It would not be possible in one chapter of a book of this description to enter into all the details and necessary apparatus in connection with house drainage. I propose only to point out some of the town surveyor’s duties in connection with this subject, and to add a few remarks which may be of some service.

The definition of the word “drain” as given in the Public Health Act 1875 is as follows:

“‘Drain’ means any drain of and used for the drainage of one building only, or premises within the same curtilage, and made merely for the purpose of communicating therefrom with a cesspool or other like receptacle for drainage, or with a sewer into which the drainage of two or more buildings or premises occupied by different persons is conveyed” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 4).

Although this definition is very clear, it occasionally happens, especially in old towns, that some doubt arises as to whether an existing conduit for sewage is a “drain” or a “sewer”[207] for though a conduit is of small size it maybe found to be carrying the sewage of two or more buildings, and thus is really “a sewer belonging to the local authority.”

This difficulty often leads to litigation where a notice having been served upon an owner of property to put in a new drain in place of one that has been found on examination to be defective, the new work is of course commenced at the junction with the main sewer, and it is not until the new so-called drain is nearly completed that it is found to be “used for the drainage” of more than one building, and is in fact “a sewer into which the drainage of two or more buildings or premises, occupied by different persons is conveyed” (see clause quoted above), and is therefore repairable by the local authority (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 13).

Where the town surveyor is in any doubt as to whether the conduit is a drain or a sewer, he should test from whence the sewage comes by passing diluted white lime or carbolic acid down the adjacent water-closets and watching whether it flows through the conduit or not, but even here he is sometimes at fault if the drains are old and dilapidated, as they do not reach the point he is watching and he is thus misled.

In connection with the question of house drainage the town surveyor has the following duties to perform:

(1.) To inspect all new drains that are constructed in connection with existing buildings within his district.

(2.) To inspect all drains of new buildings that are constructed within his district.

(3.) To inspect all defective drains within his district, serve the necessary notices in respect thereof, and inspect the works he has required to be executed whilst they are in progress.

(1.) With reference to the first of these duties the following is the clause of the Public Health Act 1875 which bears upon the point:

“The owner or occupier of any premises within the district of a local authority shall be entitled to cause his drains to empty into the sewers of that authority on condition of his giving such notice as may be required by that authority of his intention so to do, and of complying with the regulations of that authority in respect of the mode in which the communications between such drains and sewers are to be made, and subject to the control of any person who may be appointed by that authority to superintend the making of such communications. Any person causing a drain to empty into a sewer of a local authority without complying with the provisions of this section shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds, and the local authority may close any communication between a drain and sewer made in contravention of this section ....” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 21).

The first thing therefore that a local authority has to do is to frame the necessary regulations and appoint a “person to superintend the making of such communications.”

The following is given as a specimen form of the manner in which these regulations may be compiled:[208]

1.—No communication shall be made with any sewer belonging to the said Urban Sanitary Authority, nor any drain made to empty therein, unless notice of an intention so to do, signed by the owner or occupier of the premises to which such drains belong, be left at the office of the borough surveyor two days previously; and such notice must specify the point at which it is desired that communication shall be made, and the time at which it is proposed the work shall be commenced, and any person not complying with these regulations will be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

2.—Work required to be done in connecting any house drain or drains with the main or public sewer, shall be executed in the following manner:

The ground to be excavated to the required depth with all possible expedition, the work to proceed by night and day; and there shall be maintained during the progress of the work all such fencings, hoardings, struttings, and shorings, as may be necessary for or in consequence of any of the works, for the protection of the public, and of all buildings and property whatever, near to or liable to be affected by the work, which shall also be well watched and lighted.

The shoring and strutting of the excavation is to be done in such manner, with poling boards, waling pieces and struts, as the surveyor shall consider necessary.

All surplus earth or material is to be carted away as speedily as possible. Care must be taken where the excavation is made in a road or path to keep separate the surface material from the lower, so as to replace them in their proper positions.

The excavation shall in all cases where practicable be in open cutting, and not by shafts and headings.

The junction with the main sewer to be done in the following manner:—

The drain shall in no case be less than four inches internal diameter, and shall be constructed of well-burnt glazed socketed stoneware pipes, circular, perfectly true in bore, and straight, with whole socket joints free from flaws, blisters, cracks, or other defects, set in Portland cement joints with a uniform fall, well bedded on well-rammed and solid ground, the sockets being sunk into it so as to give an even bearing. No shafts or sudden falls will be allowed.

