages which Mr. Fowler expects to derive 
 from his inventions are manifold. The first and most 
 
186 APPENDIX.—STEAM DRAINING-PLOUGH. 
 
 important is, of course, economy. The sum at present 
 charged by contractors, for draining on a large scale, per 
 acre, is from 5l. to 61. <A considerable tract of land; at 
 present in course of drainage in an adjacent county, is 
 understood to have been taken at 5/. 5s. or 5/. 10s. per acre. 
 Mr. Fowler considers that by his machinery land may be 
 drained for from 3/. 10s. to 4/. per acre, yielding a fair 
 remuneration to the contractor. One engine with ten men 
 and two horses will, he caleulates, do as much work as 
 120 men, and, under favourable circumstances, as much 
 work as 150 men would do by the old system. A second 
 advantage anticipated is, the ability to drain in the summer 
 season, when days are long and the weather favourable, a 
 desideratum not now obtainable on account of labour being 
 at that period so fully occupied by other sources of employ- 
 ment. Third, drainage by the machine will be better per- 
 formed. The drains will be uniform in depth and straighter, 
 and the tiles more closely and firmly laid, while the plough, 
 by lifting the land, causes the water to percolate at once, 
 and thus brings the drain into immediate action. Fourth, 
 no damage is done to the surface of the ground, which, by 
 the old process was often the case. With dry weather the 
 machinery may be erected and field drained one day, and 
 on the next a casual observer would be unable to perceive 
 that any change had taken place. Fifth, the drains when 
 made will be more durable. 
 
 i. “ With regard to the capabilities of his invention, Mr. 
 Fowler calculates that with a single engine and plough he 
 shall be able to drain about 30 acres per week. At present 
 the machinery will only be retained in this neighbourhood 
 long enough to complete the drainage of about 40 acres 
 of land on the farm where it is now at work. This will 
 probably be effected by about the end of next week, after 
 which time it will be removed to London, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of which city it will, we understand, be tried 
 under Government inspection, and, doubtless, will receive 
 
APPENDIX.—STEAM DRAINING-PLOUGH. 187 
 
 _ the attention of many scientific and practical gentlemen 
 interested in the advancement of agriculture 
 
 “Should the ‘Stram Draintne-pLoucH’ meet with the 
 approbation of those to whom it is about to be submitted, 
 arrangements will be made for carrying it into operation 
 upon a scale to some extent commensurate with the wants 
 of the kingdom.” 
 
 Figures 78, 79. 80, and 81, show the plough and cap- 
 stan apparatus complete, as adapted to be propelled by 
 horse-power. Figs. 78 and 79 are an elevation and plan 
 of the capstan, and figs. 80 and 81 a corresponding eleva- - 
 tion and plan of the plough. 
 
 [Since the above was written, very considerable advances 
 have been made in the practice of plough-draining by steam- 
 power, as in the application of the same mighty agency to 
 other agricultural labours; but the principles are nearly as 
 above described. | 
 
1838 APPENDIX.—STEAM DRAINING PLOUGH 
 
 Fig. 78. Fig. 79. 
 
Fig. 50. 
 
 APPENDIX.—STEAM DRAINING-PLOUGH 189 
 
 C 
 
 Fig. 81. 
 
190 
 
 APPENDIX No. 2. 
 
 Mr. STEPHENSON’s REPORT ON THE PLAN FOR THE DRAINAGE OF Dis- 
 TRIoTS NogTH oF THE THAMES, 
 
 Ata Special Court of the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers, 
 held on the 16th May, 1854, the following Report by Mr. Robert 
 Stephenson, M.P.,on the plan proposed by Messrs. Bazalgette and Hey- 
 wood, was read :— 
 
 “24, Great George-street, Westminster, May 15. 
 
 “ Gentlemen,—Absence from England prevented my uniting with 
 Sir William Cubitt in drawing up his remarks, dated February 25, 
 1854, on the joint report of Messrs. Bazalgette and Heywood, on a 
 proposed system of intercepting drains throughout that portion of the 
 metropolis lying on the north side of the river Thames. 
 
 “JT therefore now take leave to lay before you a few observations on 
 that report, and before doing so may premise that it is not my inten- 
 tion to revert to those points touched upon by Sir William Cuhitt, as 
 I entirely concur in the opinion he has given respecting the gene- 
 ral merits of the plan and the estimated cost of carrying it out. 
 
 “My observations will rather have reference to the general principle 
 of intercepting sewers upon which the design is based, and to one or 
 two of the localities where it has been deemed advisable to depart from 
 this system to meet special conditions. 
 
 “With respect, then, to the application of the principle of inter- 
 cepting sewers to very large towns, and more especially to the metro- 
 polis, where it has become imperative to lessen as far as practicable 
 the nuisance of discharging the sewage directly into that part of the 
 Thames upon which the metropolis is situate, I believe there is con- 
 siderable unanimity of opinion among engineers who have been called 
 upon to direct their attention to the subject. When I was a member 
 of your body, itfell to my lot to examine upwards of 150 suggestions 
 for. improving the drainage of London, among which were many from 
 professional men of experience, and by far the majority of these, when 
 a comprehensive study of the subject had been made, agreed on adopt- 
 ing a series of intercepting sewers, as the only method affording a sim- 
 
MR. STEPHENSON’S REPORT 191 
 
 ple and efficient system of drainage, and at the same time freeing the 
 Thames through London of pollution. 
 
 “The plan which was afterwards submitted by Mr. Frank Forster to 
 the commissioners may be regarded as embodying most of the useful 
 views which such of these plans contained as were based upon the 
 principle of interception by main lines of sewer, carried to a point on 
 the river so far down as to prevent the reaction of the tidal waters 
 bringing the feculent matter back among the inhabitants of the me- 
 tropolis. 
 
 “The design now produced by Mr. Bazalgette and Mr. Heywood 
 may be regarded as the extension of Mr. Forster’s views, adapted to 
 the new features which every suburb of London is yearly presenting. 
 They have also made some judicious modifications suggested by time 
 and further information, one of the most important of which is the 
 removal of the lowest intercepting drain from the shore of the river, 
 as such a position, although chosen for the purpose of making the 
 system of interception complete, would have been carried out with the 
 utmost difficulty, in consequence of the loose nature of the soil, and 
 at a cost incapable of any certain calculation beforehand. 
 
 “The construction of this low level intercepting sewer does not, 
 however, press for immediate attention, for it is clear that, of the 
 three intercepting sewers comprehended in Messrs. Bazalgette and 
 Heywood’s plan, the construction of the upper and middle levels 
 should be proceeded with first. Their completion alone will greatly 
 relieve the Thames of impurities, and by lessening the direct discharge, 
 will render the construction of the lowest level less difficult and less 
 costly. Indeed, it is not improbable that by the diversion of so large 
 a portion of the sewage matter from the river as would be under the 
 control of the middle and upper Jines of interception, the formation 
 of the lowest would become comparatively much less important, and 
 might be postponed for some length of time, and so relieve the de- 
 mand upon those who supply the funds. 
 
 “The two upper lines of interception would, in fact, leave less of- 
 fensive matter to be discharged into the sewers than has taken place 
 in any time within living recollection. 
 
 “Tt is the only mode of procedure which seems adapted even- 
 tually to remove, and at once to mitigate, many of the chief diffi- 
 culties and annoyances attaching themselves to this complicated 
 question. 
 
 “Tn this design the system of interception is applied to the whole 
 of the metropolis on the north side of the river, excepting a portion 
 which is designated the western district, comprising an area of about 
 eighteen square miles, commencing a little to the east of Brompton 
 and Chelsea, and extending westward as far as Brentford. The level 
 
198 APPENDIX No. Q. 
 
 of all this district is so low that it is impossible to obtain any other 
 natural means of drainage than into the river, as at present. ‘To ob- 
 viate this objection, it is proposed to treat the western district by a 
 different method, which appears to me well calculated to overcome the 
 obstacles arising out of this circumstance, namely, to direct the whole 
 of the sewage to one point on the shore of the river near the entrance 
 into the Kensington Canal, and there take means for separatiug the 
 liquid and solid portion of the sewage before the former is discharged 
 into the river. Experiments on a large scale with this process are now 
 being made, and with such result that its ultimate success may be 
 fairly deemed probable. 
 
 “Tagree, therefore, with the recommendations made in this report 
 as to the method to be applied to the western district, in consequence 
 of its extremely low level. 
 
 “With the general lines of direction which have been selected for 
 interception I also concur; but, in anticipation of the success of the 
 method for extracting solid manure from the sewage, and its becom- 
 ing remunerative, it is suggested, ‘that considerations may arise se- 
 riously affecting the scheme proposed,’ and a question is raised ‘ whe- 
 ther it would not then be advisable, on the seore of economy, to 
 modify the designs presented for the middle and low-level sewers, and 
 to abandon the chief portion of the line between the river Lea and 
 Barking Creek.’ In this I do not go to the full extent with Messrs. 
 Bazalgette and Heywood, for, although the process for the manufac- 
 ture of manure may prove successful, I do not think this probably 
 would tend to, still less would justify, the delay of the construction of 
 the middle level works. These seem to me to be absolutely necessary 
 to rectify the present defective system of drainage, whatever shape the 
 manure question may eventually take. I have already stated that the 
 middle level is calculated, when properly dealt with, to ameliorate the 
 evils so much complained of in so marked a manner that the execu- 
 tion of the lower level may perhaps safely be postponed for a time ; 
 but I can foresee no degree of improvement in the manufacture of 
 manure in prospect that would tend to any material alteration in its 
 construction, or position, or cost. It strikes at the root of many of the 
 existing evils in the most direct manner, while it comprehends within 
 its scope and influence so large and important a district, that I think 
 no minor obstacle ought to stand in the way of its execution. The 
 extension to Barking might, I think, be dispensed with, as sug- 
 gested. 
 
 “Tf in extending and perfecting the drainage of London, the chief 
 objects be the improvement of the general sanitary condition of the 
 inhabitants and the purification of the Thames from noisome matter, 
 I cannot help repeating that J regard the middle intercepting sewer as 
 
MR. STEPHENSON’S REPORT 198 
 
 one of the most important features of the scheme on which I am now 
 reporting, and, indeed, without it either object, and the last especially, 
 could only be very partially attained, for no arrangement in the ex- 
 traction of the solid matter from the sewage that I can conceive 
 would prevent the frequent discharge of the usual amount of noxious 
 filth into the river. ; 
 
 “This can only, I believe, be avoided by the intercepting system 
 being fully carried out, and no part of the proposed plan is more effec- 
 tive than the middle interception, and none can be so ill spared or 
 postponed. 
 
 “YT am induced to express this opinion somewhat decidedly, be- 
 cause, having had my attention called to several methods that have 
 been proposed for the extraction of manure from sewage, I have been 
 led to the conclusion that, instead of multiplying such establishments 
 within the precincts of towns, as some contemplate, a complete system 
 of interception, with the concentration of the manure process on a 
 few points, is that whieh is best calculated to attain success. 
 
 “With reference to the dimensions of the proposed sewers, I have 
 not been able to go into the details of the calculations, but, having 
 examined the tabular statements attached to the engineers’ report, 
 and having received explanations from them respecting the directions 
 of the flow in the various sewers intended to take place, I have every 
 confidence in the correctness of their conclusions. 
 
 “T have only further to add, that I regard the design of Messrs. 
 Bazalgette and Heywood as comprehending, in a very practical shape, 
 all the essentially useful suggestions which have, from time to time, 
 been made by engineers respecting the drainage of the metropolis ; 
 and I have no doubt whatever that if the commissioners be put ina 
 position to carry it out, it will be found effective. 
 
 “T am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
 “ RoBERT STEPHENSON, 
 ‘ To the Commissioners of Metropolitan Sewers.” 
 
194 
 
 APPENDIX No. 8. 
 Main Drarnacg or Lonpon. Tuer Procezpines rrom 1854 ro 1865. 
 
 For reasons stated in the Preface, it has been considered desirable to 
 leave Mr. Dempsey’s paragraphs untouched, so far as concerns the pro- 
 ceedings in relation to the Main Drainage of the metropolis, and to 
 present in this place a succinct account of what has been done in the 
 matter between 1854 and 1865. 
 
 The first important events after 1854 in regard to this subject, were the 
 abolition or abrogation of the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers, the 
 establishment of a new body with greatly increased powers, and the settle- 
 ment once for all (whether for good or bad) of a multitude of vexed ques- 
 tions relating to the method of draining the metropolis. On August 14, - 
 1855, the royal assent was given to the ‘‘ Metropolis Local Management 
 Act,’ a statute of enormous length, having 251 clauses and 100 large 
 pages of schedules. By virtue of this Act, the parishes of the metropolis 
 elect vestries, which are bodies corporate, either singly, or two or more 
 parishes combined, in which latter case the combined vestries form & 
 District Board. The vestries and boards, together with the Common 
 Council of the city, elect representatives from among themselves, in 
 certain proportions; and these representatives, to the number of 45, 
 form a Metropolitan Board of Works. The Secretary of State selects s 
 chairman from three persons named by the board. 
 
 The powers of this board are chiefly the control of the main drainage 
 of the metropolis, the naming of the streets and the numbering of the 
 houses, the widening of narrow streets, and the facilitating of street traffic. 
 The area over which this power extends is that which has been adopted 
 by the Census Commissioners of 1851 and 1861, and which gives a total 
 in the last named year of 330,237 inhabited houses, and 2,803,034 inha- 
 bitants, in the metropolis. The board, to defray the charges of any 
 works undertaken, is empowered to levy a rate on the same principle as 
 the county rate, and to borrow money upon the credit of that rate. 
 
 The Parish Vestries and the District Boards, besides electing members 
 to the Metropolitan Board of Works, have extensive local powers of their 
 own. ‘They manage all the minor sewers and drains subordinate to the 
 main drainage. They control the paving, lighting, watering, and 
 cleansing of the streets, and the erection of public conveniences. They 
 have the powers of surveyors of highways. They may appoint crossing- 
 sweepers. They appoint Jnspectors of Nuisances, whose duties are 
 decided by that title. And, lastly, they appoint Medical Officers o 
 
MAIN DRAINAGE or LONDON. 195 
 
 Health, to report upon the sanitary state of the several districts and 
 parishes ; to ascertain the existence of epidemics and other diseases; to 
 suggest means for preventing the spreading of these evils; and to take 
 cognizance of the ventilation of churches, chapels, schools, lodging- 
 houses, and other buildings of a more or less public character.. To defray 
 the cost of these works, the vestries and district boards are empowered 
 to levy rates on the householders, under the three forms of Sewers rate, 
 Lighting rate, and General rate. 
 
 So far, then, as concerns the present part of our subject, the Metro- 
 politan Board of Works, elected by the parish vestries and the district 
 boards, is entrusted with the general drainage of the metropolis. One 
 important clause in the Act declares that “Such board shall make such 
 sewers and works as they may think necessary for preventing all or any 
 part of the sewage within the metropolis from flowing or passing into the 
 river Thames, in or near the metropolis; and shall cause such works to 
 be completed on or before the 3lst December, 1860.” Of course it was 
 right to name a limit of time in this way; but the limit has been far 
 exceeded. Another Act, in 1856, empowered the commissioners, acting 
 in harmony with the parish vestries and district boards, to take all the 
 requisite measures for forming parks, pleasure-grounds, places of recrea- 
 tion, and healthy open spaces in the metropolis; but it did not affect 
 the power of the commissioners in reference to the main drainage. 
 
 It was known when the Act of 1855 was passed, that the Government, 
 and most of the influential persons concerned, were favourable to the 
 “Intercepting” scheme, as contrasted with the local or sectional 
 schemes. But much valuable time was spent in discussion. Not only 
 did the remaining portion of that year, but the whole of the years 1856 
 and 1857, pass away without definite results; and it was not until 1858 
 that an Act of Parliament was obtained, empowering the commissioners 
 to carry out a specified system of metropolitan drainage. This Act, 
 which received the royal assent on the 2nd of August, was framed after 
 an immense deal of trouble, Considering that 80 million gallons of 
 liquid refuse flow from the metropolis every day; that this vast bulk of 
 water contains 400 tons of solid refuse ; that 2,000 miles of sewers convey 
 these abominations into the Thames by about 100 mouths; that con- 
 siderably more than 100 square miles of area have to be provided for in 
 some way or other; and that upwards of 80 miles of great intercepting 
 sewers would have to be constructed, it is no wonder that embarrass- 
 ments and difficulties should arise. But there were others of a more 
 formal kind. By the former statute (1855), the Board of Works and 
 Public Buildings had a veto on the plans of the Metropolitan Board 
 of Works in all that concerned main drainage; and as the rival boards 
 had rival engineers, with rival plans, matters came to a dead lock. 
 Moreover, by the “ Thames Conservancy Act” of 1857, the corporation 
 
 K 2 
 
196 APPENDIX NO. 3. 
 
 have certain rights conceded to them over “the soil of the Thames 
 between high and low water ;” and these rights give them a voice in 
 many drainage questions. All difficulties of this kind were, however, at 
 length surmounted, and the Act was passed. 
 
 The basis of the system adopted was the Interception, which had 
 been more or less before the public since 1845. The Act did not instruct 
 the commissioners to adopt any plan defined in the Act itself, but 
 empowered them to adopt a plan, some plan, on their own responsibility. 
 They were to be relieved from the absurd veto of the Commissioners of 
 Works. They were empowered to spend 3,000,000/. sterling by the 
 3lst December, 1863; to borrow this amount under their corporate 
 seal, and to repay the principal and interest in forty years by a levy of 
 3d. in the pound on the annual value of the property in the district, in 
 the manner of a county rate. 
 
 The curious course of procedure, therefore, had been this; that, in 
 1855, the Metropolitan Board of Works was formed mainly with a view 
 to the drainage of the metropolis; that, in 1856 and 1857, all parties 
 were disputing as to the best mode of doing this; that, in 1858, an Act. 
 of Parliament was passed, empowering the commissioners to spend 
 3,000,0007. on some plan for preventing the sewage of the metropolis 
 from flowing into the Thames; and that the commissioners then had to 
 give their final vote what that plan should be. 
 
 We have now, therefore, to give some account of the greatest system of 
 town drainage ever yet commenced, The commissioners, in 1859, finally 
 determined upon the Intercepting plan, with Mr. Bazalgette as their 
 chief engineer. The reader is already acquainted with the general cha- 
 racter of the plan in the foregoing paragraphs; and all that will be 
 necessary, therefore, is, to show how far the results are likely to be 
 modified. 
 
 The area that will be drained under this system, both of house-sewage 
 and of rain-fall, extends to the enormous amount of ii7 square miles, 
 nearly equal to that of a quadrangular area 12 miles long by 10 broad. 
 All the arrangements as to the outfall, &c., are made for a prospective 
 population of 3,500,000, about 500,000 more than the present population 
 of the incluced area. The whole of this drainage will then, as heretofore, 
 flow into the Thames, unless some plan is adopted of utilising the 
 sewage; but nearly the whole of it will enter the river many miles below 
 London, under circumstances which, it is hoped, will prevent a return 
 of the pollution upwards. There will be five great lines of sewer, more 
 or less parallel to each other and to the river; and each of: these sewers 
 will receive all the drainage from so much of the district as is on a 
 higher level than itself. Three of the main sewers are on the north of 
 the Thames, and two on the south. The first three will converge at a 
 point eastward of the metropolis, and then flow into the river near 
 
MAIN DRAINAGE OF LONDON. 197 
 
 Barking Creek ; the last two will converge near Deptford, and flow on 
 together to Crossness Point, between Woolwich and Erith. We shall: 
 now describe these yreat lines separately, under the names by which they 
 are generally known, and shall aie a few further details concerning 
 them collectively. 
 
