Report on the efficiency and working conditions of the tubes laid down in open ditches since the 1st of January, 1849 / By John Grant, Assistant Surveyor. April 30th, 1849.

  • London (England). Metropolitan Commission of Sewers.
Date:
[1849]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the efficiency and working conditions of the tubes laid down in open ditches since the 1st of January, 1849 / By John Grant, Assistant Surveyor. April 30th, 1849. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Cross Section of Old Sewer 5' 0 X 3''6 Cross Section of Old Sewer 5'*0 x 3'*6'' and Eighteen Inch Tube. Cross Section of Open Ditch and Eighteen Feet Tube. I beg to append hereto a table giving the situation, length, size, material, inclination, cost, and other particulars noted of these sewer pipes. There was found in only one case deposit lying in the sewer. This was a 12-inch sewer with several bends, and it was laid throughout the greater part of its length at a dead level. In this tube, from an obstruction caused by a quantity of stones, and the fact of privies communicating with it without any regular supply of water, the deposit near the upper end was in a half solid state, and 5 inches in depth ; at the middle it was 9 inches. At the lower end it was clear. This sewer has been laid about two months, and it was found necessary, before laying the tubes, to remove about 700 cubic yards of soil which had accumulated in the open ditch. At the upper end it communicates by a flap valve with the Ber¬ mondsey Mill stream. By means of this it can be flushed out at spring tides, and the tides being high at the time of my visit, the experiment was tried of flush¬ ing out the deposit. About five hours after the first inspection I visited it again, and found about half of the deposit gone. I afterwards opened the sewer just below where the deposit was greatest, and opposite two foul privies, the contents of which fall into it. The cause of obstruction was found to be a collection of stones and other substances which had got in by these privies. The tube is now clear. This sewer had not been flushed from the time of its completion, and there can be no doubt that by admitting a stream of water for some hours once or twice a month it may be kept perfectly clear. In many cases the inhabitants have availed themselves of the sewer pipe for relieving their houses from sewage; on the other hand, however, instances occur not unfrequently, where the filth is thrown on the surface of the made ground over the pipe sewer. The worst case is that marked No. 1 in the Table. The interior of this tube was perfectly clear, but throughout two-thirds of its length it is covered outside with the most offensive soil, thrown from the wretched houses in King’s Head yard. The owners of the property on the opposite side of the sewer have put in closet pans which communicate with the sewer, but the filthy practices of their neighbours prevent them from enjoying that immunity from annoyance which they might expect, and which they have done their parts to obtain.