Where the junction is with a sewer constructed of pipes, one length of the sewer (or more if necessary) shall be removed and an oblique proper glazed socket junction pipe, set in Portland cement, inserted in its place.

The junction with the sewer shall be of the same size as the drain.

Where the junction is with a brick or stone sewer, the connection shall be made at such height above the invert as the surveyor shall determine, and be made with a glazed socket pipe obliquely in line of current of main sewer, properly bedded in with cement, cut off so as to take the form of the main sewer and offer no obstruction to the proper flow of sewage therein, or with a properly constructed stoneware block junction.

On completion of the junction, which shall be made before any of the pipe drain is laid, it shall be inspected by the surveyor, and the work must not be further proceeded with until such inspection has been made and the junction pronounced satisfactory. The drain shall be properly trapped between the sewer and the house, with a syphon of such form as the surveyor shall direct, and be at its inlet end or other extremity carried up open its full diameter to above the roof line.

The excavation is to be filled in within six inches of the surface of the ground, with layers of earth not more than six inches in thickness, carefully rammed or punned with iron punners of not less weight than 10 lbs.

The surface of a roadway must be brought up to its proper level with the surface material kept separate, and properly broken or other approved road metal, and the roadway where broken shall be kept in repair by the person opening the ground for a period of twelve months after the completion of the work.

If the excavation is made under a footpath or paved road, the paving must be made good and kept in repair for a similar period.

3.—A. B. C., the present borough surveyor, and his successors in office, or the person for the time being acting as or discharging the duties of borough surveyor, are hereby appointed as the person or persons to superintend the making of such communications with the public sewers as aforesaid.

(1.) Notwithstanding the stringency of the above regulations it is very difficult to ensure that the whole of the new drain is properly executed by the person who is carrying out the work, for if he wishes to deceive the surveyor’s department it is not very difficult to do so in works of this description. It would be far better if all drains of dwelling houses could be constructed solely by the staff of the local authority, and failing any general act upon the subject, that they should be able to obtain private powers to do so.

It is illegal for anyone to touch the surface of either roadway or footpath for any purpose whatever[209] without the consent of the urban authority (see 38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, sec. 149), and especially to touch or interfere with the main sewers. All such work could be done better and cheaper, both for the ratepayers and the owners of property, if carried out by the trained staff of the local authority; nothing would be gained by scamping the work, and one of the worst stumbling blocks in the interests of sanitation would be removed by this simple and effective measure. Gas and water companies invariably refuse to allow anyone to interfere with their mains or services, but execute the work with their own men; how much more important is it that house drains and sewers should be equally protected. If a gas or water main or house service leaks through defective work it is quickly detected and remedied; not so with a drain or sewer, the deadly gases may be oozing through defective joints or the foul liquid may be poisoning the soil under the adjacent dwelling houses, and many victims may suffer before the cause is ascertained, and even then laborious legal machinery has to be put in force before it can be rectified.

The only objections that can be raised to the plan I so strongly advocate are, first, the interference with the trade connections and interests of builders and others; and secondly, the responsibility incurred by the local authority to execute thoroughly sound and good work, and the difficulty they might afterwards experience if it was necessary to find fault with their own work. The first objection should really have no weight when lives are at stake, and the responsibility incurred by the second objection ought not to be shirked.

Until some alteration is made in the present law the town surveyor must be as vigilant as he can, and endeavour to induce the public to look more closely themselves into such all-important points.

(2.) The next duty of the town surveyor is to inspect all drains of new buildings that are being constructed in his district.

I have dealt with this subject in the chapter on “New Buildings.” The model bye-laws to which I have there referred contain some excellent principles in reference to this matter, and too much power cannot be given to a local authority in respect of house drains, even to the extent of prohibiting any one else to construct them. The main sewer, shared in common as it is by all the inhabitants of a town, must be looked upon as a common danger, and each house that connects with it should so far as possible be severed from it; at the same time the drain must be so constructed that the sewage reaches the sewer as quickly and as completely as possible, without any nuisance or knowledge of the unpleasant nature of its contents or those in the sewer reaching the inhabitants of the house: this is the key-note of all house drainage, and many excellent books and descriptions of this class of work have been from time to time written.