 Northern High-Level—This commences in the Gospel Oak Fields, at 
 the foot of Hampstead, and extencs to Old Ford, by way of Kentish 
 Town, the New Cattle Market, Highbury Vale, Stoke Newington, 
 Hackney, and Victoria Park. It absorbs on its way the old offensive 
 open sewer called Hackney Brook, which is now emptied and closed 
 over. It crosses beneath the Great Northern, Tottenham and Hampstead, 
 and North London railways, and Sir George Duckett’s Canal. The fall 
 commences at about 4 ft. per mile. It lies at a depth of 20 ft. to 26 ft. 
 below the ground, and drains 14 square miles. The sewer is 4 ft. by 
 2 ft. 8 in. at the western or upper end, and gradually enlarges to 12 ft. 
 wide by 93 ft. high at the east end. The actual distance is about 83 
 miles, but some small additional portions of sewers raise the length to 
 94 miles. The engineer’s estimate for this work was about 180,0007. ; 
 and the whole has been admirably finished by Mr. Moxon within the 
 estimate. 
 
 Northern Middle-Level—This commences at Counter’s Creek sewer, 
 near Kensal Green, and extends to Old Ford. It first passes nearly 
 south from Kensal Green and Kensington Park to Notting Hill, and 
 then along the Bayswater Road, Oxford Street, Bloomsbury Square, 
 Clerkenwell, Old Street, and Bethnal Green to Old Ford. The length, 
 with branches, is about 12 miles, half of which is tunnelling; and for 
 2 miles it passes under houses and other private property. The size of 
 sewer, as in the former case, varies from 4 ft. by 2 ft. 8 in. to 123-ft. by 
 
 9 ft. The gradient varies from 2 ft. to 25 ft. per mile; and it lies at a 
 depth varying from 30 ft. to 40 ft. below the surface. Mr. Bazalgette’s 
 estimate for this great work was 280,000/7. Mr. Rowe contracted for it 
 in February, 1860, at a price of 264,000/.; but he broke down after an 
 expenditure of 12,000/.; and a new contract was made in December with 
 Messrs. Brassey and Co. for 330,0007. This portion of the work has 
 been beset by immense difficulties; for, owing to a paucity of plans of 
 existing sewers, water-pipes, and gas-pipes, the excavators had to feel their 
 way inch by inch under the roadway of Oxford Street and other places, 
 At another place the Regent’s Canal burst into this sewer, retarding the 
 works for a considerable time. 
 
 Old Ford Storm Overflow—The High and Middle-level sewers converge 
 at Old Ford, where some remarkable works have been constructed. The 
 Penstock Chamber consists of a large receptacle below, and machinery 
 rooms above. ‘The arrangements are such, that when the High and 
 Middle-level sewers are supercharged after heavy rain, the surplus water 
 
198 APPENDIX NO. 8. 
 
 jis diverted, in the Penstock, into a short channel which flows into the 
 river Lea, permitting only the usual average quantity to flow onwards 
 towards the Thames. The proportion thus diverted may be varied at 
 pleasure. This is a more important matter than would at first be 
 supposed. Four times as much sewage passes through the London 
 sewers at ndon as at midnight; the maximum flow being about equal to 
 a rain-fall of a quarter of an inch in depth in twenty-four hours. But 
 besides this source of inequality, the quantity is much exceeded in rainy 
 weather, at which time the rain-fall often greatly exceeds in bulk the 
 sewage itself. It would have been very difficult and enormously expensive 
 to construct the sewers large enough to carry off all the storm waters as 
 well as the sewage; and therefore the existing main sewers, as well as the 
 river Lea, are to be occasionally made use of as storm overflows, to carry 
 the rain-fall to the Thames by channels different from those of the new 
 sewers. The whole of the drainage collected by the Upper-level was 
 diverted by the mechanism of the Penstock into the Lea in 1862, until 
 the works at Barking were finished. The value of the system was 
 further felt in 1862, when an irruption of the Fleet sewer into the 
 Underground Railway in Victoria Street took place. The injury would 
 have been much greater, had not the upper waters been diverted to Old 
 Ford. It may suffice to show the formidable nature of some of these 
 works, when we say that between Old Ford and Barking the High and ~ 
 Middle-level sewers have had to be carried, by iron aqueducts supported 
 on columns, across no less than six branches of the river Lea, across the 
 East London Waterworks Canal, and under and over four lines of | 
 railway. The works for the Old Ford Penstock Chamber were included 
 in Mr. Moxon’s contract for the High-level sewer. 
 
 Northern Low-Level—This begins by a junction with the Ranelagh 
 sewer at Chelsea, which it will connect with the Victoria Street sewer; 
 then, approaching the Thames at Whitehall, it will continue near the 
 embankment to the City; whence it will pass by way of Tower Hill, 
 Stepney, Limehouse, and Bromley, to West Ham. At this last-named 
 place it is to be joined by the High and Middle-level sewers. One 
 grave difficulty has led to the delay of these works. According to the 
 original plan, this sewer was to have been carried beneath the roadway of 
 the Strand, Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, &c., at a depth varying from 30 ft, 
 to 50 ft. below the surface; but it was felt that the execution of the 
 works would be an insupportable nuisance to the inhabitants, and that 
 the obstructions to trade might give rise to formidable claims for com- 
 pensation. It was even feared that St. Paul’s Cathedral might be 
 endangered by such deep excavations near its foundations. It was 
 therefore determined to combine the scheme for a Low-level sewer with 
 one for a Thames Embankment. Accordingly an Act was obtained in 
 1862, which enables the Metropolitan Board of Works to sarry the Low- 
 
MAIN DRAINAGE OF LONDON. 199 
 
 level sewer close to the proposed embankment, in the bed of the Thames 
 itself, from Whitehall to Blackfriars Bridge. There will be difficulty 
 enough to decide how to carry the sewer through the City; but the 
 double scheme will at all events save the Strand and Fleet Street from 
 the threatened disturbance. How the sewer and embankment will be 
 combined is explained in a later page. 
 
 The Northern Outfall—We have traced the High and Middle-level to 
 Old Ford, and have now to describe their course over the Essex Marshes. 
 The Northern outfall extends from Old Ford to Barking Creek, where 
 the river Roding enters the Thames, a distance of about 54 miles. The 
 route is by way of Stratford, West Ham, Plaistow, and East Ham. It 
 comprises two parallel channels from Old Ford to West Ham, mostly 
 brick arches of 12 ft. by 9 ft., but partly iron tubes of great magnitude. 
 At West Ham the Low-level sewer will join them ; but as the sewage will 
 in this be at a much lower level than in the others, it will be pumped up 
 by powerful machinery. The three sewers will then run in three distinct 
 and parallel channels, formed of the best brickwork, in an embankment 
 above the general level of the ground. The three channels will be 143 miles 
 in all. In order to ensure permanence of structure, and to avoid a thick 
 bed of peat which underlies the surface in the Plaistow and East Ham 
 marshes, a concrete foundation for the embankment has been made, in 
 some places 25 ft. below the surface. The triple sewers pass under one 
 and over two lines of railway. For a mile and a half the embankment 
 is built upon transverse arches, the piers of which rest upon a deeply laid 
 bed of concrete. Mr. Bazalgette’s estimate for this remarkable tripartite 
 system of vast channels was 635,000/.; and Mr. Furness took the 
 contract in 1860 for 625,000/. The work is considered to rank among 
 the best specimens of brickwork ever seen—almost as highly finished as 
 if intended to meet the eye of a connoisseur, instead of being permanently 
 buried out of sight. It has been wisely determined that the cheapest as. 
 well as the best way in the end will be to do this work thoroughly once 
 for all. 
 
 The Barking Reservoir and Sluices.—The sewage conducted along the 
 three fine lines of channel just described is received at the Outfall 
 Statien. This consists mainly of a vast covered brick reservoir, 14 acres 
 in area and 20 feet deep, and would, if needed, contain double the 
 quantity of twelve hours’ sewage from all the northern sewers. It is 
 so roofed with brick arches and earth, as to prevent the escape of 
 effluvia. From this reservoir the sewage will flow into the Thames 
 during the first two and a half hours of ebb; that is, for two hours and 
 s half after high water. It is calculated by the engineer (and on the 
 correctness of this calculation depends much of the success of the whole 
 scheme) that as the point of discharge is 125 miles below London Bridge, 
 the outgoing tide will carry the sewage too far away to allow it to flow up 
 
200 / APPENDIX No. 3. 
 
 to London again at the flood tide; especially as the bulk of water oppo- 
 site the outfall is very great, and as the flow downwards is very forcible 
 during the first two or three hours after high water. It is supposed that 
 the very last gallon of each outflow will have reached 12 or 18 miles 
 below Barking Creek, or 25 below London Bridge, before the tide 
 begins to flow upwards again. The mains carry the sewage from the 
 reservoir far out into the bed of the river, so as to insure its mixing 
 with as large an amount of water as possible. Mr. Bazalgette’s 
 estimate for the works at this outfall station was 170,000/., and 
 Mr. Furness took the contract for 164,000/., in January, 1863. It is 
 probable, however, that these works may be made in some way contingent 
 upon any future scheme for the utilisation of sewage. Mr. Bazalgette, 
 pending the discordant arguments on this subject, lays his plans for the 
 discharge of the whole of the sewage into the Thames; but the com- 
 missioners have purchased 50 acres of land adjacent, to be prepared for 
 any future scheme of sewage utilisation. 
 
 Western Drainage—The western part of the Metropolitan area, 
 north of the Thames, is much of it at so low a level that the three great 
 intersecting sewers cannot well accommodate it. It is, therefore, treated 
 by Mr. Bazalgette as a distinct system. The districts comprised within 
 it are Acton, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chelsea, Brompton, 
 &e. This system comprises several portions. The Acton Branch 
 extends from Acton Bottom to Notting Dale, along the Uxbridge Road. 
 ‘It comprises about 15 mile of small sewers, and descends 4 ft. per 
 mile, at an average depth of 15 ft. below the surface. The Ftanelagh 
 Storm Overflow is a sewer commencing in the Bayswater Road, passing 
 through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, and joining the Ranelagh 
 sewer at Knightsbridge. It connects the Middle-level system with the 
 Western system. Its chief purpose is to carry off storm overflows, that 
 would otherwise trouble the district, and overfill the Middle-level 
 sewer ; but another purpose is to relieve the Serpentine from foul water 
 that used to enter it during those overflows. This subsidiary sewer is a 
 little over a mile in length. The sewer isa 9 ft. barrel, at a depth of 
 11 to 44 ft. beneath the surface, and with a fall of 123 ft. per mile. 
 These sewers vary from 33 ft. by 2} to 41 ft. by 42. It was at first 
 intended to form a covered reservoir near the banks of the Thames, by 
 the side of the Kensington Canal, with arrangements for deodorising 
 the sewage before allowing it to pass into the Thames; but the inhabi- 
 tants of the neighbourhood objected so strongly to the plan that the 
 commissioners appointed a committee to consider and report upon it. 
 Meanwhile these western sewers have been proceeded with, leaving the 
 question of the outfall in abeyance. 
 
 Southern High-Level—The whole of the immense works hitherto 
 described are, or are to be, north of the Thames. We have now te 
 
MAIN DRAINAGE OF LONDON. 201 
 
 notice those on the south. Here, unlike the north, there is no Middie- 
 level ; the nature of the district being satisfied with a High-level and a 
 Low-level sewer. The High-level extends from Clapham Common tw 
 Deptford Creek, a distance of 94 miles, by way of Brixton, Camberwell, 
 and New Cross. It varies in section from 43 ft. by 3, to 104 ft. by 
 103, and lies at a depth varying from 10 to 50 feet beneath the level of 
 the ground. Mr. Bazalgette’s estimate was 212,000/.; the contract was 
 taken conjointly by Messrs. Holling & Co. and Messrs. Lee and Bowles 
 for 217,000/7., and the works are completed. Connected with this High- 
 level is a branch from New Cross to Dulwich and Norwood, superseding 
 in its way an offensive open channel called the Eifra sewer. 
 
 The Southern Low-Level extends from Putney to Deptford Creek, by 
 way of Wandsworth, Battersea, Vauxhall, Lambeth, Southwark, and 
 Rotherhithe, a distance of about 91 miles, with a Bermondsey branch 
 from the Spa Road. In some of these works on the south side the diffi- 
 culties have been most harassing. At one place the water*flooded in 
 upon the works at the rate of 8,000 gallons per minute, taxing the con- 
 tractor’s skill to the utmost. Although it is customary to speak only of 
 two levels on the south of the river, it would give a better idea of. the 
 system to have regard to three—Putney to Deptford, Clapham to Dept- 
 ford, and Norwood to Deptford—all rising at different levels, but all 
 coming to the same level at Deptford. 
 
 Deptford Pumping Station —On account of the low level of most of 
 the ground near the south bank of the Thames, the sewage from the Low- 
 level sewer will flow to a point far too deep to enter the river; indeed, 
 it is stated that nearly one half of Lambeth, Bermondsey, and Rother- 
 hithe is 6 ft. below high-water level. Hence it becomes necessary to 
 pump the whole of it up to a higher level; and for this ~purpose steam- 
 engines, boilers, furnaces, pumps, pump-wells, chimneys, coal-sheds, &c., 
 are provided at Deptford. These works alone have cost 140,0004. 
 
 Southern Outfall.—This consists of about 7} miles of sewer, 112 ft. in 
 diameter, at depths varying from 17 to 80 ft. below the surface, and with 
 a fall of 2 ft. per mile. At Woolwich, it is in some places full 80 ft. 
 beneath the surface, and of course made wholly by tunnelling. It extends 
 from Deptford Creek to Crossness Point, in the Erith Marshes, under 
 Greenwich and Woolwich, and across Plumstead Marshes. At Deptford 
 it receives the contents of the High-level sewer by gravitation, and those 
 of the Low-level by pumping. 
 
 The Crossness Reservoir and Sluices—At the point of junction with 
 the Thames, 14 miles below London Bridge, there is a system analogous 
 to that at Barking Creek, but more costly to work on account of the 
 difference of levels. There are four double-acting condensing and 
 rotative engines of 125 horse-power, working eight pumps, 7 ft. in 
 diameter, with a lift varying from 10 to 34 ft.; and the works connected 
 
 k 3 
 
902 APPENDIX No. 3. 
 
 with the flowing into the river of the sewage thus pumped up comprise. 
 engine and boiler houses, reservoirs, river-walls, shafts, coal-sheds, &c. 
 The pumping power is equal to that of raising 25,000,000 cubic ft. per 
 day to the level of the outfall. These works on the south side of the 
 river are very costly: the Deptford and Crossness constructions, and the 
 connecting sewer between them, will cost no less than 800,0002., irrespec- 
 tive of the southern high and low-level sewers. ‘The reason is, that the 
 whole of the sewage has to be pumped up before it can enter the Thames, 
 whereas at Barking it flows by gravitation to the proper level. There is 
 at Crossness a reservoir 5 acres in extent: connected with it are three 
 systems of channels, one above another—the lowest to bring down the 
 sewage from the sewer to the pumping-well; the highest to convey it into 
 the reservoir by pumping; and the middle one to discharge it from the 
 reservoir into the river. There is also provision for carrying off the 
 storm-waters by another channel. The culverts for carrying the sewage 
 from the great main sewer to the pumping-well are sufficiently large for 
 a railway train to run through, and a troop of mounted Lifeguardsmen 
 might do the like. The sewage passes through gratings, or strainers, 
 before it reaches the pump-well, formed of a kind of porteullis working 
 on massive hinges secured in the masonry. ‘The strainings thus arrested 
 —consisting of dead cats and dogs, and all the miscellaneous bulky sub- 
 stances that find their way into the sewers—fall into a capacious stone 
 receptacle. A large wheel, carrying buckets on the periphery, rotates in 
 this receptacle, and dredges up the ji/th (as these solid matters are called), 
 and deposits it in the filth chamber, whence it is flushed into the river at 
 low tide. The bottom of the pump-room is 17 ft. below low-water mark. 
 This shows how formidable will be the work allotted for the pumping- 
 engines to perform. Indeed, Mr. Bazalgette has declared that if the 
 northern drainage had to be pumped up in the way which is thus neces- 
 sary for the southern, he would have shrunk from incurring the vast 
 working costs that would be involved; and, in fact, he would not have 
 recommended the plan at all. When the sewage has reached the reser- 
 voir (which has a floor of Portland stone, and a roof formed of brick 
 arches resting upon brick piers), it will accumulate to the extent of 
 20,000,000 gallons (if full), and will then be let out into the Thames for 
 about two hours after each high-tide, day and night. The reservoir will 
 contain at one time much more than twelve hours’ sewage from the whole 
 of the metropolis south of the Thames, with a sufficient extra capacity 
 for contingencies, 
 
 In 1861 and 1862 the Metropolitan Board of Works invited many 
 hundred peers, members of parliament, and other influential persons, to 
 visit the works, and see for themselves the nature of these very novel 
 operations, On the 18th July, 1863, another of these inspections took 
 place, by four hundred distinguished persons. Mr. Bazalgette explained 
 
MAIN DRAINAGE OF LONDON. 203 
 
 every!hing that could be explained in a short oral address, and then 
 announced that all the northern drainage, except the Low-level sewer, 
 would ke finished about the end of 1863—that by the autumn of 1864 
 tke whole of the southern drainage would be finished—and that by the 
 end of 1866 the completion of the northern Low-level sewer and the 
 Thames northern embankment may be expected. (The progress has not 
 been quite so rapid as Mr. Bazalgette at that time anticipated.) After 
 the visitors had inspected the vast works at Crossness Point they passed 
 over by steamer to Barking Creek, where the following operation took 
 place, as described in the daily newspapers :—“ The contents of the High- 
 level sewer, bringing down the sewage of Hampstead, Highgate, Kentish 
 Town, Holloway, Hackney, Bethnal Green, &c., was turned on for the 
 first time direct into the Thames. For some time past it has been dis- 
 charged through the Storm Overflow into the river Lea. The complaints 
 against the commissioners for spoiling the navigation of the pleasant 
 little river induced the board to lay down a temporary iron duct, which 
 conveys the sewage direct into the river Thames from the end of the 
 great sewer, without leading it through the reservoir. To those who have 
 faith in the value of this material as a liquid manure, it must have been 
 grievous indeed to see this gushing, roaring, black, and stinking stream 
 mixing in the broad waters of the Thames. Others, however, not so 
 absorbed in considerations of the economical value of this fertilising 
 stream, regarded it as the first great triumpb of the system of main 
 drainage.” 
 ‘Considering the immensity of the work, it cannot be matter for 
 surprise that the cost, will exceed the estimates. Since the commence- 
 ment of the commissioners’ operations, in 1858, the wages of bricklayers 
 and the prices of bricks have risen considerably. It has been found that 
 between 1858 and 1863 wages had risen Is. or 1s. 6d. per day for brick- 
 layers, and 6d. or 1s. per day for excavators and labourers, The best 
 stock bricks, with which most of the work has been done, rose from 
 about 26s. to 40s. per thousand ; and every kind of cement had risen in 
 price also. These augmentations of wages and prices were due mainly 
 to the unexampled quantity of brickwork executed in and near London 
 within the last few years. The Metropolitan or Underground Railway, 
 the Metropolitan Extension of the Chatham and Dover Railway, the 
 Charing Cross and Cannon Street Extensions of the South-Eastern Rail- 
 way, and the Finsbury Extension of the North London Railway, besides 
 the International Exhibition building and other public structures, and 
 the new dwelling-houses and edifices (there were 24,000 new houses built 
 in the metropolis between the two takings of the census in 1851 and 
 1861), all combined to enhance the market value of materials and labour 
 in the building trades. The contracts taken for the main drainage in 
 1861, 1862, and 1863 were at higher terms than those taken in 1858, 
 
204 APPENDIX NO. 3. 
 
 1859, and 1860, on this account. Hence it resulted that Mr. Bazalgette 
 found his estimates would be exceeded. The Commissioners of the 
 Board of Works had, by the Main Drainage Act of 1858, obtained power 
 to raise 3,000,0002., to be paid by a tax or rate on the house property 
 within the metropolitan area. The Bank of England has advanced this 
 sum, at the low rate of 3$ per cent. interest. In June, 1863, the commis- 
 sioners announced to the Treasury that, partly owing to the rise in labour 
 and materials, and partly to the necessity for additional works, a further 
 addition of more than a million sterling would be necessary. After 
 little correspondence, the Treasury agreed to the introduction of a Bill 
 for increased parliamentary powers; and this Bill has since become law. 
 The commissioners may raise 1,250,000/., which the Bank of England 
 agrees to advance at 3¢ per cent. It is a curious proof of the increase 
 in the value of property in London, that the commissioners now believe 
 they will be able to pay off the whole 4,250,000/. in forty years—the 
 game period which in 1858 they believed would be necessary for paying 
 off 3,000,000/. The duty is 3d. in the pound on the rated rental of the 
 property within the metropolitan area. It produced 150,389/. in 1858-59, 
 and gradually rose 'to 157,075/. in 1862-63. Calculating on a similar rate 
 of increase in future, the commissioners estimate that by the year 1898, 
 or forty years from 1858, they will have received an aggregate total of 
 7,960,0007, This would pay off the debt of 4,250,000/,, together with 
 3,233,465/., the calculated interest, and leave a small surplus. As the 
 Treasury will guarantee the whole of the principal and interest, they 
 will virtually claim control over the due collection and disbursement of 
 the rate. The new Act of 1863 gave the commissioners an extension of 
 time until the end of 1866, on the ground that it will be impossible to 
 finish the Low-level sewer except in connection with the Thames embank- 
 ment. 
 
 Should the anticipations of the engineer be realised, it will unquestion- 
 ably be one of the greatest works of ancient or modern times, Even in 
 an industrial point of view it is very remarkable; for, by the time all is 
 finished, the works will have absorbed 300,000,000 bricks, and 800,000 
 cubic yards of concrete, while the excavations will have amounted to 
 4,000,000 cubic yards of earthwork. 
 
 Among the many difficulties which the engineer of the Main Dekbage 
 has had to meet, is that connected with new railway schemes. In 1863 
 there were no fewer than thirty-three distinct plans for railways in the 
 metropolis; and when Mr. Bazalgette came to examine them, he found 
 that they would cut his sewers all to pieces, if constructed according to 
 the deposited plans. One would have diverted the great Fleet sewer 
 wholly out of its present direction for a considerable distance; while 
 others had been planned so recklessly that it would be difficult to see how 
 the sewers could be managed at all. Hanpily, most of the schemes fell 
 
EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES, 205 
 
 to the ground at one or other of the parliamentary stages; and in those 
 for which Acts were obtained, clauses were introduced bearing reference 
 to the safety and efficacy of the Main Drainage. Difficulties of a similar 
 kind afterwards arose in relation to the railway projects of 1864 and 
 1865, . 
 
 APPENDIX No. 4, 
 
 EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES, 
 
 Although the embankment of the Thames, now (1865) legislatively 
 Sanctioned in reference to both banks of the river, is intended mainly 
 to increase the road communication, east and west, through the metro- 
 polis, and to deepen and otherwise improve the river current, yet the 
 ' intimate alliance which it has with the great intercepting main drainage 
 scheme, on account of the line selected for the Low-level northern sewer, 
 renders desirable some account of the matter in this place. We shall 
 therefore rapidly trace the history of the subject, notice the extraordinary 
 variety of projects to which it has given rise, and describe the final: 
 result to which those projects have led. 
 
 Just about a century ago plans began to be proposed for embanking 
 one or both sides of the river at London; and they have been poured 
 forth at intervals ever since. The object was not in the first instance to 
 protect the river from pollution, but to improve the shores in an archi- 
 tectural point of view, and to facilitate traffic. So long as cesspools 
 were used instead of sewers, the river remained comparatively clean ; 
 for the contents of such receptacles frequently found their way upon 
 the land for manure. But when sanitary reformers urged upon the 
 government, as a measure of public health, the desirability of encouraging 
 the construction of sewers instead of cesspools, then did the Thames of 
 necessity become polluted, seeing that there is no other channel through 
 which the contents of the sewers can be conveyed out to sea. All the 
 earlier schemes for embanking the Thames, as we have said, had other 
 objects in view than the preservation of the water in purity ; but with the 
 present century the plans gradually became more comprehensive in their 
 scope. A committee of the House of Commons was appointed quite 
 early in the century to examine schemes for improving the river in various 
 ways. Among them was one by Mr. Jessop for forming a river wall at 
 some distance beyond the existing shore; filling in the space behind it 
 with ballast dredged from the bed of the river; forming in this way an 
 embankment from Blackfriars Bridge to the Tower; building wharves 
 
206 APPENDIX NO. 4. 
 
 and warehouses on the embankment; dredging the shoals in that part of 
 the river ; and selling the reclaimed land behind the embankment to pay 
 for the works, The plan was full of ingenuity, but nothing came of it. 
 Twenty years afterwards, when old London Bridge was about to be 
 replaced by a new one, Mr. James Walker was requested by the Corpo- 
 ration to report on the probable effect of that change on the river and 
 its banks. His opinion was that the effect would be rather beneficial 
 than otherwise. Then, in 1824, came forward Sir Frederick Trench’s 
 scheme for embanking the Thames. He proposed to embank the north 
 shore from London Bridge to Westminster Bridge, and to render the 
 embankment available as a public thoroughfare. A bill was brought 
 into Parliament to effect this object, by means of a public company; but 
 without success. Next year he enlarged his plan, proposing to make 
 an embankment from London Bridge to Scotland Yard, 80 ft. wide, 
 with a carriage-way in the middle, and footpaths on either side; to con- 
 tinue this by another embankment, 110 ft. wide, from Scotland Yard to 
 Westminster Bridge, to be surmounted by a terrace-crescent of hand- 
 some houses; to forma basin behind the embankment, 7 of 8 acres in 
 area, for commercial purposes; and to construct roads to connect the 
 embankment with the Strand. The scheme was one of much boldness; 
 but, like its predecessor, it fell to the ground. In 1831 and 1882, Sir 
 John Rennie and Mr. Mylne, at the request of the Corporation, reported 
 on the practicability of improving the Thames by equalising in some 
 degree the depth and the width at different points. They proposed about 
 12,000 ft. of quay wall on the south side, from Southwark Bridge to 
 Westminster Bridge, and 7,000 ft. on the north side. They caleulated, 
 as other engineers had previously done; that the rental of the reclaimed 
 land behind the river wall would pay for the whole enterprise: The 
 Corporation, however, did nothing further in the matter. Again, nine 
 years afterwards, engineers went over the old track, and took up again 
 the idea of a river wall or embankment. In 1840 the Corporation, 
 reproached for doing nothing, answered the reproach by commissioning 
 Mr. Walker to prepare a comprehensive plan. He found on examination 
 that, by the removal of the bulky piers of old London Bridge “the 
 velocity of the stream had increased, the depth of water had decreased, 
 and shoals appeared more and more above the surface; the piers of 
 Blackfriars and Westminster bridges were becoming undermined ; and 
 the general effect had been to render the inequality of the river greater 
 than ever, by deepening the narrow parts and shoaling the wide.” 
 ' Mr. Walker believed that the Thames, even at the narrowest part, is 
 wide enough for all the vraflic, if well organised; and his proposal was, 
 to bring the river to something like an equality of width by means of 
 embankments, The width is a minimum of 600 ft. opposite the Milbank - 
 Prison, and a maximum of 1,480 ft. opposite Buckingham Terrace. He 
 
EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES. 207 
 
 proposed that the maximum should nowhere exceed 870 ft. The embank- 
 ment was to consist of a river wall of brick or stone, filled in behind 
 with soil dredged up from the bed of the river; and Mr. Walker esti- 
 mated (as other engineers had estimated before him) that the rental 
 of the reclaimed land would pay for the works: the soil would form 
 good building ground behind the wall, instead of shoaling the river 
 itself. This well-concocted scheme fell to the ground, owing chiefly 
 to the opposition of wharfingers and others interested in river-side 
 property. 
 
 We now approach the period when Royal Commissioners began to 
 take up this Thames question. In 1842 a commission was appointed 
 “to inquire into and report upon the most effectual means of improving 
 the metropolis, and of providing increased facilities of communication.” 
 As far as concerned the Thames, the commissioners examined plans by 
 Sir Frederick Trench, Mr. Walker, Mr. Page, Mr. Martin, and others. 
 Trench’s plan was for an embankment, with a railway elevated above it 
 on columns; a promenade between the columns; a foot-pavement between 
 the covered walk and the river ; stone landing-stairs at intervals; and a 
 road for vehicles on the other side of the walk. Mr. Walkeyr’s plan 
 comprised a continuous quay on the northern side of the river, about 
 4 ft. high; and the owner of every wharf was to have the portion of 
 quay fronting his property on certain terms to be agreed upon. Four 
 basins behind the quay were to be constructed for barge traflic, with 
 four openings through the quay itself. This plan proposed neither a 
 roadway nor a large area of reclaimed Jand behind the quay, and was in 
 these particulars less comprehensive than his earlier plans: Mr. Page’s 
 plan was for a quay with numerous water-openings leading to floating 
 basins, or tidal docks, behind it. Every water-opening was to have a 
 bridge over it, so that a continuous roadway might be formed along the 
 quay. Mr. Martin’s plan was one of the first which embraced provisions 
 for a great sewer, in addition to the other objects of an embankment, 
 ‘and on that account it deserves notice, as a sort of precursor of the plan 
 now actually being adopted. He proposed the construction of a great 
 sewer to receive all the drainage from the adjacent parts of London, and 
 carry it down to Limehouse, where it would be solidified as agricultural 
 manure; a line of quay above the sewer for general traffic; a line of 
 terrace above the quay for foot passengers; and eolonnaded wharves 
 upon the quay, at certain busy places, to land merchandise, but without 
 disturbing the continuity of the quay. It is worthy of remark that, 
 while Mr. Martin’s plan resembled the one now actually adopted, in 
 combining a low-level sewer with an embankment, Mr. Page’s resembled 
 it in containing a provision for paying for the works by a tax upon all 
 coals brought within the metropolitan area. 
 
 Jadon was doomed to another postponement of these excellent 
 
28 APPENDIX NO. 4. 
 
 improvements. The commissioners issued voluminous reports; but, 
 through various causes, nothing was done—excepting the embanking of 
 the northern shore of the river in the neighbourhood of Pimlico, chiefly 
 through the energetic exertions of Mr. Thomas Cubitt, acting for or 
 with the Marquis of Westminster. 
 
 In 1855 Parliament was flooded with railway schemes, many of 
 which attacked the Thames in singular ways. Mr. Lionel Gisborne, 
 Mr. Beaumont, Mr. Bird, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Hawkshaw, all 
 had schemes for combining railways in some way with embankments 
 of the Thames, but without any arrangements for sewers. The 
 House of Commons appointed a committee to investigate all these 
 schemes, and this committee rejected every one of the plans that affected 
 the Thames. And thus another year was lost. So, indeed, were lost the 
 years 1856, 1857, 1858, and 1859, in regard to any definite plans for 
 embanking the Thames. There were, however, proceedings in relation 
 to the main drainage of the Metropolis, and others in relation to the 
 temporary purification of the Thames water. The first we have already 
 described in another part of the Appendix, and the other we will briefly 
 notice in this place. As the water of the Thames had been getting more 
 and more foul every year, it exhaled more and more noxious odours, 
 especially in hot weather ; until at length our judges at Westminster 
 Hall “smell’d” the river all day, and our legislators at the Houses of 
 Parliament all the evening, and half through the night. Mr. Golds- 
 worthy Gurney, superintendent of the arrangements for warming and 
 ventilating the Houses of Parliament, was requested, in 1857, to see what 
 could: be done in the matter. Mr. Gurney reported that the solid 
 portion of sewage, being heavier than water, subsides permanently after 
 being driven to and fro a few times by the flood and ebb tides, and forms 
 a portion of the bed of the river; inasmuch as the black, slimy mud 
 that we see at low water contains solid sewage as one of its constituents. 
 
 No wonder, then, that such an abominable mixture should give forth 
 
 offensive odours; the wonder would be if it did not. This applies to 
 the part of the river above London Bridge, into which sewage can flow 
 from the sewers only for a few hours before and after low water; it 
 need not necessarily apply to the Thames about Barking and Erith, 
 especially when the sewage flows into the river soon after high water, as 
 in the Great Intercepting Drainage System. 
 
 Mr. Gurney conceived that if he could obtain a mastery over tho — 
 
 banks of the river he could greatly lessen the offensive state of the water ; 
 even though the old sewers continued to pollute the river. By straight- 
 ening and deepening the portion of the bed between high and low water 
 levels, he expected to get rid of many eddies, slacks, and retrograde 
 movements, which cause the retention of solid refuse. He proposed to 
 deepen the shallows near the shore, and to round off projections; then 
 
EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES. 209 
 
 to form a breadth of 50 yards of solid, sloping banks on either side of 
 the river, with an inclination of one in twelve from the present shore 
 down to low-water level; then to dredge a deep channel, 30 yards in 
 width, immediately outside or beyond each of these slopes. The gravel 
 dredged up would furnish materials for the sloping banks, The middle 
 of the river he would leave untouched ; the two deepened channels would 
 form the water ways for river steamers. The theory on which this plan 
 was based was, that the slopes of the banks would cause all mud and 
 solid refuse to flow down into these channels; that the depth of the 
 channels would cause a current sufficiently strong to carry down the 
 refuse to the sea; and that thus the Thames would gradually become 
 cleaner and more salubrious. Mr. Gurney further proposed, as a means 
 of lessening the offensive odours perceptible at and near the mouths of 
 the sewers, to ¢vap those mouths, or to close them with valves of such 
 construction as to permit the passage of solid and liquid sewage, but not 
 gases. As the noxious gases would thus be confined within the sewers 
 themselves, he further recommended that special openings should be 
 made at spots near the mouths of the sewers for burning the gases, they 
 being inflammable when mixed in certain ratio with atmospheric air. 
 Mr. Gurney’s plan, submitted to the Commissioners of Public Works in 
 1857, underwent their consideration during the winter; but nothing was 
 practically done by Mr. Gurney, except lessening the offensive odour 
 near the Houses of Parliament, by throwing down chloride of lime into 
 the sewers, 
 
 The next stage in this matter was the appointment of a committee of 
 the House of Commons in 1858, to investigate plans “for the purifica- 
 tion of the River Thames, especially in the immediate vicinity of the 
 Houses of Parliament.” Judging from the constitution of the com- 
 mittee, it ought to have produced good results, seeing: that it comprised 
 the names of Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell, Sir John Shelley, 
 Sir Benjamin Hall, Mr. Robert Stephenson, Mr. J oseph Locke, and Mr. 
 William Cubitt, besides others of less note. Mr. Gurney was the chief 
 witness examined, and he presented in great detail the plan just 
 described. Other engineers, however, handled his scheme with great 
 severity. Mr. James Walker believed that Mr. Gurney’s sloping banks 
 would become covered with mud in the wide parts of the river; that the 
 dredged channels would fill up again ; that one deepened channel in the 
 middle would be better than two near the sides; that the muddy deposit 
 could not be removed unless a system of embankment were adopted; 
 and that the offensive odours of the metropolis would not cease so long 
 as any of the sewers entered the Thames thereabouts. Mr. Bidder 
 expressed his opinion that the suggested channels would require constant 
 dredging, to remove the gravel that would otherwise silt them up; that 
 the navigation of the Thames would be incommoded by these artificial 
 
910 APPENDIX NO. 4: 
 
 irregularities of bottom; that deposits of mud would fofm on the 
 sloping banks; that trapping the sewer mouths, burning the gases in 
 shafts, and all the other parts of the plan, would involve a wasteful 
 expenditure of money, as they would enly be temporary expedients even if 
 useful at all; and that the only good plan was a system of drainage which 
 would carry the whole of the refuse of London into the Thames at a 
 point far below the limits of the metropolis. Mr. Haywood, engineer 
 to the City Commission of Sewers, contended that the ventilation of 
 the sewers would cost annually a sum so enormous as to be insupport- 
 able; that the existing air-shafts and gulley-holes must be trapped as 
 well as the mouths of the sewers, to give the system a fair chance; and 
 that only a small portion of the deleterious gases could be decomposed 
 by burning. In short, although a few civil engineers gave a favourable 
 opinion of Mr. Gurney’s plan, the balance of evidence was decidedly 
 against it. The committee thereupon rejected it. The investigation 
 led, however, to a strengthening of the hands of the Metropolitan Board 
 of Works, and to an adoption of that scheme which we have already 
 described for the main drainage of the Metropolis. 
 
 The plans for embanking the Thames remained in abeyance for some 
 time. Mr. Gurney’s deodorising of the existing sewers was abandoned; 
 the great intervepting drainage was commenced; and the embankment 
 schemes slept a while. It became, nevertheless, evident that the Metro- 
 politan Board of Works were favourable to such an embankment; in 
 connection with their Low-level sewer. There was a very general concur= 
 rence of belief that if there were a river wall, filled in behind with solid 
 earth, the advantages would speedily become great. By narrowing the 
 river at certain wide parts, the current would be rendered more equable; 
 by straightening the line of shore, it would increase the scouring action 
 of the stream; by shutting off the strip of ground between high and 
 low water, it would prevent thé formation of mud-banks; by giving 
 adequate breadth to the embankment, a terrace roadway might be formed 
 at the top; by enclosing and drying the space now o¢cupied by sand- 
 banks, new building ground might be obtained; and by having a per-~ 
 manent wall running along a line in advance of the present limit of the 
 river-side houses, there would be a barrier, behind which a low-level 
 sewer might be constructed at any desired depth, without passing under 
 the houses and roadway of the Strand and Fleet Street. The old idea, 
 growing in many ways since the days of Sir Christopher Wren, had been 
 clouded from time to time by other plans; but it was pretty certain 
 to meet with proper attention at last. 
 
 The year 1859 passed over without any decisive results in reference 
 to the Thames embankment; but in 1860 a committee of the House of 
 Commons collected a vast body of evidence, and published a bulky Blue 
 Book, illustrated with many valuable maps and plans. The chief pro- 
 
EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES. 211 
 
 jects for embanking the Thames were eight in number, concerning each 
 of which we will say a few words :— 
 
 1. Mr. Fowler proposed an embankment, 80 ft. wide, from West- 
 minster to Blackfriars, to carry a road and arailway. The line 
 would be continued (though not on an embankment) to Farring- 
 don Street station at the one end, and to Pimlico station at the 
 other; and there would also be a new street from Blackfriars 
 to Cannon Street. Three docks would be formed behind the 
 embankment for barges, with a water area of 8 acres. The capital 
 was to be provided, partly by the Government or by the local autho- 
 rities, and partiy by a company, who would work the railway. 
 
 2. Mr. Lionel Gisborne proposed to embank both sides of the river 
 ‘from Westminster Bridge to London Bridge, on the supposition 
 that the southern bank would be injured if only a northern 
 embankment were made. He looked to a large rental for the 
 reclaimed land behind the two embankments. 
 
 3. Mr. Sewell proposed a railway on iron pillars, following nearly the 
 low-water line, with a low-level sewer under it, and openings 
 between the pillars for barges to reach the same water-area that 
 is now open to them. \ 
 
 4, Mr. Edmeston proposed an embanked road and railway following 
 nearly the high-water level, the whole of the barge trade to be 
 conducted outside it. 
 
 5. Mr: Bird proposed a tunnel railway from Pimlico station to Scot- 
 land Yard; a railway, partly elevated and partly submerged in an 
 iron tunnel, from Scotland Yard to Queenhithe; an embankment 
 and roadway from Scotland Yard to Blackfriars ; and the finishing 
 of a long-intended line of new street from Blackfriars to Cannon 
 Street. 
 
 6. Mr. Bidder brought forward a plan in which he had been assisted 
 by Mr. Harrison and the late Mr. Robert Stephenson. It com- 
 prised the following elements—an embankment from Westminster 
 Bridge to Southwark Bridge ; arches to raise a roadway to a level 
 with those bridges; a low-level sewer beneath the embankment ; 
 large areas of reclaimed land to be given to Somerset House and 
 the Temple; about 12 acres of docks behind the embankment; 
 an extensive surface of reclaimed land to be let or sold for ware- 
 houses and cellars; and a double tramway for large omnibuses on 
 the embankment. The plan also contemplated an embankment 
 on the south side of the Thames the whole way from Battersea 
 Park to London Bridge. 
 