(3.) The next duty of the town surveyor is to inspect all defective drains within his district, and serve the necessary notices, &c.

This duty is embodied in the following clauses of the Public Health Act, 1875:

“Where any house within the district of a local authority is without a drain sufficient for effectual drainage, the local authority shall by written notice require the owner or occupier of such house, within a reasonable time therein specified, to make a covered drain or drains emptying into any sewer which the local authority are entitled to use, and which is not more than one hundred feet from the site of such house; but if no such means of drainage are within that distance, then emptying into such covered cesspool or other place not being under any house as the local authority direct; and the local authority may require any such drain or drains to be of such materials and size, and to be laid at such level and with such fall, as on the report of their surveyor may appear to them to be necessary.

“If such notice is not complied with, the local authority may, after the expiration of the time specified in the notice, do the work required, and may recover in a summary manner the expenses incurred by them in so doing from the owner, or may by order declare the same to be private improvement expenses.

“Provided that where, in the opinion of the local authority, greater expense would be incurred in causing the drains of two or more houses to empty into an existing sewer pursuant to this section, than in constructing a new sewer and causing such drains to empty therein, the local authority may construct such new sewer, and require the owners or occupiers of such houses to cause their drains to empty therein, and may apportion as they deem just the expenses of the construction of such sewer among the owners of the several houses, and recover in a summary manner the sums apportioned from such owners, or may by order declare the same to be private improvement expenses” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 23).

The above clause is the most simple under which this duty can be carried out, provided it can be proved that the house[210] is “without a drain sufficient for effectual drainage,” and for this purpose it would probably be necessary to enter the premises and open up and examine the drain, unless, of course, it was a case where no drain existed to the house at all, or was evidently and notoriously without “effectual drainage.” In order to enter for this purpose the requisite powers are conferred in the following clause of the Public Health Act 1875:

“The local authority, or any of their officers, shall be admitted into any premises for the purpose of examining as to the existence of any nuisance thereon, or of enforcing the provisions of any Act in force within the district requiring fireplaces and furnaces to consume their own smoke, at any time between the hours of nine in the forenoon and six in the afternoon, or in the case of a nuisance arising in respect of any business, then at any hour when such business is in progress or is usually carried on.

“Where under this Act a nuisance has been ascertained to exist, or an order of abatement or prohibition has been made, the local authority or any of their officers shall be admitted from time to time into the premises between the hours aforesaid, until the nuisance is abated, or the works ordered to be done are completed, as the case may be.

“Where an order of abatement or prohibition has not been complied with, or has been infringed, the local authority, or any of their officers, shall be admitted from time to time at all reasonable hours, or at all hours during which business is in progress or is usually carried on, into the premises where the nuisance exists, in order to abate the same.

“If admission to premises for any of the purposes of this section is refused, any justice on complaint thereof on oath by any officer of the local authority (made after reasonable notice in writing of the intention to make the same has been given to the person having custody of the premises), may, by order under his hand, require the person having custody of the premises to admit the local authority, or their officer, into the premises during the hours aforesaid, and if no person having custody of the premises can be found, the justice shall, on oath made before him of that fact, by order under his hand authorise the local authority or any of their officers to enter such premises during the hours aforesaid.

“Any order made by a justice for admission of the local authority or any of their officers on premises shall continue in force until the nuisance has been abated, or the work for which the entry was necessary has been done” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 102).

The above clause also gives the necessary powers of entry where the following clause of the Public Health Act is enforced with reference to defective house drainage, instead of the 23rd section which I have quoted.

“On the written application of any person to a local authority, stating that any drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool on or belonging to any premises within their district is a nuisance, or injurious to health (but not otherwise), the local authority may, by writing, empower their surveyor or inspector of nuisances, after twenty-four hours’ written notice to the occupier of such premises, or in case of emergency without notice, to enter such premises, with or without assistants, and cause the ground to be opened, and examine such drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool. If the drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool on examination is found to be in proper condition, he shall cause the ground to be closed, and any damage done to be made good as soon as can be, and the expenses of the works shall be defrayed by the local authority. If the drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool on examination appear to be in bad condition, or to require alteration or amendment, the local authority shall forthwith cause notice in writing to be given to the owner or occupier of the premises requiring him forthwith or within a reasonable time therein specified to do the necessary works; and if such notice is not complied with, the person to whom it is given shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten shillings for every day during which he continues to make default, and the local authority may, if they think fit, execute such works, and may recover in a summary manner from the owner the expenses incurred by them in so doing, or may by order declare the same to be private improvement expenses” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 41).