 %. Mr. Page proposed an embankment from Pimlico to Queenhithe, 
 for the most part so low as not to intercept the view of the river 
 from the existing houses; the road to be on the embankment* 
 
212 APPENDIX NO. 4. 
 
 26 acres of dock-space to be formed behind the embankment ; 
 certain portions of the reclaimed land to be laid out as pleasure- 
 grounds; tidal gates to be constructed in the embankment, to 
 admit barges into the docks; a low-level sewer to be made under 
 the embankment; and the embankment to be broad enough to 
 admit a tramway. 
 
 8. Messrs. Bazalgette and Hemans proposed an embankment from 
 
 Westminster Bridge to Queenhithe; a road on the embankment 
 100 ft. wide, to pass wnder Hungerford, Waterloo, and Blackfriars 
 Bridges, and inclined roads to connect the embankment with the. 
 levels of those bridges. The embankment would be formed by 
 cylinders and sheet-piling, like new Westminster Bridge, filled in 
 with earth; a low-level sewer would be formed beneath the 
 embankment, and behind it would be five docks, varying from 
 100 to 800 ft. in width, covering 21 acres, and entered by several 
 tidal gates. 
 
 All these plans, and many others, engaged the attention of the com- 
 mittee. As a result, the committee did not recommend any plan ir 
 particular, but only some plan to be executed by the Metropolitan Board 
 of Works, under sanction of an Act of Parliament to be obtained for that 
 purpose. They recommended a postponement for a time of any southern 
 embankment, and a limitation of the length of the northern embankment 
 to the space from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars. They proposed 
 that the cost should be defrayed out of the coal and wine sabi collected 
 in the City. 
 
 No Act for this purpose was obtained in 1861 ; but a royal commission 
 was again appointed to examine and report upon all the schemes that 
 they could get hold of. The commissioners were Sir William Cubitt, 
 Sir Joshua Jebb, Captain Galton, Mr. Burstal, Mr. Hunt, Mr. McLean, 
 and Mr, Thwaites. They examined no less than fifty-nine plans or 
 schemes for the embankment of the Thames. The commissioners recom- 
 mended the postponement of the southern embankment: they concocted 
 a plan among themselves from the other fifty-nine, and they recom- 
 mended that it should be carried out bya distinct commission appointed 
 for that purpose. Mr. Thwaites, chairman of the Metropolitan Board 
 of Works, differed from the other commissioners chiefly on this point— 
 that he wished the embankment to be constructed by his own board, 
 which already had the management of the main drainage. 
 
 At length, in 1862, an Act was passed for a northern embankment, 
 after a report from another committee that filled 360 folio pages. The, 
 Act is the 24th and 25th Vict., c. 93. By this statute there will be an 
 embankment from Westminster to Blackfriars. The public roadway on 
 this embankment will be 100 ft. wide from Westminster Bridge to the 
 
 eastern boundary of the Inner Temple, and 70 ft. wide from the last- 
 
EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES. 213 
 
 _ named point to Blackfriars Bridge. Approach roads, 40 ft. at least in 
 width, are to lead from Surrey Street, Norfolk Street, and Arundel 
 Street to the embankment. There is to be another approach road, 
 extending diagonally from Wellington Street, Strand, to the embank- 
 ment near Charing Cross railway bridge, with short branches to Villiers 
 Street and Buckingham Street; and other approach roads, with good access 
 to the embankment, from the Adelphi, from Whitehall, and from White- 
 hall Yard. There are to be no docks behind the embankment—the space 
 is to be filled in and reclaimed. The Act only marks out the general 
 features of the plan; the Metropolitan Board of Works were to settle the 
 details. The property is to be purchased by 1867, but the execution of 
 the work is not limited to that period. The line of embankment is so 
 chosen as to form a continuation of the terrace in front of the Houses of 
 Parliament. The distance to which it will extend out into the river (at 
 high water) is 220 ft. opposite Richmond Terrace, 400 ft. opposite Scot- 
 land Yard, 300 ft. at Charing Cross, 450 ft. opposite Buckingham 
 Street, 300 ft. opposite Salisbury Street, and 130 ft. opposite Somerset 
 
 House. The first brick pier of Charing Cross Bridge and the first pier 
 of Waterloo Bridge will nearly denote the distances from the shore at 
 those spots. The embankment will be solid so far only as the Temple 
 _ Gardens; eastward of that point it will rest on columns, and will leave 
 space for barge-traflic behind it. Mr. Bazalgette finds that he has to earry 
 the foundations 30 ft. below the bed of the river. He sinks iron caissons, 
 fills them with concrete and brickwork, and raises upon them (from below 
 _the level of low-water) a solid granite-faced embankment. The low-level 
 sewer will be constructed behind and under the protection of the em- 
 bankment wall. 
 
 Throughout the various negotiations concerning the embanking of 
 the north side of the river, the inhabitants on the south bank strongly 
 urged the embanking of that also; and in reference to very pressing 
 requests, the Government oppointed a commission, in 1862, to inquire 
 into the matter. After examining about twenty plans, the commis- 
 sioners, while admitting the improvement which the Thames would 
 experience by being embanked on the south side, from Westminster 
 Bridge to Deptford, did not feel justified in recommending, at present, 
 such an extensive work. ‘They proposed, however, an embankment for 
 the distance between Westminster Bridge and Battersea Park. This 
 embanked roadway would be about 4} ft. above Trinity high-water 
 mark, 70 ft. wide, and 2 miles long. It would be an ornamental viaduct 
 opposite the Houses of Parliament, as far as Bishop’s Walk; then a 
 solid embankment as far as the London Gas Works; then on arches to 
 Nine Elms; and then solid to Battersea Park. They further recom- 
 mended the dredging of this portion of the bed of the river to a level of 
 5 ft. below low-water mark. 
 
914 APPENDIX NO. 5, 
 
 The session of 1863 witnessed the passing of an Act for this Southern 
 Embankment. The Metropolitan Board of Works are empowered to 
 form an embankment from Gunhouse Alley to Westminster Bridge ; to 
 enlarge the bed of the river along a portion of this distance; to connect 
 the embankment, by approach roads, with Palace New Road, and Vaux- 
 hall Row; to reclaim the portion of foreshore behind the embankment ; 
 and to make a public footway 20 ft. wide on the embankment. It will 
 thus be seen that this scheme is a very limited one—a first instalment of 
 what may be a large undertaking in the course of time. 
 
 The fire-places, great furnaces, and factory stoves of London are to 
 pay for both embankments, in the form of coal dues, 
 
 APPENDIX No. 6. 
 
 REPORT (MADE, BY ORDER, TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF SEWERS), UPON 
 THE MOST ADVANTAGEOUS MODE OF DEALING WITH THE SEWAGE 
 Matrer oF THE METROPOLIS, WITH A VIEW TO THE PREPARATION 
 or Sewacz Manure, BY THoMAS WICKSTEED, Esq., Crvit ENet- 
 NEER. 
 
 From this interesting Report (dated February 13, 1854), we present 
 our readers with the following extracts which describe the works con- 
 ducted at Leicester by Mr. Wickstead, and the results he has obtained 
 in a successful deodorisation and disinfecting of sewer water. 
 
 “In 1845 I was called upon by the projectors of the London 
 Sewage Company to report to them upon the practicability of carry- 
 ing out a scheme for distributing the sewage water of London in agri- 
 cultural districts by the application of steam power and pipes, and was 
 further instructed, that if I found it could not be carried out thus so 
 as to prove profitable, to suggest, if possible, some other mode for 
 effecting the object; and it was at that period that I entered into the 
 ealculations as to the cost of such a scheme, which led me to form the 
 opinion that it could never be made a remunerative speculation. I 
 then considered a scheme for arresting the fertilising matter held in 
 suspension in sewer water, and found that even had it been as valuable 
 as the matter held in solution (which is by no means the case), the 
 quantity to be obtained, having regard to its quality, was too small to 
 be remunerative. 
 
 “J+ then occurred to me, that if by a mode much less costly than 
 that of evaporation to dryness, a sufficient quantity of the fertilising 
 matter held in solution could be separated, that the collection and ex- 
 
MR. WICKSTEED’S REPORT. Z15 
 
 traction of fertilising matter from sewer water, might then be effected 
 at-a remunerative cost, or otherwise the scheme must be aban- 
 doned. 
 
 “JT then consulted my friend, Mr. Arthur Aikin, the eminent 
 chemist, at that time Professor of Chemistry at Guy’s Hospital, as to 
 whether there was any cheap substance that could be employed to 
 separate the fertilising matter dissolved in sewer water, and which 
 would not itself prove injurious to the manure; and he informed me, 
 that he had for forty years previously been in the habit of using a 
 small quantity of lime to separate the organic matter contained in the 
 New River water, which application had always effected its intended 
 purpose, and that he had no doubt it might be applied with good effect 
 to the sewer water. Mr. Aikin tried some experiments upon the Lon- 
 don sewage water, and found, that, by the addition of about the three- 
 thousandth part by weight of lime, the quantity of precipitate ob- 
 tained was double of that which had previously resulted from the 
 precipitation of the solid matter only, held by mechanical suspension 
 in the sewer water. The result of these experiments showing, that 
 not only was the weight of the manure to be obtained doubled, but 
 that the addition being much more valuable asa fertiliser, the whole 
 quantity was rendered superior, and it appeared to be very probable 
 that a remunerative scheme might be formed; accordingly I designed 
 a plan for the projectors of the London Sewage Company, and plans 
 were prepared and deposited for parliament, and the same was done in 
 the following year, but at neither of the periods could the company 
 proceed for want of the necessary capital. 
 
 “For some time after that period the state of the money market 
 was such, that although various similar schemes were published for 
 tunnel sewers with artificial falls, I considered my scheme would not 
 be much advanced by bringing it in opposition to the new schemes 
 until there was a greater chance of being able to raise capital for its 
 execution. 
 
 “ About the year 1849, I consulted my friend Mr. Robert Stephen- 
 son upon the subject, who was kind enough to enter into a: thorough 
 investigation of my scheme and an examination of the data upon 
 which it was founded. He afterwards expressed a favourable opinion 
 of its feasibility ; the objections to it he considered to be chiefly the 
 large size of the reservoirs, which we agreed it would be desirable to 
 reduce if a scheme for so doing could be devised. And as to the ques- 
 tion of the tunnel sewer itself being constructed by a private com- 
 pany, instead of by a public commission, —as it is clear that the com. 
 pany’s interest would be to make the sewer as little in excess of the 
 size required to convey the sewer water when sufficiently impregnated 
 with fertilising matter to render its extraction remunerative, while a 
 
216 APPENDIX NO. 5. 
 
 commission, not being swayed by. such considerations, would naturally 
 consider the question of getting rid of flood waters a!so,—he thought, 
 therefore, that it would be better, if possible, to divide the scheme, 
 leaving the sewer to the public commission, and the process of dis- 
 infecting and utilising the sewage water to a company. Thus encou- 
 raged, I proceeded farther in the consideration of the subject, and in 
 the following year the idea of applying centrifugal force for the sepa. 
 ration of the water from the deposit in the bottom of the reservoirs 
 suggested itself to me, and, having tried the effect practically, in 
 1851 I took out a patent for the manufacture of sewage manure. 
 
 “The result of experiments with the patent process was to show, 
 that, by its adoption, the size of the reservoirs might be greatly re- 
 duced; that the deposit from the bottom of the reservoir might be 
 abstracted without exposing it by the removal of the supernatans 
 water ; and that it might be rapidly reduced into a sufficiently solid 
 state to admit of its being packed in casks, stored in pits or heaps, or 
 moulded into bricks for the purpose of farther drying by natural eva- 
 poration. In the latter part of 1851, Mr. Robert Stephenson, and 
 Professors Aikin and Taylor, having expressed very favourable opinions 
 of the practicability of my amended scheme, which opinion they al- 
 lowed me to publish, parties were thereby induced to purchase my 
 patents for Great Britain and Ireland, and in 1852 an Act of Parlia- 
 ment was obtained, incorporating the “Patent Solid Sewage Manure 
 
 Company,” and enabling the Company to raise capital to the extent of . 
 
 100,000/. 
 
 “In February, 1852, the Directors resolved that temporary works 
 should be erected in Leicester for the purpose of manufacturing the 
 manure upon a sufficiently large and practical scale, having in view 
 three objects:—the first being to ascertain whether the lime process 
 effectually disinfected the sewer water, and if so, whether it could be 
 practically used upon the large scale; the second, to ascertain whether 
 
 the removal of the precipitate from the bottom of the reservoir, and — . 
 
 the abstraction of the water from it by means of centrifugal force, 
 could be practically carried out upon the large scale and at a suffi- 
 ciently small cost ; the third object being, to manufacture a sufficient 
 quantity of the manure to enable agriculturists to prove jts commer- 
 cial value, considering that their practical opinions would be a much 
 better test than chemical analyses only, and it was resolved that upon 
 the result of these trials, the question of proceeding with the Com- 
 
 pany should be decided. Works were accordingly erected, and after 
 
 many alterations and improvements upon the original scheme, which 
 probably would not have suggested themselves unless the opportunity 
 of carrying the plan out practically had been afforded, the Directors 
 were go satisfied with the result, that they felt justified in entering 
 
 =. ae ee 
 
MR. WICKSTEED’S REPORT. PAliy 4 
 
 into a contract with the Town Council of Leicester, undertaking in 
 return for the exclusive right to all the sewage water for a period of 
 ihirty years, to disinfect it, and discharge the water in an innoxious 
 state into the river Soar for the same period. 
 
 “The estimated cost of the necessary works is 25,0002., and contracts 
 were entered into in April last, for the erection and completion of 
 them in last October, but owing to unfortunate and unforeseen circum- 
 stances,—first, to the delay in obtaining the land; secondly, to the 
 unparalleled wet season which has peculiarly affected these works, the 
 site of them being on low marsh ground ; and, thirdly, to the great 
 difficulty in obtaining labour, owing to the strikes amongst the work- 
 men, and the delay in obtaining materials,—I am afraid these works, 
 which, under ordinary circumstances, might easily have been com- 
 pleted in five months, will not be in effective operation much, if at all, 
 before next summer. 
 
 “T will now proceed to describe the temporary works and the pro- 
 cess, to the maturing of which I have devoted the greatest portion of 
 my time for the last two years, and have completely satisfied myself 
 that the scheme is not only practicable and remunerative, but may be 
 made very profitable when carried out on a larger scale than opportu- 
 nity has hitherto afforded. 
 
 “The temporary works at Leicester were erected upon ground be- 
 longing to the Town Council, upon the banks of the Leicester Naviga- 
 tion, near the outfall of the filthiest sewer in the town, a branch from 
 which supplied the works with sewer water. The use of the ground 
 was granted to the Company, at a merely nominal rate, by the Town 
 Council, who in this, as in other instances, have afforded every facility 
 to enable the Company to demonstrate to the public the practicability 
 of disinfecting the water and manufacturing the manure. 
 
 “As regards the size of the temporary works, they were calculated 
 for a population of 5,000, previous to the introduction of a supply of 
 water into the town from the New Water Works. I do not mean to 
 imply that we have actually deodorised the sewer water from a popula- 
 tion of 5,000 during twelve months. for this would be inaccurate, ag 
 the constant interruption arising from the practical modifications and 
 improvements of the machinery used in the process would of itself have 
 prevented such a course; but the works have for different periods been 
 kept in continuous operation day and night, that | might have the 
 opportunity of assuring myself that the process was complete as affect- 
 ing the sewer water during any of those periods, the object of these 
 temporary works being, as I have before stated, to ascertain whether 
 the process could be practically and remuneratively carried out by the 
 means provosed. 
 
 “At the commencement of our operations, it was found that the 
 
 L 
 
y 
 ' 
 
 213 7 APPINDLE NOLS. 
 
 pro.ess of deodorising was not perfect, and it was discovered’ that its 
 partial failure was due to the sewage water being in too concentrated a 
 condition, the new supply of water to the town having only been in- 
 troduced at Christmas last, while the operations of the Company com- 
 menced more thau a year and a half ago. To prove whether this con- 
 jecture was correct, a portion of the partially deodorized water was 
 returned into the engine well, and when the concentrated sewage was 
 reduced to a quality equal in strength to that of the metropolitan 
 sewer water, the process was completely successful. mA 
 
 “Professors Aikin and Taylor ascertained the strength of the Lon- 
 don sewer water, and determined what amount of dilution was neces- 
 sary to reduce the Leicester sewer water to the requisite strength, and 
 by their experiments I was guided in my practical operations. 
 
 “ Again, it was found that at night, when the manunfactories were 
 not at work, and the waste water from the engines had ceased to flow 
 into the sewer, their conteuts being chiefly urine and excrementitious 
 matter in a state of far greater concentration than the day sewage, the ’ 
 effect of the lime was only partial, but upon diluting it as in the for- 
 mer case, the process of deodorising was completely successful—the 
 effluent water from the reservoir, after the process was completed, 
 being perfectly free from all taste and odour, excepting occasionally 
 from the lime when it had been used in excess. 
 
 “A quantity of the effluent water from the reservoir was taken in 
 August last, by Mr. Theodore West, chemist, of Leeds, and subjected 
 to an analysis, and he found that there was not a trace of any other 
 matter than carbonate of lime, sulphate of lime, ,and chloride of 
 
 sodium, proving clearly that all noxious matter had been abstracted 
 during the process. 
 
 “The mode of operation in this process is as follows :—the water is 
 pumped up from the sewer, and into the pipe conveying it to the re- 
 servoir a smaller pipe is introduced, connected with the lime-pump, 
 which works stroke for stroke with the sewer water-pump, and the pro- 
 cess of deodorising is so rapid that when the mixture of sewer water 
 and lime is discharged into the reservoir, there is no noxious odour 
 arising from it; the discharge takes place into the first part of the 
 reservoir divided into three compartments, in each of which is an 
 agitator worked by the engine: a thorough mixture having thus been 
 effected, it flows through the upper end of the reservoir, and is from 
 thirty to forty minutes passing through this portion, during which | 
 time seven-eighths or more of the separated matter has been precipi- 
 tated on ‘the bottom of the reservoir; there still remains, however, 
 about one-eighth of solid matter, sa which being lighter than. the 
 first portion, requires a longer time for precipitation, ‘sO. as to render 
 the water clear and bright. ae 
 
MR. WICKSTEED’S REPORT. 219 
 
 “The water is, in fact, two hours in passing from the sewer to the 
 farthest end of the reservoir, where it is discharged, and arrangements 
 are made to enable the water to flow continuously through the reser- 
 voir with as nearly as practicable the same velocity over the whole 
 section, the openings of the discharging gates being proportioned to 
 the depth of water in the cross section, and thus the necessity of 
 having two reservoirs, for the purpose of filling one while the water 
 in the other is being cleared by deposition, is avoided, for although 
 the stream is continuous, its velocity being only about one-fourth of 
 an inch per second, it does not interfere with, or arrest the precipita- 
 tion of the solid matter. 
 
 “The operation of removing the precipitate from the bottom of the 
 reservoir, so as not to interfere with the continuous flow of the water 
 in the reservoir, is performed by means of a screw, which removes the 
 precipitated matter into an adjoining well or shaft as rapidly as it is 
 formed, witheut disturbing the process of precipitation which is 
 carried on above it. 
 
 “The bottom of the first portion of the reservoir is made to slope 
 towards the centre, along which a culvert runs, semi-circular at bottom 
 and open at top; in the bottom of this the screw is laid, and the pre- 
 cipitate collecting upon it from the sloping sides, is, as the screw re- 
 volves, carried into the adjoining well: the practical working of this 
 arrangement is now completely successful. 
 
 “Tt is the combination of these two arrangements; viz., the con- 
 tinuous current and the removal of the deposit without disturbing the 
 supernatant water—that has enabled me to reduce the size of the re- 
 servoirs to so great an extent: this will be seen hereinafter when I 
 give the sizes of the reservoirs I propose for the metropolis. 
 
 “The next operation is to raise the deposit or mud from the well or 
 shaft, by means of a Jacob’s ladder, very similar in appearance and 
 construction to the ladder of buckets in the dredging machines 
 used on the Thames, excepting that its position is vertical and its 
 construction much slighter; the mud thus raised in a semi-fluid state 
 into a tank, flows through a pipe to the centrifugal machine, the ma- 
 chine is then set in motion at the rate of about 1,000 revolutions per 
 minute, and in half an hour from the time the precipitate lay on the 
 bottom of the reservoir, it is in a sufficiently dry state to pack in casks 
 or to mould in the form of bricks for farther drying. 
 
 “A given bulk of the manure, when introduced into the centrifugal 
 machine, is reduced to about one-third of its original bulk, two- ‘thirds, 
 as water, having been separated from it by the operation. 
 
 “The machines which are now making for the new Leicester Sewage 
 Works, are each calculated to turn out 360 lbs. of manure iv en hour, 
 in the state of consistency previously mentioned. 
 
 “ Thus it’ will be scen, that the whole operation of disinfection aud’ 
 
220 - APPENDIX NO. 5. 
 
 conversion into manure is very simple, and I think it must appear evi- 
 dent, that after the experience of a year and a half of what may be 
 done in works sufficient for a population of 5,000, that by simple mul- 
 tiplication of the means, it may be made available for any population, 
 however great ; as in this case the increased quantity of sewage water 
 merely involves a simple increase of machinery in proportion to this 
 increase, the increase of power for raising it being in direct proportion 
 to the quantity. 
 
 “There is one very important conclusion that may be drawn from 
 what has been said ; viz., that an increased supply of water, by which 
 means only the greatest and most immediate sanitary effect will be 
 produced upon the atmosphere of dwellings in any town, does not 
 render the plan just described abortive, on account of the enormously — 
 increased expense; but, on the contrary, within certain limits, the 
 more the sewage is diluted, the more complete is the effect of the dis- 
 infection of the water and the precipitation of the manure, so that 
 the sanitary objects of the Commissioners and the commercial in- 
 terests of a Company carrying on the works, would not be opposed 
 to each other as would be the case in the event of the liquid scheme 
 being adopted. 
 
 “In the temporary works at Leicester, although the reservoir, the 
 steam-engine and boiler, the machinery for manufacturing the manure, 
 and the store for the manure, whether in casks or exposed in heaps 
 for drying, are under one roof, no noxious effect has in the slightest 
 degree been caused to the workmen employed in the process; and 
 although the manure itself, when taken from the cask and held to the 
 nose has a smell which an agriculturist would not object to, neverthe- 
 less, no smell whatever is perceptible at the distance of a foot or two 
 from the manure. 
 
 “ As regards, however, the proposed large works for Leicester, there 
 will be two reservoirs, about 200 feet long, and 44 feet wide, two-thirds 
 of the area will be covered with an iron girder and brick arch floor for 
 the warehouses above, to economise space, and the whole will be roofed 
 over; and as this portion of the design is intended to be carried out 
 in all future works, however large, all chance of nuisance from expo- 
 sure is avoided; but the fact is completely established, that no nui- 
 sance does arise either from the reservoirs or in the process used in 
 manufacturing. 
 
 “Upon this point, and in corroboration of my statements, I beg 
 leave to call your attention to the practical evidence of his Grace the — 
 Duke of Rutland, given in a letter I had the honour of receiving 
 from him; also of Joseph Whetstone, Esq., the Chairman of the Local 
 Board of Health ; John Ellis, Esq., late M.P. for Leicester, the Town 
 Clerk ; Dr. Shaw, and other medical gentlemen of the town of 
 Leicester, given in a certificate, which, with another from John Buck, 
 
MR. WICKSTEED’S REPORT. 291 
 
 Esq., late Medical Officer of the Leicester Local Board of Health, who 
 has had frequent opportunities of witnessing the operation of the 
 patent process, are addressed to your Honourable Board, as I thought 
 it might be more satisfactory to you to have the evidence of disin- 
 terested parties. 
 
 “Although not ina position at present to state what the ‘actual 
 commercial value of the residual manure will be, because, as before 
 intimated, the desire of the directors of the Patent Solid Sewage 
 Manure Company has been to leave this to be determined by the re- 
 sult of its practical application by the agriculturist, and at present 
 the manure that has been so applied has been pro tanio inferior to 
 what is intended to be supplied, in its having been chiefly collected 
 from the day sewage unmixed with the richer night sewage, and also 
 from the fact of its containing 60 or 70 per cent. of water instead of 
 20 per cent., which is the quantity it would have contained, if the 
 extent of our temporary works had afforded us room for drying it in 
 larger quantities than has hitherto been practicable ; nevertheless, our 
 experience has been quite sufficient to prove that, without the neces- 
 sity of having recourse to expensive applications of artificial heat, 
 simple exposure to atmospheric influence for a few weeks will reduce 
 the moisture to 20 per cent., so that, bulk for bulk, the manure in- 
 tended for sale will contain twice as much fertilising matter as that 
 which has at present been forwarded to agriculturists for trial. The 
 present results, however, show that, taking guano at 10/. per ton, the 
 manure, as proposed for sale, is at least worth 2/. 13s. per ton; but as I[ 
 stated to the Commissioners verbally, I have considered it safest to 
 calculate its commercial value at 2/. or 2/. 2s. per ton, and this amount 
 would yield, after deducting the cost of manufacture and repairs, a 
 fair per centage upon the capital expended in the construction of the 
 works; but the actual value will not be ascertained until time has 
 afforded more extensive experience. But while it is undoubtedly of 
 importance that the Commissioners should be satisfied that it is of 
 sufficient value to induce capitalists to subscribe for its manufacture, its 
 real value, if greater, must depend in some measure upon the favour- 
 able locality of the works—in relation to the agricultural districts— 
 and hence its concentration, by reducing the cost of carriage, will in. 
 crease its value, weight for weight; and again, the reduction in the 
 cost of manufacture, which the last year’s experience has already en- 
 abled me to effect, has also shown, that, with larger opportunities, fur- 
 ther reductions may be effected, which, I need not remind the Commis- 
 sioners, has generally been the case in all new manufactures. 
 
 “ The cost of manufacture will be proportionably greater in small 
 works than in larger ones: my present experience, however, enables 
 me to state, that, up.2 the average, the cost of manufacture will not 
 exceed 20s. per ton.” 
 
222 . APPENDIX NO. 5. 
 
 As to the application of his treatment to the sewage of the metro- 
 polis, Mr. Wicksteed had been supptied by Mr. Bazalgette, engineer to 
 the Metropolitan Commission, with a map and the following parti 
 culars :— 
 
 “The main sewers of the Eastern Division are capable of being 
 terminated at the points A, B, and D, at the river Lea, and their 
 contents being separately or collectively manufactured into manure in 
 that locality, or they can be continued so as to discharge at mean high 
 water at the mouth of the Roding. With this view, A and B will be 
 9 feet above Trinity high water at crossing over the river Lea, and 
 the sewage could possibly be there converted into manure without 
 pumping. 
 
 “The main sewers of the Western Division will have two separate 
 flood outlets into the river at the points E and I, the inverts being 
 there level with low water. 
 
 “Sewage manure works could be established at both those points, 
 or the sewers could be so connected as to have one establish- 
 ment. 
 
 “We have taken the sewage at 5 cubic feet per head. and 
 the tables give the sewage thus dune to the present population, and 
 also due to the ultimate increase of population as estimated by us. 
 
 NorTHERN SEWAGE INTERCEPTION AND DRAINAGE, 
 
 Present Population. Prospective Population. 
 
 Cubic Feet | Cubie Feet|| Cubic Feet |Cubic Feet 
 per Diem. |perMinute.|| per Diem. |perMinute. 
 
 Hackney Brook . . A} 462,240 321 2,075,040 | 1,441 
 Middle Level . . . By) 8,911,040 | 2,716 4,574,880 | 3,177 
 Low Level oe CP 3,225,6000) 92an0 3,415,680 | 2,372 
 
 Total . . Dj 7,598,880 | 5,277 ||10,065,600 | 6,990 
 
 Western DIvIsIon. 
 
 Acton Tine. « .-. 169,920 118 662,400 | 460 
 | a pet alk Branch ut F} 924,640 ]} 156 224640 | 156 
 oO dal1tto. e s x 
 Brentford Line. . *q 298,080 207 1,732,320 | 1,203. 
 } Fulham Branch to do.H 37,440 26 139,680 97 
 
 — ——— 
 
 oun t A 6 tei lee Wo Usee 507 || 2,759,040 | 1,916 
 
 —_—; 
 
MR. WICKSTEED’S REPORT, 9938 
 
 2% Memoranpa —The height of the lift, from the invert.of the low 
 léve: sewer at the pumping station near West Ham Abbey, to the 
 invert of the high level sewer, is 35 feet, and to Trinity high water 
 mark, 26 feet. The height of the lift, from the invert of the sewer at 
 the pumping station in Fulham Meadows to Trinity high water mark, 
 is 174 feet.” | 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed’s estimate for monks required fan treating the sewage 
 of the metropolis, according to this arrangement of main sewers was 
 as follows :-— _ 
 
 ~ PROPOSED, WORKS. 
 
 “Without giving’ an opinion as to the eal sites that should be 
 secured by the Commissioners, which I have no doubt you will agree 
 with me would be premature, not to say imprudent, and in thé. choice 
 of which [have no doubt you will be much influenced by your Engi- 
 neers, to whom | shall be happy to give my assistance if required,—I 
 may state, that it appears to me that four sites at least should be ob- 
 tained for the proposed works: the first in the neighbourhood of the 
 River Lea, uniting A and B, or the Hackney and the middle levels of 
 the northern division; the second, in the neighbourhood of the same 
 river, to receive CO, or the low level of the northern division ; the third, 
 in the neighbourhood marked I, upon the plans supplied to me by your 
 Engineer, uniting the Acton, Cheyne Walk, Brentford, and Fulham 
 levels of the Western Division ; and the fourth, on the banks of the 
 Thames, on the south side of ‘hr river, for the southern sewage. 
 
 “ Supposing, in other respects, these sites to be eligible, there aga 
 be no objection to them on the part of the Patent SolidSewage Manure 
 Company ; but to repeat what I have hereinbefore intimated, there is 
 nothing as regards the disinfecting and manufacturing of the manure 
 to prevent either a concentration of, or a further subdivision of ma- 
 nufactories ; and if, therefore, it should appear hereafter that a- dif 
 ferent arrangement would lead to a reduction in the size and cost of 
 the main ‘sewers, or for causes at present not foreseen an alteration 
 should be deemed advisable, I see no objection to its being made. 
 However, this part of the subject does not appear to me to press in 
 such a manner as to lead to the necessity of my delaying the comple- 
 tion of this Report; should, however, the sites herein suggested be 
 finally determined upon bythe Commissioners, the following state- 
 ment will represent the principal works that would be reouired for 
 each ;— 
 
224 APPENDIX No. 3d, 
 
 I.—'fun Quantity oF LAND REQUIRED FOR ALL PURPOSES, No. 1, AND 
 FoR Reservoirs, No. 2, INCLUDED In No. 1. 
 
 Present Population. Prospective Population, 
 
 No.1. No. 2. No. 1. No. 2. 
 
 Land for Land for Land for Land for 
 all Purposes. Reservoirs. all Purposes. Reservoirs. 
 
 Average | Coals per Full Average | Coals per 
 
 Power. Annum. Power. Power, Annum. 
 Hi P. 15 Bel Tons H. P. Hove Tons. 
 Ist Site .. Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil 
 2nd Site .. 223 1483 1545 236. 157 1635 
 3rd Site .. 374 25 3842 1413 941 981 
 4th Site. . 225 150 1560 270 180 1872 
 Totals. 4854 3233 4311 | 4488 
 
 “With the exception of the land and approaches, the above works 
 would have to be provided and maintained by the Company, and 
 in addition the Company would have to provide for manufacturing 
 purposes— i 
 
 Engine-power for present population 2,955 horses’ power 
 Ditto for prospective ditto 4,286  ,, ms 
 
 Coals, per annum, for present ditto 26,341 tons 
 Ditto, ditto, for prospective ditto 388,205 ,, 
 
 “To show the importance of having manufactories established on 
 sites accessible for carriage, I may state, that the probable present and 
 prospective annual tonnage of coals, lime, and manure, will be as 
 follows :-— 
 
 Tons. 
 For present population . . - 214,000 per annum 
 For prospective ditto . - : - 310,000 * 
 
 “The capital required for the construction of works for the prospec. 
 
 tive population would not exceed 1,000,000/. sterling.” 
 
225 
 
 APPENDIX No. 6. 
 
 Prosects ror Uriuisine Sewace, 1854 ro 1865. 
 
 In relation to the Main Drainage of the metropolis, we have been able, 
 in a former number of the Appendix, to describe a very important 
 advance made since the publication of the second edition of this work in 
 1854, The Sewage Manure question, however, has not been so fortunate. 
 We are still, in 1865, as we were in 1854, groping in search of a prac- 
 tical, if not profitable plan. Boards, committees, commissions, inspectors, 
 and civil engineers, all have been examining and reporting; and the 
 following brief account will show in what direction speculative ingenuity 
 has sought for a solution of this very difficult question. For fuller 
 details we refer to Mr. Scott Burn’s Rudimentary Treatise noticed in the 
 Preface. 
 
 In 1856 the Board of Health directed their chief superintending 
 inspector, Mr, Henry Austin, to prepare a “Report on the Means of 
 Deodorising and Utilising the Sewage of Towns.” In 1857 that report 
 was presented, consisting of about a hundred pages of text, and seven 
 lithographed plans. Mr. Austin entered very fully into the chemical 
 and agricultural relations of sewage manure, the (then) existing arrange- 
 ments concerning the drainage of towns, the deodorisation of sewage, and 
 its manufacture into solid manure. He treated the general principles of 
 the subject, so far as they have yet been determined; and obtained 
 evidence from various quarters as to the facts, He described various 
 chemical processes for separating the solid matter of sewage, as patented 
 or suggested by Mr. Higgs, Mr. Wicksteed, Mr. Stothert, Mr. Herapath, 
 Mr. Dover, Dr. Angus Smith, Mr. Blackwell, Mr. Manning, and 
 Mr. McDougall. He next similarly examined various mechanical pro- 
 cesses for effecting the same end, as adopted with more or less success at 
 Cheltenham, Uxbridge, Ely, Hitchin, and Dartmoor Prison. Mr. Austin 
 then instituted inquiries into the utilisation of sewage in the liquid form, 
 by open irrigation and by underground pipes: and into the relative 
 advantages of town sewage and farm-yard manure for agricultural 
 purposes. Mr. Austin wound up his report with a series of “Conclu- 
 sions,” the most practical of which were as follow :— 
 
 “That in order to avoid all further risk of injury to health, whether 
 from discharge of the sewage into the rivers and streams, or from its 
 application to the land, it appears desirable that the solid matter should 
 in every case be separated from the liquid sewage at the outfall, and that 
 acheap portable manure should be manufactured therefrom for use in 
 the immediate neighbourhood, 
 
 L3 
 
226 APPENDIX NO. 6. 
 
 “That it should be mixed with the ashes of the town, or such other , 
 
 deodorising material as may be most suitable for application to the 
 surrounding land, and prepared, if desirable, with other manuring 
 ingredients for particular crops. 
 
 “That it appears probable that such operation will in most places pay 
 its own expenses ; but that, as some such measure is absolutely necessary 
 for the public health, even though involving some expense, it should be 
 the duty of local boards and other governing bodies to carry it out, just 
 as much as arrangements devolving upon them for removal of dust or 
 other refuse from the town. It should form, in fact, part of such 
 service, and might be combined in the same contract. 
 
 “That the liquid portion of the sewage, thus cleared of its solid 
 matter, but still retaining its chief value as manure, might then be 
 applied with benefit to the neighbouring lands in any quantity; but that 
 all land upon which this method of application of the sewage is practised 
 should, if not naturally porous, be artificially drained, as the liquid, if 
 allowed to become stagnant, would, as in common irrigation, be likely to 
 engender disease in the neighbouring inhabitants, or in cattle exposed to 
 its influence. 
 
 “That the distribution of manures in the liquid state by the hose and 
 jet, from a system of underground pipes on the land, has been found, 
 by the experience of several years upon farms in England and Scotland, 
 most advantageous; and that the outlay for such works is considered by 
 eminent agriculturists, who have had experience of their benefits, as a 
 very profitab!e outlay, irrespective altogether of the question of sewage 
 distribution, 
 
 “That upon grass lands, for which the application is best adapted, 
 these larger quantities of the liquid sewage, deprived of its grosser 
 particles, may be economically distributed, especially upon the lower 
 levels, by a combination of the underground pipe system with the sub- 
 sidiary open irrigation by small contour gutters. 
 
 “ That the oath sewage manure, prepared and declarant as shoe pro- 
 posed, may be used anywhere, and any quantity of the liquid applied on 
 absorbent or properly drained land, without any risk of injury to health, 
 and without any of the offensiveness constantly experienced from farm- 
 yard and other solid manures applied as top-dressings. 
 
 “That. in any neighbourhoods, however, where no opportunity exists 
 
 for this beneficial irrigation, the liquid sewage, before being discharged © 
 
 into rivers or streams, should, after separation of the solid matter, be 
 treated with lime or other deodorising and precipitating agents—a duty 
 which should devolve upon the local board or other governing body, as a 
 precaution in which the public health is materially concerned.” 
 
 . Such was the substance of Mr. Austin’s recommendation. It has been 
 a misfortune, in relation to this matter, that the same facts are described 
 
 ee 
 
PROJECTS ,FOR UTILISING, SEWAGE. 227 
 
 orer and over again, and printed ‘in the’ Blue Books at the public 
 expense, by rival or independent boards, commissions, and committees. 
 _ Instead of acting upon any of the suggestions made to the Board of 
 Health by Mr. Austin, a new body proceeded to investigate the whole 
 matter over again. In 1857 a Sewage Commission was appointed, con- 
 sisting of Lord Portman, Dr. Southwood Smith, Mr. I. K. Brunel, 
 Mr. H. K. Seymer, Mr. Rawlinson, Professor Way, Mr. Lawes, 
 Mr. Simon, and Mr. Austin, Their duties were “to inquire into the 
 best modes of distributing the sewage of towns, and applying it to 
 beneficial and profitable uses.” The commissioners appointed five of 
 their number as a committee ‘to visit and personally examine the 
 different localities where sewage is employed in agriculture, or treated 
 with a view of neutralising its offensive and noxious properties ;” leaving 
 for a subsequent period in their labours, “to undertake a series of 
 distinct experiments to test the efficacy of existing methods, and, if 
 possible, to improve upon them.” The localities visited by the committee 
 in which sewage was applied to the land in a liquid form were Rugby, 
 Watford, Edinburgh, Rusholme, Mansfield, and Milan; those in which 
 works were in operation for the purification of sewage were Croydon, 
 Leicester, Tottenham, and Cheltenham. The committee also visited 
 several farms, in which farm-yard liquid manure was used on a large 
 seale; the farms selected being the Earl of Hssex’s, at Cashiobury ; 
 Mr. Mechi’s, at Tiptree; Mr. Wheble’s, at Bulmarsh Court; Mr. Ken- 
 nedy’s, at Myer Mill; Mr. Telfer’s, at Cumming Park; the Marquis of 
 Breadalbane’s, near Luing; and Mr. Hervey’s, near Glasgow. The 
 general report of the commission, founded upon the special reports of 
 the committee, and sent in to the Treasury in 1858, was necessarily little 
 more than a repetition of Mr. Austin’s statements, extending over nearly 
 the same area, and arrived at nearly in the same way. It will suffice to 
 give merely a few of the results at which the commission arrived :— 
 
 . That the methods which have been adopted with the view of dealing 
 with sewage are of two kinds—the one being the application of the 
 whole sewage to land; and the other that of treating it by chemical pro- 
 cesses to separate its most offensive portions. 
 