In acting upon the above clause it is well to note the machinery that is necessary in order to secure success in the event of a prosecution.

(1.) The notice to the local authority of the existence of a nuisance arising from a drain, &c., must be in writing, and that authority must then proceed to consider the notice.

(2.) If they agree to take action the local authority may empower their surveyor to enter the premises (with or without notice as the case may require) but this order to him must also be in writing.[211]

(3.) If the surveyor is allowed by the occupier of the premises to enter (and in default he must put the 102nd section which I have quoted in force) he may then open the ground “with or without assistants.”

(4.) If he finds a defective drain he must then report to the local authority in writing, unless he has been primarily invested by the local authority with such powers as will dispense with such report.[212]

(5.) The local authority shall “forthwith cause notice in writing to be given to the owner, &c.” to do the work.

(6.) If the owner executes the work the surveyor must supervise its execution.

(7.) If this work is not done within a reasonable time the local authority “may if they think fit” execute the works; the surveyor has probably to carry them out, after having obtained the necessary permission to enter for the purpose.

(8.) The costs of the work have to be recovered.

Anyone acquainted with local government will know how difficult and tedious such processes must necessarily be, the delay between the meetings of the local authority being quite sufficient to make the matter in dispute last a considerable time, and this delay is extremely undesirable where a nuisance arising from a defective house-drain is in existence.

There seems to be no doubt that the clauses which are given in the Public Health Act 1875 empower the local authority to specify without dispute the class of work they think necessary in order to remedy any evils arising from a defective drain, but it is a pity that some more simple process cannot be introduced to improve the sanitary condition of a house without the necessity of so much laborious legal machinery.

There is still one other clause in the Public Health Act 1875, which refers to house drainage, and it is as follows:

“Every local authority shall provide that all drains, waterclosets, earthclosets, privies, ashpits, and cesspools within their district be constructed and kept so as not to be a nuisance, or injurious to health” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 40). But this clause is usually taken to apply rather to nuisances arising from temporary defects than to more important structural defects in a drain, and such nuisances come more under the cognizance and duties of the inspector of nuisances than those of the town surveyor.

It would not be possible, as I have already stated, in one chapter to give all the detail descriptions of house drains and the necessary apparatus in connection therewith, and besides very many excellent books, pamphlets and papers have been from time to time written on this important subject.[213] Before, however, bringing this chapter to a conclusion, I will give a list of the essential requirements of all good house drainage which may be of some use to the town surveyor:

(1.) A house drain should be constructed of stoneware pipes (not earthenware or fire clay), these are generally salt glazed, and should be perfectly smooth or even slippery inside, the pipes must be of true circular section and thickness of material, and straight in the direction of their length, with whole sockets of proper depth, and free from any cracks, blisters, sand holes, or other defects. As even the most carefully manufactured pipes vary somewhat in diameter of sockets; &c., it is well to have them sorted before commencing the work; it is scarcely necessary to add that no “seconds” should be allowed on the works.

(2.) The internal diameter of the drain should not be too large; 6 inches may be considered as a maximum, 4 inches is generally quite sufficient to carry off all the sewage from an extensive establishment, even if all the water from the roofs or a portion of them is included.

(3.) The inclination is governed by circumstances, but about 1 in 60 is found to be a very convenient fall for many hydraulic, and other reasons.

(4.) The jointing of the pipes should be executed with great care; if cement joints are made each pipe should be jointed separately, and it should be seen that no cement is left in the drain. Sometimes tarred gaskin is used to prevent this, and Stanford’s patent joints are excellent where running water or sewage has to be contended with, or great despatch of the work is necessary.[214]

(5.) The sockets of the pipes should be sunk into the ground at the bottom of the trench so as to give an even bearing, which amongst other benefits dispenses with the chance of settlements.

(6.) No pipes should be allowed to be covered in until they have been inspected by the town surveyor or his assistants, and in order to test the soundness of the joints, it is a good plan to fill the drain with water, having first stopped up the lower end, and note the effect.