 .“ That the direct application of sewage to land favourably situated, if 
 judiciously carried out, and confined to a suitable area exclusively grass, 
 is profitable to persons so employing it; and that, where the conditions 
 are unfavourable, a small payment on the part of the local aut! orit es 
 will restore the balance, : 
 
 .“That this method of sewage application, conducted with moderate 
 care, is not productive of nuisance or injury to health. 
 
 “That when circumstances prevent the disposal of sewage by direct 
 application to Jand, the processes of precipitation. will greatly amelio-., 
 rate, and practically obviate, the evils of sewage outfalls, especially where 
 
228 APPENDIX No. 6, 
 
 there are large rivers for the discharge of the liquid; but that such 
 methods of treating sewage do not retain more than a comparatively 
 small portion of the fertilising matters; and that, although in some cases 
 the sale of the manure may repay the cost of production, they are not 
 likely to be successful as private speculations. 
 
 “That, considered merely as the means of mitigating a nuisance, these 
 precipitating processes are satisfactory ; that the cost of them in any 
 case is such as town populations may reasonably be called upon to meet; 
 that the necessary works need not, if properly conducted, be a source of 
 uuisance; and that, by modifications of the existing methods, even the 
 slightest risk of nuisance may be entirely obviated. 
 
 “That the employment of the one or other method of disposing of 
 sewage, or of both conjoined, must depend upon locality, levels, markets, 
 anda variety of other circumstances; and that the case of each town 
 must be considered upon its own peculiarities. 
 
 “That there is good ground for believing that the methods yet pro- 
 posed for dealing with sewage are not the best that can be devised; and 
 that further investigation will probably result in the discovery of pro- 
 cesses more thoroughly equal to the suppression of the nuisance, and at 
 the same time calculated to give more valuable products. 
 
 “That the magnitude of a town presents no real difficulty to the 
 effectual treatment of its sewage, provided it be considered as a collection 
 of smaller towns. As, however, the conditions under which the evil may 
 be best removed will differ greatly in different localities, we think it 
 would be desirable, before any legislation takes place on this subject, 
 that investigation should be made into the state of the outfalls of dif- 
 ferent classes of towns, and of the condition of rivers in populous 
 districts, with the view to advise as to the general legislative measures 
 that might safely be adopted.” 
 
 The commission also sketched a plan for dealing with the sewage of 
 the metropolis, by combining an embankment of the Thames with a series 
 of works for deodorising the sewage. 
 
 During the course of their labours from 1857 to 1863, the commis- 
 sioners received numerous communications relating to plans for dealing 
 with this difficult sewage question. Some proposed plans for the manu- 
 facture of “urban manure;” some for the disinfection of drains. Mr. 
 Beadon had a plan for the drainage, collection, and deodorisation of the 
 sewage of the metropolis by a system of subways, in which the sewage 
 would be conveyed to suitable districts for the purpose. Mr. Bridges 
 Adams proposed to collect separately the solid and liquid portions of the 
 sewage, allow them to accumulate for a given time, and finally remove 
 them for agricultural uses. Mr. Wright suggested a plan for producing 
 an inoffensive solid manure by using burnt clay, charcoal, and gypsum, 
 
PROJECTS FOR UTILISING SEWAGE. 229 
 
 with the sewage. Mr. Dover’s suggestion was, so to employ hydrochloric 
 acid, sulphate of iron, and common salt, as to separate the liquid from 
 the solid portion of sewage, to render the former inodorous and inoffen- 
 sive, and to manufacture the residium into a profitable, portable manure. 
 Thirty or forty projects, more or less resembling those here noticed, were 
 received>and considered by the commissioners, but no definite course of 
 action was adopted in reference to any of them. ‘Two commissioners, 
 acting as an agricultural committee, Professor Way and Mr. J. B. Lawes. 
 lave made many interesting experiments on fields near Rugby, by com- 
 paring the crops produced with and without the aid of sewage manure, 
 Oxen were fed with grass grown on sewaged and on unsewaged land, and 
 the fattening qualities of the two kinds were compared. 
 
 This Sewage Commission was appointed before there was a Metro- 
 -politan Board: of Works, entrusted with the general drainage of the 
 metropolis, Now, however, when there is such a board, the question is 
 practically taken out of the hands of the commission, so far as London 
 is concerned, seeing that it rests with the board to decide whether the 
 sewage shall flow into the Thames, or wheiher the contents of the great 
 reservoirs at Barking and Crossness shall be applied as manure. Never- 
 theless, the commission may still render service by encouraging plans 
 that may be useful in other large towns. 
 
 The Report of the Metropolitan Board of Works, submitted at a 
 meeting of the board held August 7th, 1863, emanated especially from 
 the Main Drainage Committee, and related to tenders received from various 
 persons for the sewage of the metropolis. Twelve parties had responded 
 to an advertisement put for:ih by the committee, and the following, 
 expressed in a condensed form, will suffice to show the nature of the 
 tenders :— ’ 
 
 1. Dr. Thudichum proposed by a mechanical arrangement so to sepa- 
 rate the house-drainage as to retain that which he considered 
 most valuable ; and he gave a sketch of his closet and drains, and 
 tables of analysis of the constituents of fluid sewage. He estimated 
 the cost of the works for carrying out his process at 1,500,000/. 
 Out of the net profit he proposed that he should receive a per- 
 centage, and that one half of the balance should be paid to the 
 board, and one half to the shareholders of a company formed for 
 carrying out the system. 
 
 2. Mr. Curwood was not in a position to offer a tender, but suggested 
 the separation of the solid and liquid sewage. 
 
 3. Lord Torrington, Sir Charles Fox, and Mr, Hunt, while expressing 
 their willingness to discuss a particular plan of theirs with the 
 Main Drainage Committee, and to enter into a provisional arrange- 
 ment for presenting a Bill in Parliament during the ensuing 
 
30 APPENDIX No. 6. Nie 
 
 session, regretted their inability to comply with the conditions of 
 the advertisement, on the ground of the impolicy of publicly 
 declaring the land with which they proposed to deal. 
 
 4, The London Sewage Utilisation Company (Limited) proposed that 
 the board should grant them the sewage they might require at 
 Barking Creek for two years, at.a rent of £5; that, if the expe-. 
 riment succeeded, the board should then grant a further term of 
 twenty-one years at the same rent; and that, at the end of such 
 
 - further term, the rent for a lengthened period should be referred 
 for decision either. to:the Board of Trade or to the President of 
 the Institute of Civil Engineers, 
 
 5. Mr. Moore proposed that the board should grant the sewage for a 
 term. of ninety years; that for fourteen years of this period the 
 rent should be merely pepper-corn; and that for the remainder of 
 the term, after deducting 10 per cent. on the capital invested, the 
 rent should be one half of the profits. In a subsequent tender, 
 made in July, 1863, Mr. Moore offered one farthing per ton for 
 all the sewage raised by the board to a height of 200 ft.; at 
 80,000,000 gallons per day, this would amount, to 136,000/, per 
 annum, Mr. Moore stated that he had already engagements with 
 the occupiers of nearly 60,000 acres for the use of the sewage. 
 This plan of raising the sewage to so great a-height seems to indi- 
 cate some arrangement for allowing the liquid to flow Go easy 
 gradients to fields at a considerable distance. 
 
 6. Mr. Shepherd, as a first communication, asked for a concession of 
 the whole of the sewage of London for fifty years. He proposed 
 
 _.to establish a company to work the plan; and_that, after this 
 company liad reached 74 per cent. on the invested capital, he 
 should share the surplus profits with the board. In a second 
 communication, Mr. Shepherd stipulated more completely than 
 before for an unlimited command over the whole of the sewage. 
 
 4. Mr. Kirkman’s proposal embodied the use of a patent, of which he 
 
 _is proprietor, for obtaining manure from sewage by filtration and 
 deposit ; the water after such treatment to be discharged into the 
 river. He proposed to erect works for this purpose at Barking, 
 on condition that the board convey to him the necessary land 
 adjoining the reservoir, deliver the sewage to him from the main 
 outfall sewer into ‘his works, grant him the use of their river 
 frontage and wharves for the term of seven years at a pepper-corn, 
 seven years at a rent of one-fifth the net profits, after deducting 
 5 per cent. on the capital, and for any further time at a rental to 
 be settled by the Secretary of State. Mr. Kirkman stated that he ~ 
 was prepared to guarantee a minimum rent of 10,0002. per annum 
 —that he could name two or more securities for the due perform- 
 
PROJECTS FOR UTILISING. SEWAGE. 231 
 
 ance of the contract, and that he would agree to the surrender of 
 the works on two years’ notice, subject to the repayment of the 
 capital invested, and of a premium of 25 per cent. thereon, toge- 
 ther with a royalty of 1/. per cent. for the use of his patent. 
 
 8. Mr. Ellis proposed to pump the sewage from the reservoirs at 
 Barking and Crossness into certain covered tanks, and then to 
 cause it to flow by gravitation through pipes laid along the sides 
 of the roads adjoining the land to be irrigated. On behalf of a 
 joint-stock company to be formed, Mr. Ellis undertook to provide 
 and use deodorising agents. The net profits, after deducting 
 working expenses and reserve fund, to be divided equally between 
 the company and the board. The concession of the sewage to be 
 in perpetuity, subject to the board’s power of purchasing after 
 fifty years, on giving three years’ notice—the price to be fixed by 
 valuers jointly chosen. Certain capitalists were prepared to back 
 Mr. Ellis to the extent of 60,0002. 
 
 9. Messrs. Napier and Hope proposed to intercept the whole of the 
 ordinary flow of the northern sewage near Abbey Mills, and to 
 convey it by a culvert 44 miles in leigth to Maplin Sands on the 
 one hand, and to Dengie Flats on the other. Both those areas are 
 at present submerged at high water, and their redemption is part 
 of the project, extending to 15,000 or 20,000 acres. The capital 
 proposed to be invested was 2,000,000/.; the concession of the 
 sewage to be for fifty years, subject to parliamentary authority 
 being obtained, and to a grant of the land from the crown. The 
 net profits to be divided equally between the company and the 
 board, after deduction of 10 per cent. on the outlay. The board 
 to have the power of resuming the grant of sewage, and taking 
 the whole of the lands and works at a valuation, at the end of the 
 term of fifty years, on giving seven years’ notice; or a new con- 
 cession to be granted in terms settled by the Secretary of State. 
 The board to be represented -by two directors appointed to the 
 company. The company to be formed within two years after 
 obtaining parliamentary powers. ‘The company, within three 
 months of its formation, to place in the hands of trustees a certain 
 sum of money as security for the due fulfilment of the works, 
 
 The other three responses to the advertisement of the board did not 
 
 take the form of tenders. It will suffice to show the difficulties which 
 surround this subject to say that the committee did not feel justified in 
 recommending any of the plans, and that it was resolved by the board 
 that the committee’s report, together with all the tenders, supplementary 
 documents, and correspondence, should be printed, and copies sent to all 
 the metropolitan vestries and district bodrds. From this it is pretty 
 evident, that so far from any defined arrangement being made, the end 
 
232 APPENDIX NO. 7. 
 
 of the year 1863 witnessed merely the commencement of another series 
 of plans, discussions, and controversies on this much-troubled sewage 
 question. To detail the proceedings of 1864 would be little more than 
 going again over the same ground; the controversies and proposals were 
 numerous, but nothing definite resulted from them. In 1865, however, 
 the Maplin Sand reclamation scheme is brought forward in a definite 
 
 way, in connection with a system of sewage utilisation, ‘ 
 
 APPENDIX No. 7. 
 Water Suprpty or Lonpon, unper THE Act oF 1852, 
 
 In addition to the information given in the text (p. 99), it may be 
 desirable to present here a few facts concerning the supply of water to 
 the metropolis, especially under the influence of the important statute 
 passed in 1852. or the reason stated in the Preface, we may refer 
 to Mr. Hughes’ Rudimentary Treatise, for a fuller treatment of water 
 supply generally. 
 
 In 1856 a valuable Report was presented to the General Board of 
 Health, by the Superintending Inspectors of that Board (Messrs. Henry 
 Austin, William Ranger, and Alfred Dickens), on the subject of the 
 Water Supply of London. The Water companies having been required, 
 by the terms of the Act of 1852, to make very extensive alterations and 
 improvements in their works, it became desirable to ascertain how far 
 the alterations had advanced. The inspector, therefore, made an exact 
 comparison between the state of matters in 1850 and in 1856, before 
 and after the Act of 1852 came into operation. The Act required that 
 by August 31, 1855, no water should be taken by any of the companies 
 (with one exception) from any part of the Thames below Teddington 
 Lock ; that all reservoirs within 5 miles of St. Paul’s should be roofed 
 in, unless the water is filtered after leaving the reservoir; that all the 
 conduits or water channels within the metropolis should be Covered, 
 unless the water were filtered after leaving such channel. It may be 
 useful to present here a few leading facts concerning the ten companies 
 which supply the metropolis with water. 
 
 In 1850, there were 270,581 houses supplied with about 44,000,000 
 gallons of water daily, by nine companies; whereas in 1856 there were 
 328,561 houses supplied with 81,000,000 gallons per day, by ten com- 
 panies: exhibiting a rise from 164 to 246 gallons per house per day. 
 The main and branch pipes, irrespective of the private service pipes, 
 were 2,086 miles in length, in 1856. There were 40 acres of filter beds, 
 and 141 acres of subsiding reservoirs. ‘The filtered water was stored in 
 fourteen covered reservoirs, comprising an area of 15 acres, and in four 
 
WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON. Zoo 
 
 uncovered reservoirs, of about 3 acres, beyond the specified distance of 
 5 miles from St. Paul’s. The cost of the several water-works, down to 
 the enactment of the statute in 1852, was about 5,000,0007.; and a 
 further sum of 2,300,000/. was spent between 1852 and 1856; to which 
 an additional large sum has been added between 1856 and 1865. 
 
 The following are a few facts relating to each of the companies, indi- 
 vidually, in 1856. 
 
 New River.—Sources of supply, New River, River Lea, and chalk 
 springs. Number of houses supplied, 95,083. Gross quantity supplied 
 per day, 25,000,000 gallons. Aggregate nominal steam-power for work- 
 ing the pumping and other engines, 1,442 horses. Length of mains and 
 branches, about 450 miles, Area of subsiding reservoirs, 66 acres, Area 
 of filter beds, 9 acres. Area of covered reservoirs for filtered water, 
 3¢ acres. Total cost of works, about 2,000,0007. 
 
 Hast London.—Source of supply, the River Lea. Number of houses 
 supplied, 70,000. Gross quantity supplied per day, 16,000,000 gallons. 
 Aggregate nominal steam-power, 840 horses. Length of mains and 
 branches, 331 miles. Area of filter beds, 12 acres. Area of covered 
 reservoirs for filtered water, 24 acres. Total cost of works, 1,000,007. 
 
 Southwark and Vaurhall—Source of supply, the River Thames, at 
 Hampton. Number of houses supplied, 41,529. Gross quantity sup- 
 plied per day, 10,330,000 gallons. Aggregate nominal steam-power, 
 1,065 horses. Length of mains and branches, 432 miles. Area of sub- 
 siding reservoirs, 8 acres. Area of filter beds, 43 acres. Total cost of 
 works, 650,0007. 
 
 Lambeth.—Source of supply, the River Thames, at Thames Ditton, 
 Number of houses supplied, 28,541. Gross quantity supplied per day, 
 6,110,000 gallons. Aggregate nominal steam-power, 680 horses. Length 
 of mains and branches, 206 miles. Area of filter beds, three-quarters 
 of anacre. Area of open reservoirs for filtered water, 12 acre. Area 
 of covered reservoirs for filtered water, 3 acres. Total cost of works, 
 610,0007, 
 
 West Middlesex.—Source of supply, the Thames, at Hampton. Number 
 of houses supplied, 25,752. Gross quantity supplied per day, 6,900,000 
 gallons. Aggregate nominal steam-power, 480 horses. Length of mains 
 and branches, 1783 miles. Area of subsiding reservoirs, 16 acres, Area 
 of filter beds, 453 acres. Area of covered reservoirs for filtered water, 
 lz acre. Total cost of works, 800,000/. 
 
 Chelsea.—Source of supply, the Thames, at Seething Wells. Number 
 of houses supplied, 25,030. Gross quantity supplied per day, 5,300,000 
 gallons. Aggregate nominal steam-power, 700 horses, Length oa 
 mains and branches, 198 miles. Area of subsiding reservoirs, 3} acres, 
 Area of filter beds, 2 acres. Area of covered reservoirs for filtered 
 water, 24 acres. Total cost of works, 930,000/, 
 
234 _ APPENDIX: NO. V0 7 
 
 Grand Junction.—Source of supply, the Thames, at Hampton. Number 
 of houses supplied, 17,221. Gross quantity supplied per day, 6,700j000;* 
 Aggregate nominal steam-power, 1,440 horses. Length of mains, and 
 branches, 117 miles, Area of subsiding reservoirs, 7} acres, Area of 
 filter beds, 54 acres. Arca of covered reservoirs for filtered water, a 
 little over l acre. Total cost of works, 730,0007. 
 
 Kent.—Source of supply, the River Ravensbourne. Number of houses , 
 supped, 16,077. Gross quantity supplied per day, 3,500,000 gallons. 
 Average nominal steam-power, 500 horses. Length of mains and 
 branches, 124 miles. Area of subsiding reservoirs, 52 acres. Area of 
 fiiter beds, 23 acres. Area of open reservoirs for filtered water, 14 acre. 
 ‘total cost of wh 230,0002. 
 
 Hampstead.—Sources of supply, the Hampstead and Highgate Ponds, 
 and an artesian well at Hampstead. Number of houses supplied, 
 6,248. Gross quantity snpalict per day, 600,000 gallons. Aggregate 
 nominal steam-power, 72 horses. Length of main and branches, 33 miles. 
 Area of subsiding reservoirs, 35 acres. Area of filter beds, one-seventh 
 of an acre. Total cost of works, 120,000. 
 
 Plumstead and Woolwich.—Source of supply, an artesian well in the 
 chalk. Number of houses supplied, about 3,000. Gross quantity 
 supplied per day, 550,000 gallons, Aggregate nominal steam-power, 
 35 horses. Length of main and branches, 16 miles. Area of subsiding 
 reservoirs, one-fifth of an acre. Area of covered reservoirs for filtered 
 water, one-third of an acre. Total cost of works, 50,0002. 
 
 Some of the above-named companies were in 1856 without subsiding 
 reservoirs, some without open reservoirs, and some without closed reser- 
 voirs ; but very extensive additional works have been constructed between 
 1856 and 1865. Taking them one with another, the companies have 
 spent about 20/. in works for each house supplied with water; and the 
 interest on this amount, together with the annual working expenses, are 
 considered in determining the annual water-rate charged upon each 
 house. 
 
 At the Woolwich and Charlton works, established so recently as 1854, 
 the water is softened by Dr. Clark’s process, in which the chalk is ren- 
 dered soluble; and the result, as stated by the inspectors to the Board of 
 Health, is beneficial in regard to health, comfort, and economy. The 
 inspectors made the following remarks on one still-existing source of 
 impurity in the water supplied, notwithstanding the use of filter-beds | 
 and covered reservoirs :—‘ The only remaining serious cause of conta- 
 mination will be the cisterns, water-butts, and other means for storing 
 the supplies now furnished. by the companies. Although considerable 
 improvement has already taken place in the distribution, and the water 
 formerly supplied only on alternate days is now for the most part given ; 
 daily, except on see de to every part of each company’s district, its 
 
 at: 
 
WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON. 235. 
 
 storage even from day to day im the private butts and cisterns of most 
 houses, and especially im those ot tHe poorer class, to a yrear extent 
 destroys the advantages that ~o much pains have been taken to secure. 
 The only complete remedy for this serious defect will be the constant 
 supply—that is to say, a supply obtained at all times by direct commu- 
 nication of the house-service pipes with the constantly-charged mains of 
 the companies, thus avoiding the necessity for any means of storage 
 whatever on the private premises, The constant supply would be the 
 means of rectifying also another serious defect to which the public is not 
 unfrequently liable in the present system—viz. the irregularities of 
 ‘supply. Notwithstanding that the companies have abundant means of 
 furnishing any quantity of water that can be legitimately used through- 
 out their districts, loud complaints are too often heard of a want of water 
 in certain localities. The deficiency would appear to arise not from 
 actual lack of water, but from some irregularity from time to time in 
 ‘districting’ the service, which the constant supply would obviate. We 
 would allude aiso to the great advantage of constantly-charged mains in 
 case of fire as no small consideration.” | 
 The charge for water-rate by eight out of the ten companies (omitting 
 the Kent and the Woolwich) for the year 1856, as given in one of the 
 parliamentary papers, was as follows :— ' 
 
 meweniver «6s -. £156,367 
 Meeeondon . 4. . °. . ’.85;286 
 West Middlesex. . . - ~ 12,165 
 Grand Junction ... . 952,590 
 er ge ee te OTL 
 Southwark and Vauxhall. . 41,914 
 eee et en oe e645 
 Hampstead . .. +. . 10,580 
 
 Taking an average of the whole, this gives a gross payment, by house- 
 keepers and manufacturers, of about Is. for 2,800 gallons of water, of, 
 233 gallons for ld. 
 
 We have no concern here with the controversy respecting the Trafalgar 
 Square Fountains as matters of taste or art; but as they are connected 
 in a small degree with thé supply of the metropolis with water, a para- 
 graph concerning them may not be out of place. The wells which supply 
 the fountains also supply some of the government offices, In 1843 
 Messrs. Easton & Amos were employed to sink wells for this purpose to 
 the level of the springs beneath the London clay. The fountains were 
 not intended to be merely ornamental—they were to form cooling-ponds 
 to condense the steam of the pumping-engines, the resistance of the air 
 to the ascending jets producing a cooling action. The Government were 
 encouraged to undertake this work by the ascertained fact that the 
 
236 APPENDIX NO. 7. 
 
 interest on the cost of the new works would be less than the water-rate 
 paid by or for the government offices about the neighbourhood of White- 
 hall. The works were commenced on a piece of ground in Orange Street, 
 behind the National Gallery. A well was sunk to the depth of 174 ft. 
 A cast-iron pipe, 15 in. diameter, was then driven through 30 ft. of 
 plastic clay, and 10 ft. into a stratum of gravel, sand, and stones. 
 Within this another pipe of 7 in. diameter was driven through 35 ft. of 
 green-coloured sand, and 3 ft. into the chalk. Boring was then continued 
 to a depth of 300 ft. from the surface. The chief supply of water thence 
 obtained came from the chalk. A second well was then sunk in the 
 enclosure in front of the National Gallery, to a depth of 168 ft., and a 
 pipe and a boring continued nearly as in the former instance, but toa depth 
 of 383 ft. The springs were found to be stronger than those in the well 
 in Orange Street. A tunnel, 6 ft. diameter, and about 400 ft. long, was 
 driven to connect the two wells, at a depth of 125 ft. below Trinity high- 
 water mark. Tle works were finished in December 1844, at a cost of 
 8,4007. The water rose to within 90 ft. of the surface, and was found to 
 be of good quality. When the engine was pumping 110 gallons per 
 minute, it lowered the water only 4 ft. in the well. In 1846, a further 
 demand for water having arisen, a larger pump was substituted, capable 
 of raising 350 gallons per minute. In 1849, another well was sunk in 
 Orange Street, to a depth of 176 it., and a tunnel was made to connect it 
 with the others. The steam-engine works one double-acting pump for 
 supplying the fountains, and two others for raising water from the 
 springs into the tanks above the building. The pumping of 600 gallons 
 per minute lowers the water 20 or 24 ft.; but then the level remains 
 permanent, however long the pumping may be continued. In the 
 beginning of 1859 the level of the water in the wells was found to be 
 nearly as it had been throughout. 
 
 In a paper by Mr. P. W. Barlow, read before the Institution of Civil 
 Engineers in 1855, the water-bearing strata of the London basin were 
 described, with a view of showing how abundant is the supply of water 
 available, if proper means were adopted for utilising it. ‘This basin, 
 defined by a boundary running through or near Folkestone, Hythe, 
 Ashford, West Farleigh, Sevenoaks, Reigate, Godalming, Pewsey, . 
 Devizes, Swindon, Wantage, Tetworth, and Cambridge, covers an area 
 of 8,000 square miles; and the water-bearing strata beneath this area 
 comprise the London clay, the chalk, the upper greensand, and the 
 lower greensand. The superficial area through which rain infiltrates 
 west of London, and from which the supply for the artesian wells of 
 London is obtained, is about 24 square miles, About 200 square miles. 
 of area eastward of London, where the lower beds of clay are arenaceous 
 and permeable, but where the upper or impervious beds are wanting, 
 add very little to the supply of the ordinary London basin. Of the: 
 
WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON. i Doe 
 
 _ 3,800 square miles of chalk strata exposed to tho surface, it is considered 
 ' that this constitutes the great water-bearing stratum ; and that, in parts 
 where the chalk is 60 ft. or 80 ft. below the surface, there may be several 
 supplies of water, irrespective of each other, at different depths, and 
 applicable to different purposes. The district south-east of London was 
 stated by Mr. Barlow to be peculiarly adapted for affording a water . 
 supply. Scarcely any of the springs in that part of Kent reappear in 
 the form of surface springs; they mostly empty themselves into the 
 ‘Thames at low water, from fissures in the bed or banks. By inter- 
 cepting these springs in their course towards the Thames, a copious 
 _ supply of water might be obtained from the chalk. Itwas estimated that 
 
 the drainage area of the water thus wasted is 190 square miles, west of 
 the Medway, which might yield a daily supply of 60,000,000 gallons ; 
 and that 320 square miles, east of the Medway, might yield 100,000,000 
 gallons per day. Mr, Prestwich, from gn investigation of the greensand, 
 had arrived at @ conclusion that those strata might be made to yield 
 40,000,000 gallons per day, which would probably rise to a height of 
 120 ft. above the surface; and he had suggested how desirable it would 
 be, imitating the example furnished by the artesian well at Grenelle, if 
 a similar experiment were tried in some spot of the London basin where 
 the lower infiltrating springs would be intersected. Mr. Barlow quoted 
 these speculations of Mr. Prestwich, and adduced his own experience as 
 engineer of the South-Eastern and North Kent railways, to support the 
 view that the metropolis ought not to be left mainly dependent on the 
 Thames for its supply of water, seeing that that river is becoming more 
 and more deficient, and that the strata of the London basin comprise so 
 ufany beds that are water-bearing. A lengthened discussion took place 
 aiter the reading of Mr. Barlow’s paper, during which many engineers 
 adverted to the uncertainties which have marked the sinking of deep 
 wells near London. <A we!ll-known instance is the one on the road 
 between Kentish Town and Highgate, sunk to obtain a supply auxiliary 
 to that of the Hampstead Waterworks. The well was begun at a height 
 of 172 ft. above Trinity high-water mark, with the hope of reaching 
 water in the chalk at about 320 ft. below the surface, The chalk was 
 compact, hard, free from fissures, and comparatively dry, with the flints 
 not in layers, but distributed through the mass. After sinking 218 ft. 
 in the chalk, boring was commenced, and continued to a depth of 
 1,150 ft. below the surface. After traversing 538 ft. of chalk, and then 
 layers of gault and red clay, the greensand was reached; but so dis- 
 couraging was the result, owing to the scanty indications of water, that 
 the enterprise was regarded almost as hopeless. It was further continued, 
 however, to a depth of 1,502 ft., and then abandoned, after two years and 
 a half of labour, and a very heavy expense. 
 
 It does not seem very probable, now that the ten water companies 
 
38 APPENDIX No. 8. 
 
 tor 
 
 have invested such large sums in enlarging and improving the water — 
 supply of the metropolis, that any further radical changes will be made > 
 in this matter. But the future will have to settle the question. It is 
 supposed that more than 50,000,000 gallons of water per day are at the 
 present time (1865) taken out of the Thames near Hampton and Thames 
 Ditton, in aid of the London supply; and it has still to be ascertained 
 what effect that large draught will have on the general condition of the 
 river.. Hence such inquiries as those instituted by Mr. Prestwich and 
 Mr. Barlow, and mentioned in the last paragraph, are important. We 
 may notice, too, a project which bears relation to the chalk strata near 
 Grays, in Essex, opposite Northfleet. In excavating the chalk for ship- 
 ment, 2,000,000 gallons of water per day require to be pumped away 
 into the river; and it has been proposed to utilise this water for the 
 supply of towns, instead of thus allowing it to run to waste. Purfleet, 
 Rainham, Bréntwood, Dagenham, Ilford, Romford, Barking, East Ham, 
 and other towns between Grays and London, might (it is conceived) be 
 thus supplied. Messrs. Haston and Amos have estimated that, if 
 220,000. were expended in the necessary works, a supply of 2,000,000 
 gallons every twelve hours might be obtained; 4,000,000 gallons by an 
 expenditure of 268,000/.; and 6,000,000 gallons by an expenditure of 
 475,0002, 
 
 APPENDIX No. 8. 
 Tus Great Waterworks rrom Locu Katrine To.Guascow. 
 
 Without going into the subject of the water supply of our great towns 
 generally, as developed between the years 1854 and 1865, we deem it 
 desirable to notice those for the supply of Glasgow, unparalleled as they 
 are in this country for engineering grandeur and public success, 
 
 The works were commenced in 1856, after lengthened inquiries in the — 
 preceding years. The ‘old supply from the Clyde at Dumbarton had ~ 
 become quite inadequate. A plan had been proposed for bringing water — 
 from Loch Lubnaig, but had fallen to the ground, Loch Katrine was 
 then named; and after a very favourable report from two distinguished 
 engineers, since deceased, Mr. Brunel and Mr. Robert Stephenson, the 
 corporation commenced that magnificent work which has become an — 
 honour to the city and to the engineer. The water comes from the — 
 mountain-lakes on the borders of Stirlingshire and Perthshire. The 
 sources of supply are Loch Katrine, 8 or 9 miles long, with an area of 
 3,000 acres; Loch Vennachar, 4 miles long, with an area of 900 acres; — 
 and Loch Drumkie, with an area of about 150 acres. The three lakes 
 Would, if quite full, contain 1,600,000,000.cubic feet of water. Tho - 
 
$i 
 
 GLASGOW “WATER SUPPLY. 239 
 
 ‘basins which find their drainage into these lakes cover an area of 45,809 
 ‘acres, and have an average rain-fall of about 80 in. per annum. The 
 works at Loch Katrine are so managed that all the water for 4 ft. above 
 the ordinary summer level, and 3°ft. below it, can be treated as a 
 reservoir or store, with proper channels for drawing it off; this store is 
 equal to 50,000,000 gallons per day for 120 days without rain. The 
 water from Lochs Vennachar and Drumkie is chiefly appropriated to the 
 supply of mill-owners, fishermen, and others interested in certain rivers ; 
 the supply for Glasgow being mainly obtained from Loch Katrine. At 
 the outlets provision is made for the discharge of floods as well as for 
 the daily regulated supply, and: for securing the “passage of salmon and 
 other fish by properly. constructed ‘“salmon-ladders.” Loch Katrine 
 being 360 ft. above thé rivér level at Glasgow, there is scope for a gentle 
 descent the whole way, and still leaving a pressure of 70 ft. or 80 ft. 
 above the highest summit of land within the city. The whole length of 
 aqueduct from Loch Katrine to Glasgow is about 34 miles, 10 or 11 of 
 which consist of ridges of very hard rock, forming spurs of Ben Lomond. 
 Through these ridges, in a tolerably straight line, the aqueduct is carried, 
 principally by tunnelling. The tunnels are 8 ft. in diameter, and have a 
 fall of 10 in. to the mile. Across several deep and wide valleys the 
 water is conveyed by cast-iron pipes, 4 ft. in diameter, with a fall of 5 ft. 
 _per mile. The average inclination of the whole is 2 ft. per mile. Near 
 Mugdock Castle, about 8 miles from Glasgow, a reservoir has been con- 
 structed, 70 acres in extent, and capable of containing 500,000,000 
 gallons. From this reservoir, the top-water of which is 311 ft, above 
 the sea, the water flows to the city through two lines of cast-iron pipes, 
 8 ft. in diameter. Of the 26 miles which lie between Loch Katrine and 
 the reservoir, 13 miles are tunnelling, 33 miles iron piping, while the 
 remainder, where the ground has been cut open, is an arched aqueduct, 
 8 ft. in diameter, with the same angle of descent as the tunnels: Where 
 the ground has been thus excavated, it has ‘been filled in again over the 
 aqueduct, which is covered ae and hina: be gas restored to its 
 original condition. 
 
 It will at once be seen from this’ description that, many of the works 
 must be very heavy. There aré 70 distinct tunnels, upon which 44 
 vertical shafts haye been sunk. ‘The greatest tunnel, a mile and a 
 half long, just out of Loch Katrine, is worked through the hardest 
 gneiss and mica slate; and five out of the twelve shafts sunk for: working : 
 it are 500 feet deep. The tunnel just before entering the great reservoir 
 is also a mile and a half long, and is worked in whinstone.. In some 
 places, where the mica slate’ is largely mixed with quartz veins, the rock 
 is so obdurate that the progress did not exceed 3 linear yards in a 
 month, although the work was carried cn day and night. In tunnelling 
 the mica slate, the progress was generally 5 yards‘per month, In drilling 
 
240 APPENDIX NO. 8. 
 
 the holes for blasting the rock, a fresh drill or chisel was required for’ 
 every inch in depth; and 60 drills were constantly kept working at once. 
 There are twenty-five important iron and masonry aqueducts over rivers 
 and ravines, some 60 or 80 ft. in height, with arches of 30 to 90 ft. span. 
 
 It was known when the plans were first laid that the hard rock was 
 likely to be free from water, and that, therefore, the working, though 
 slow, would not be retarded by harassing inbreaks of springs. No 
 water occurred in any of the tunnels or workings in mica slate or clay 
 slate. When the works emerged from the slate rocks and entered the 
 old red sandstone, tunnelling was avoided as much as possible; but even 
 in this formation water was met with in much less quantity than had been 
 anticipated. 
 
 The works were inaugurated by the Queen on the 14th of October, 1859, 
 when her Majesty and the royal family were en route from Balmoral to 
 Windsor. The royal party drove from Holyrood to the Loch, embarked 
 on asmall steamer, and went to the mouth of the tunnel by which the 
 water finds its exit, and which was, of course, gaily decked out for the 
 occasion. The ceremony was avery simple one, The Queen turned a 
 small tap, which set in motion a 4-horse hydraulic engine at the mouth 
 of the tunnel, and this raised the great iron shutters which permitted 
 the water to enter the tunnel on its journey of 34 miles to Glasgow. In 
 a few graceful words before leaving, her Majesty said :—* It is with much 
 gratification that I avail myself of this opportunity of inaugurating a 
 work which, both in its conception and its execution, reflects so much 
 eredit upon its promoters, and is calculated to improve the health and 
 comfort of the vast population which is rapidly increasing round the 
 great centre of manufacturing industry in Scotland. Such a work is 
 worthy of the spirit of enterprise and the philanthropy of Glasgow, and 
 Z trust that it will be blessed with complete success.” 
 
 With a wise foresight, the corporation provided for a much larger 
 enpply than is at present needed, They obtained powers to draw 
 50,000,000 gallons per day from the lakes, and constructed all the works” 
 necessary thereto; but their present actual requirements very little exceed i 
 20,000,000 gallons. Mr. Bateman, the engineer, in a letter to the 
 Builder, in 1862, draws attention to the wonderful advantages which 
 have followed the introduction of such a copious supply of pure soft 
 water :—‘‘ The saving to the inhabitants in soap, and other articles of 
 private and trading consumption, is estimated at about 40,000/. per 
 annum, equal to a free gift to the city of 1,000,0007., being a sum greater 
 than the cost of the whole works. The saving of soap alone in trading 
 establishments, such as bleach and print works, is from one-half to five- 
 eighths of the quantity which was previously used. ‘These facts cannot 
 be too strongly impressed on the minds of the public, as they show the 
 importance and economy of soft water supplies, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Access to sewers, 152. - 
 
 Accounts of Commissioners, 53. 
 
 Acts (1848 and 1849), Sewers, 46. 
 
 io plan for the utilisation of sewage, 
 8 
 
 Ainger’s plan for utilising sewage, 28. 
 
 Ammonia, its value in sewage, 15; to 
 prevent the escape of, from sewage, 16. 
 
 Analyses of manures, 4. 
 
 Appendices :—No. 1. Steam draining- 
 plough, 182; No. 2. Mr. Stephenson's 
 Report on plan for draining London 
 north of the Thames, 190; No. 3. Main 
 drainage of London, proceedings from 
 1854 to 1865, 194; No. 4. Embankment 
 of the Thames, 205; No. 5. Extracts 
 from the report of Mr. Wicksteed on 
 the utilisation of sewage, 214; No. 6. 
 Projects for utilising sewage (1854 to 
 1865), 225; No. 7. Water supply -of 
 London, and effect of the Act of 1852 on 
 the, 232; No. 8. Waterworks from Loch 
 Katrine to Glasgow, 238. 
 
 Application of sewage water to Edinburgh 
 poendaley 25 ; to Craigintinny meadows, 
 
 T. : 
 Aqueduct, Croton, 137. 
 Ashburton, application of sewage at, 28. 
 Ashton-under-Lyne, supply of water, 79. 
 Austin’s report on the utilisation of sew- 
 age, 225. 
 
 Barking reservoir, described, 199. 
 Barlow on the water-bearing strata of the 
 London basin, 236. 
 Basement drainage, 160. 
 Bath, supply of water, 85. 
 Bazalgette and Hemans’ plan for em- 
 banking the Thames, 212. 
 Bazalgette’s report, 55. 
 Beadon’s plan for utilising sewage, 228. 
 erro plan for embanking the Thames, 
 11. 
 Bill, “‘ Great London Drainage,” 71. 
 Bilston, supply of water, 85. 
 Bee plan for embanking the Thames, 
 1 ° 
 Birmingham sewers, 111. 
 
 Bishopsgate Street sewer, 38. 
 
 Board of Health v. Commissioners of 
 Sewers, 69. 
 
 Bones for manure, 4. 
 
 Boussingault’s experiments on sewage, 4. 
 
 Brecon sewers, 112. 
 
 Bristol sewers, 112. 
 
 Buildings, classification of, 144. 
 
 Bunnett’s water-closets, 178. 
 
 Capacity of reservoirs, 91; sewers, 115. 
 
 Cast-iron water-pipes, 138; joints of, 139 ; 
 size of, 134, 140; weight of, 140. 
 
 Cesspools, 171; cleansing, 17. 
 
 Cesspools, apparatus for emptying, de- 
 scribed, 176. 
 
 Chatham, supply of water, 87. 
 
 Chelsea Waterworks Company, facts re- 
 lating to the, 233; charge of, for water- 
 rate, 235. 
 
 Chester sewers, 111, 127. 
 
 Chorlton-on-Medlock, supply of water, 79. 
 
 Cistern, Hosmer’s, 177. 
 
 City of London sewers, 37. : 
 
 Classification of buildings, 144; of sites of 
 towns, 7. 
 
 Cleansing cesspools, 17 ; house-drains, 169; 
 sewers, 133; streets and roads, 99, 135. 
 
 Clitheroe, application of sewage as ma- 
 nure at, 27. 
 
 Collection of manure, 5. 
 
 Commissioners’ accounts, 53; invitation 
 for “ plans,” 50. . 
 
 Commissioners of Sewers v. Board of 
 Health, 69. 
 
 Computation of Farey on the performance 
 of Taylor’s pumping-engine, 141. 
 
 Concentration, extravagance of, 22. 
 