(7.) Drains should not pass under buildings if it can be avoided, but if unavoidable they must be buried in good concrete, and relieving arches turned to any walls passing over them. In America iron pipes are used under houses.

(8.) Care must be exercised, in filling in over pipes, not to break or injure them.

(9.) The trap to a house drain should be a “Buchan” or other similar syphon with a good cascade action, its position must be guided by circumstances.

(10.) The drain should end at the outside wall of the house and be carried up the wall its full diameter to above the roof for ventilation, an inlet for fresh air being essential on the house side of the trap; if the drain has to pass under the house it must be similarly carried up on the other side.

(11.) The connection with the main sewer has been already described.

In conclusion I would urge the necessity of a register of all drains being kept that are examined by the surveyor’s department. This can be done by having a series of numbered notebooks kept solely for this purpose, and all the information thus acquired should also be plotted on the map of the town if on a sufficiently large scale.

The necessity of correct plans of the drainage of buildings cannot be over-estimated, especially for hospitals, asylums, workhouses, schools, or other public buildings, and even for the smallest dwelling house such a plan would often prove to be the greatest boon to the occupier or owner as well as at all times to the town surveyor, the medical officer of health, and the inspector of nuisances.

[207] For definitions of the word “sewer,” see the chapter on Sewerage.[208] The New York Board of Health require that earthenware drain pipes connecting dwellings with street sewers shall be hard and salt glazed, sound and cylindrical; at least 5/8ths of an inch thick if 5 inches in diameter, and ³/4 of an inch thick if 6 inches in diameter. Pipe must be connected with hydraulic cement of the best quality. No “tempered up” cement can be used. The pipes must be laid with such good alignment that the inspector can see through the entire line from the house to the sewer, and every section must be bedded in cement so as to have a firm bearing, not only at the hub, but along its entire length. The inside of the drain must be freed from all cement which may have oozed through at the joints, and from all other obstructions. Before the drain is covered notice must be sent to the Health Department, by the owner or plumber, that the inspector may visit and examine the work, and the Board of Health will not approve or permit a drain which has not been examined by one of its inspectors and found to be properly constructed.[209] See chapter on “Breaking up Streets.”[210] The definition of house is as follows:—“House” includes schools, also factories and other buildings in which more than twenty persons are employed at one time. (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 4)[211] Notices, orders, and other such documents under this Act may be in writing or print, or partly in writing and partly in print; and if the same require authentication by the local authority, the signature thereof by the clerk to the local authority or their surveyor or inspector of nuisances shall be sufficient authentication (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 266).[212] Having obtained admission to the premises, the inspection of the alleged nuisance should be so conducted as to enable the local authority to determine whether it exists, or whether it existed at the time the notice was given, and whether, although it has since been removed or discontinued, it is likely to recur or to be repeated; and in all cases it will be the most expedient course to reduce to writing the result of the inspection. When the inspection is made by an officer of the local authority, it will also be expedient for that authority, on receiving the report of their officer formally and in writing, to record the conclusions to which they have come after considering his report in order to ground further proceedings. (Vide ‘Law of Public Health and Local Government,’ by W. C. and A. G. Glen, 8th edition, p. 81.)[213] For ample information on the subject of house drainage and similar subjects see the following books, etc.:— Bailey Denton’s ‘Sanitary Engineering’; Baldwin Latham’s ‘Sanitary Engineering’; Buchan’s ‘Plumbing’; Slagg’s ‘Sanitary Work’; Hart’s ‘Manual of Public Health’; Hellyer’s ‘Plumber and Sanitary Houses’; Galton’s ‘Healthy Dwellings’; ‘House Drainage,’ by W. A. Tylor; Philbrick’s ‘American Sanitary Engineering,’ and many others, besides the numerous reports of the “Health of Towns Commission,” and several articles in the Sanitary Record, the Sanitary Engineer of New York, and Mr. Rawlinson’s ‘Hints,’ all of which should be studied by the town surveyor.[214] In some parts of the north of England taper pipes are used about 20 inches in length, the internal diameter of the larger end being slightly greater than the external diameter of the smaller end, thus allowing the small end of one pipe to enter the large end of another. Continuous lengths of cement pipes made in situ are also now being introduced.