 Conditions in constructing drains, 158. 
 
 Connections of sewers, 131. 
 
 Consideration of sites of towns, 6. 
 
 Constant service of water, 95, 149. 
 
 Construction of sewers, 130. 
 
 Consulting engineers’ report on drainage 
 south of Thames, 65. 
 
 Contents of sewers, 15. 
 
 Conveyance of water, 136. 
 
 Cost of manuring, 26; pumping, 141, 
 
242 
 
 Covered drains, 101. 
 
 Craigintinny meadows, 
 sewage to, 27. 
 
 Cresy’s estimate of value of sewage, 18,19. 
 
 Crops, rotation of, 4. 
 
 Crossness reservoir, 101; capacity of, 202; 
 cost of, 202; culverts of, 202; filth 
 chamber, 202; strainers, 202. 
 
 Croton Aqueduct, 137. 
 
 Croydon, supply of water, 88. 
 
 Cubitt’s estimate for London sewerage, 
 68; report on drainage south of Thames, 
 65. 
 
 application of 
 
 Dartford, supply of water, 88. 
 
 Defects of house-tanks, 96. 
 
 Defects of London drainage, 12. 
 
 Deficiency of fall, 95, 164. 
 
 Deptford pumping-station, 201. 
 
 Depth for drains, 161; of sewers, 120, 
 
 Dimensions of sewers, 109. 
 
 Disposal of refuse matters. 3. 
 
 Distribution of refuse matters, 5. 
 
 District boards of works, powers of, 194. 
 
 Ditches, evils of open, 101. 
 
 Division IIf.—Drainage of Towns and 
 Streets:—Sec. I. Classification of towns, 
 &c.,1. Sec. II. Supply of water, &c., 
 72. Sec. III. Drainage of streets, &c., 
 99. Sec. LV. Main sewers, &c., 106. 
 Sec. V. Conveyance of water, &c., 136. 
 
 Division liI.—Drainage of Buildings :— 
 Sec. I. Classification of buildings, 144. 
 Sec. II. Water service, 148. Sec. III. 
 House-drains, &c.,157. Sec. 1V. Water 
 closets, &c., 170. 
 
 Dover’s plan for utilising sewage, 229. 
 
 Drainage (Main) of London, an account 
 of, 1854 to 1865, 194; conflict between 
 the Board of Works and Public Build- 
 ings and the Metropolitan Board of 
 Works, 195; constitution and powers of 
 the Metropolitan Board of Works, 194; 
 system adopted, 196; area to be drained, 
 196. Northern System: northern high- 
 level, 197; northern middle-level, 197; 
 Old Ford storm overflow, 197; northern 
 low-level, 198; northern outfall, 199; 
 Barking reservoir, 199; western drain- 
 age, 200. Southern system: southern 
 high-level, 200; southern low-level, 201; 
 Deptford pumping-station, 201; southern 
 outfall, 201; Crossness reservoir, 201. 
 Inspection of the works, 202; cost of, 
 203; circumstances increasing the cost 
 of, 203; materials absorbed by the 
 works, 204; difficulties from the inter- 
 Alin of railways with the system, 
 
 04. 
 
 Drainage of basements, 160; of London, 
 10; of London south of the Thames, 58. 
 
 Drainage not determined by rivers, 6. 
 
 Draining plough, Fowler’s steam, 182. 
 
 Drains, conditions in constructing, 158 ; 
 covered, 101; deficiency of fall of, 164; 
 formed of stoneware pipes, 126; trap- 
 ping, 168. 
 
 East London Waterworks Company, facts 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 relating to the, 233; charge for water- 
 rate, 235. 
 
 Edinburgh meadows, application of sew- 
 age to, 25. 
 Edmeston’s plan for embanking the 
 Thames, 211. 
 Egg-shaped sewers, estimates for, 129; 
 rule for forming, 112. 
 
 Elevation, ranges of, 12. 
 
 Ellis’s project for utilising sewage, 231. 
 
 Embankment of the Thames, account of 
 schemes for, 205; appointment of a 
 royal commission, 207; Mr, Gurney’s 
 plan, 208; parliamentary committees 
 on, 209, 210; plans laid before ditto, 
 209, 211; result, 212; act for embank- 
 ing the north side of the river, 212; 
 plan of the embankment described, 212; 
 southern embankment, 213. 
 
 Escape of ammonia from sewage, 16. 
 
 Estimates for egg-shaped sewers, 129. 
 
 Estimates for London sewerage, by Sir 
 W. Cubitt, 68. 
 
 Estimates for sewers, 52. 
 
 Experiments by Boussingault, 4; with 
 jets, 154; by Liebig, 4, 
 
 Extinction of fires, 153. 
 
 Extravagance of concentration, 22. 
 
 Fall, deficiency of, 45. 
 
 Farey’s computation on the performance 
 of Taylor’s pumping-engine, 141. 
 
 Filtering, private, 150. 
 
 Filters at Nottingham, 92; at Paisley, 92; 
 self-cleansing, 90. 
 
 Fires, extinction of, 153. 
 
 Fixing the gases in sewage, 16. 
 
 Fleet sewer, 38, 40, 109, 110. 
 
 Flushing of sewers, 43, 183; evils of the 
 system, 134. 
 
 Form of sewers, 122. 
 
 Forster’s plans for intercepting the sewage 
 of London, 50. 
 
 Fowler and Fry’s steam draining-plough, 
 182; machinery of, 183; operation of, 
 184; advantages of, 185. 
 
 Fowler’s plan for embanking the Thames, 
 211 
 
 Frome sewers, 112. 
 Functions of sewers, 107. 
 
 Gases in sewage, fixing the, 16. 
 
 General summary, 179. 
 
 Geological objection to tunnel scheme, 49. 
 
 Geology of York, 81. 
 
 Gisborne’s plan for embanking the 
 Thames, 211. 
 
 Glasgow, water supply of, from Loch 
 Katrine, 238; works described, 239; 
 inauguration of, 240. 
 
 Graduation of drain-pipes, 167; of water- 
 pipes, 157. 
 
 Grand Junction Waterworks Company, 
 facts relating to the, 234; charge for 
 water-rate, 235. 
 
 Grays, water obtained from the chalk 
 excavations near, 238. 
 
 ‘“‘ Great London Drainage Bill,” 71. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Greenock, supply of water, 83. - 
 
 Gurney’s plan for purifying the Thames, 
 208. 
 
 Guthrie’s apparatus for using rain-water, 
 152. 
 
 Gypsum, use of, to fix the gases of sewage, 
 
 ° 
 
 Hackney-brook sewer, 85. 
 Hampstead Waterworks Company, 234 ; 
 charge for water-rate, 235. 
 
 . Hawksley’s calculation of the cost of 
 
 raising and conveying water for the 
 town of Nottingham, 142. 
 
 Hemans and Bazalgette’s plan for em- 
 banking the Thames, 212. 
 
 Higg’s patent for utilising sewage, 36. 
 
 High-level, northern, described, 197; 
 southern, 200. 
 
 High-level sewer, 51. 
 
 High service of water, 98. 
 
 Holborn and Finsbury sewers, 110. 
 
 Homersham’s report on the capacity and 
 cost of reservoirs, 91. 
 
 Hope and Napier’s plan for utilising sew- 
 age, 211. 
 
 Hosmevr’s cistern, 177. 
 
 House-drains, cleansing, 169; trapping, 
 
 168. 
 House-tanks, defects of, 96. 
 
 Intercepting sewers, 15. 
 
 Trongate sewer, 37. 
 
 hrigated meadows, 26; at Craigintinny, 
 27; at Edinburgh, 25. 
 
 Jessop’s plan for a river wall for the 
 Thames, 205. 
 
 Jets, experiments with, as a means of 
 extinguishing fires, 153; use of, for 
 cleansing streets, 135; use of, at Pres- 
 ton, 156. 
 
 Joints of water-pipes, 139. 
 
 Katrine, works for supplying Glasgow 
 with water from Loch Katrine de- 
 scribed, 238. 
 
 Kent and Surrey drainage, 58. 
 
 Kent Waterworks Company, facts relating 
 to, 234. 
 
 ase proposals for utilising sewage, 
 
 30, 
 
 Lambeth Waterworks Company, facts 
 relating to the, 233; charge for water- 
 rate, 235. 
 
 Lambro river, 24. 
 
 Lancashire reservoirs, 91, 
 
 Lancaster sewers, 111. 
 
 Liebig on fixing the gases of sewage, 16. 
 
 Liverpool, supply of water, 84. 
 
 Loch Katrine, supply of water for Glas- 
 gow from, 238; works described, 239 ; 
 inauguration of the works, 240. 
 
 er Basin, water-bearing strata of the, 
 
 6. 
 
 London, drainage of, 10; defects of, 11. 
 
 London, main drainage of, account of 
 proceedings from 1854 to 1865, 194; sys- 
 
 243 
 
 tem adopted, 196; area to be drained, 
 196; cost, 203, 
 
 London, main drainage of:—northern 
 system, 197; southern system, 200. 
 
 London, Martin’s plan for intercepting 
 the sewage of, 28; report on the drain- 
 age of, 65; Stephenson’s evidence on 
 the drainage of, 50; water supply of, 
 232 ; list of companies supplying Lon- 
 don with water, 253. 
 
 London sewers, 40; outfalls of, 11. 
 
 London, situation of, 9. 
 
 London Water Companies, 97; supply, 76, 
 96. 
 
 Low-level, northern, main sewer de- 
 scribed, 198. 
 
 Low-level, southern, main sewer de 
 scribed, 201. 
 
 Low-level sewer, 51. 
 
 Machine, Whitworth’s street sweeping, 
 105. 
 
 Main sewers, 106. 
 
 Manchester, street-sweeping in, 106; 
 supply of water, 83. 
 
 Manstield, use of sewage at, 28. 
 
 Manure, bones for, 4. 
 
 Manure Company, sewage, 31. 
 
 Manure, quantity of, produced by each 
 person, 5. 
 
 Manures, analyses of, 4. 
 
 Manuring at Clitheroe, 27; cost of, 26. 
 
 Market-gardens, sewage manuring of, 31 
 —34, 
 
 Martin’s plan for embanking the Thames, 
 207. 
 
 Martin’s plan for intercepting the sewage 
 of London, 28. 
 
 Meadows, irrigated, 26; Craigintinny, 
 an near Edinburgh, 25; near Milan, 
 
 5 
 
 “Metropolis Local Management Act,” 
 extracts from, 194. 
 
 “ Metropolitan Board of Works,” consti- 
 tution of, 194; powers of, 194. 
 
 Metropolitan Sewers Commission, 46; 
 latest proceedings, 195. 
 
 Metropolitan sewer districts, 37. 
 
 Middle level, northern, sewer described, 
 197. 
 
 Milan, sewerage of, 24. 
 
 Moore’s scheme for the utilisation of 
 sewage, 230. 
 
 Napier and Hope’s plan for utilising 
 sewage, 231. 
 
 Naviglio canal at Milan, 24. 
 
 Newcastle-under-Lyne, supply of water, 
 85. 
 
 New Commission of Sewers, 50. 
 
 New River, the, 1387. 
 
 New River Water Company, sources, 
 supply, &c., of, 233; charge for water- 
 rate, 235. 
 
 New York, Croton aqueduct at, 137. 
 
 Nitrogen in excreta, 4. 
 
 Northern embankment of the Thames, 
 plan of, described, 212. 
 
244 
 
 Northern high-level sewer, 197; low- 
 level sewer, 193; middle-level sewer, 
 197; outfall described, 199. 
 
 Nottingham filters, 92; sewers, 111; 
 supply of water, 83, 146. 
 
 Old Ford storm overflow, 197; Penstock, 
 chamber of, 197. 
 
 Open ditches, evils of, 101. ; 
 
 Outfall, northern, 199; southern, 201. 
 
 Outfalls of sewers, 11, 44. 
 
 Overflow, Old Ford storm, described, 197. 
 
 Page’s plans for embanking the Thames, 
 207, 211. 
 
 Paisley filters, 92. 
 
 Pans of stoneware, 173. 
 
 Parish vestries, powers of, 194. 
 
 Penstock chamber of the Old Ford storm 
 overtiow described, 198. 
 
 Phillips’s tunnel scheme, 47. 
 
 Pipe-sewers, 126. 
 
 Pipes for water, 139. 
 
 Pipes, graduation of, 157. 
 
 Plans for the embankment of the 
 Thames :—laid before the committee of 
 the House of Commons (1858), 209; 
 before the committee of the House of 
 Commons (1860), 211. 
 
 Plough, Fowler’s steam draining, 182. 
 
 Plough, steam draining, 182, 
 
 Plumstead and Woolwich Waterworks 
 Company, facts relating to, 234. 
 
 Portable pumping appuratus, 176. 
 
 Position of receptacles for sewage, 210. 
 
 Preston, supply of water, 75, 78; use of 
 jets at, 156. 
 
 Prices of sewers, 127. 
 
 Private filtering, 150. 
 
 Proportion of streets, 100. 
 
 Public filters, 94. 
 
 Pumping station, Deptford, 201. 
 
 Pumping water, cost of, 141; Mr, Wick- 
 steed’s table of results, 143. 
 
 Qualities of water, 73. 
 
 Quality of town sewage, 5. 
 
 Quantity of manure produced by each 
 person, 5. 
 
 Rain-fall, 75. 
 
 Rain-water, use of, 151. 
 
 Raising refuse matters, 5. 
 
 Ranger’s estimate of value of sewage, 19. 
 
 Ranges of elevation, 12; details of system 
 of, 20; objections to system of, 21. 
 
 Recapitulation, 99. 
 
 Receptacles of sewage, 2 ; position of, 119, 
 
 Refuse from streets, 102. 
 
 tefuse matters, collection of, 5; disposal 
 of, 3; distribution of, 5; raising, 5. 
 
 Relative levels of towns, 6. 
 
 Rennie, Sir J., and Mr. Wyle’s plan for 
 embanking the Thames, 206. 
 
 Report by Mr. Homersham, 91. 
 
 Report, extracts from the, of the consult- 
 ing engineers on the drainage of south 
 London, 65. 
 
 Reservoirs, report on the capacity and 
 cost of, 91. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Reservoirs, 89 ; capacity of, 91. 
 
 River Lambro, 24. 
 
 River, New, described, 137. 
 
 Rivers do not determine drainage, 6. 
 Rivers not to be made sewers, 3. 
 
 Rivers, towns on, 1; water-power from, 14. 
 Roads and streets, cleansing, 99. 
 Rotation of crops, 4. 
 
 Rule for forming egg-shaped sewers, 124. 
 Rule for size of water-pipes, 190. 
 
 ‘* Salpeterfrass,” 16. 
 
 Self-cleansing filters, 90. 
 
 Sewage, Ainger’s plan for the utilisation 
 of, 28; Austin’s report on, 225; Lie- 
 big’s experiments on the value of, 4; 
 Martin’s plan for intercepting the, of 
 London, 28; position of receptacles for, 
 210; to prevent the escape of ammonia 
 from, 16; utilisation of: extracts from 
 the report of the Metropolitan Board of 
 Works on utilisation, 229; projects for 
 utilisation, 225; results of the, the sew- 
 age commission of 1857, 227; value of 
 ammonia in, 16; extracts from Mr. 
 Wicksteed’s report on the utilisation of, 
 214. 
 
 Sewage Manure Company, 31. 
 
 Sewage water, applications of, as manure, 
 25; value of, 3, 17, 18, 19. 
 
 Sewell’s plan for embanking the Thames, 
 211, 
 
 Sewerage of Milan, 24. 
 
 Sewers, access to, 1382; Acts, 1848 and 
 1849, 46; capacity of, 115; in Birming- 
 ham, 111; in Brecon, 1123 in Bristol, 
 112; in Chester, 111; cleansing, 133; 
 Commissioners’ rules for forming drains, 
 163; connections of, 131; construction 
 of, 130 ; contents of, 15 ; depth of, 120 ; 
 dimensions of, 109; estimates for, 52; 
 flushing, 43, 134; form of, 122; in 
 Frome, 112; functions of, 107; in Hol- 
 born and Finsbury division, 110; inter- 
 cepting, 15; in Lancaster, 111; of 
 London, 40; main, 106; in Notting- 
 ham, 111; outfalls of, 44; prices of, 
 127 ; rule for forming, 124 ; size of, 121; 
 stoneware pipe, 126; Swansea, 112; 
 Westminster division, 110, 112, 114. 
 
 Sevese canal at Milan, 24. 
 
 Shepherd’s plan for utilising sewage, 230. 
 
 Sites of towns, classification of, 7. 
 
 Situation of Londen,9. ~ 
 
 Size of sewers, 121. 
 
 Southern embankment of the Thames, 
 212. 
 
 Southern low-level sewer, 201; high- 
 level, 201; outfall, 201. 
 
 Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks 
 Company, facts relating to the, 233; 
 charge for water-rate, 235. 
 
 Steam draining plough, 182. 
 
 Steam power, application of, to agricul- 
 tural purposes, 187. 
 
 Stephens on irrigated meadows, 26. 
 
 Stephenson’s evidence on the drainage of 
 London, 50, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Stephenson’s report on drainage south of 
 Thames, 65; north of Thames (App.), 
 190. 
 
 Stoneware pans, 173; pipe sewers, 126. 
 
 “Storm waters,” 117. 
 
 Street cleansing, 99, 135; debris, 104; 
 proportion, 100; refuse, 102; sweepings, 
 103 ; sweeping in Manchester, 106. 
 
 Street-sweeping machine, Whitworth’s, 
 
 Subways for gas and water pipes, 169 7. 
 
 Supply of water, 1, 72; to dwellings, 145; 
 in London, 76; to manufactories, 146; 
 at Preston, 75, 78; to public buildings, 
 147. 
 
 Surrey and Kent drainage, 58. 
 
 Surveyor’s report, 55. 
 
 Swansea sewers, 112. 
 
 Sweeping machine, street, 105. 
 
 Sweepings of streets, 103. 
 
 Taylor’s pumping engine, Farey on the 
 performance of, 141. 
 
 Terro-metallic pipes, 175. 
 
 * Thames, drainage south of the, 58. 
 
 Thames, embankment of the: projects 
 for, 205; Act for the embankment of 
 the north side, 212; plan of, described, 
 212; southern embankment, 213, see 
 Embankment. 
 
 Thames the grand sewer of London, 10. 
 
 Thom?’s filters described, 92; cost of, 92. 
 
 Thudichum, Dr., on the utilisation of sew- 
 age, 229. 
 
 Towns on tidal rivers, 1. 
 
 Towns, relative levels of, 6. 
 
 Town-sewage, quality of, 5. 
 
 Trafalgar Square fountains, wells of, 235. 
 
 Trapping drains, 168. 
 
 Trench, Sir F., his scheme for embanking 
 the Thames, 206. 
 
 Tubular drains, 126. © 
 
 Tunnel schemes :—Martin’s, 28; Wick- 
 steed’s, 35; Phillips’s, 47; Forster’s, 50. 
 
 Use of rain water, 151. 
 
 Use of sewage at Ashburton, 28; at 
 Mansfield, 28 ; for market gardens, 31— 
 34, 
 
 Utilisation of sewage, Ainger’s plan, 28, 
 
 Uxbridge, supply of water, 87. 
 
 Value of ammonia in sewage, 16. 
 Value of sewage, 3, 17, 18, 19. } 
 Vestries, powers of parish, 194, 
 Vettabbia canal at Milan, 24, 
 
 249 
 
 Walker’s plan for the embankment of the 
 Thames, 206; plan laid before the 
 Royal Commissioners of 1842, 207. 
 
 eae omea strata of the London basin, 
 
 36. 
 
 Water-closets, 170. 
 
 Water Companies in London, 97. 
 
 Water, constant service of, 95, 149; con- 
 veyance of, 136; cost of pumping, 141; 
 high service of, 98; impurities in, 74; 
 power from rivers, 14; qualities of, 73, 
 
 Water obtained from the chalk excava- 
 tions near Grays, 238. 
 
 Water-pipes, iron, described, 138; joints 
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