Student's textbook of hygiene / [William James Wilson].

  • Wilson, William James.
Date:
[1915]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Student's textbook of hygiene / [William James Wilson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    169/316 (page 135)
    Water-Carriage System.—In this the excreta, surface and wastewaters are conveyed away from the premises along a drain- pipe, which leads into a sewer or into a cesspool. The water- carriage system possesses advantages both on the ground of convenience and hygiene; the excrementitious material is at once conveyed away from the premises, and the greater cleanli- ness and freedom from effluvia allow of the construction of the closet inside the house. Since a town must provide sewers for its surface and waste water, and since the addition of excreta is found not to very materially alter the composition of the sewage, the adoption of the water-carriage system would not involve the Sanitary Authority in much extra expenditure, and would scarcely affect the problem of disposal of the sewage of the town. The presence of excreta near a house is always a source of danger, since water may be contaminated, food may be infected by flies, ete., and the cleansing of such privies is always an offen- sive, if not expensive, process. The replacing of privies by water-closets invariably is followed by improvement in the health of the population, especially as regards the incidence of intestinal diseases. In Nottingham, in 1902, there were twice as many cases of enteric fever proportionately in “ pail ”’ houses as in w.c. houses, and fourteen times as many cases in ‘“midden ’’ houses as in w.ec. houses. Probably different social conditions assisted in the production of this result, but in any case the figures are striking. The water-closet is connected to the drain directly by the soil-pipe, while the waste and rain-water pipes discharge in the open air over a gully trap which communicates usually with a branch of the main drain. At the present time the wash-down closet is the form almost invariably installed in dwellings. The essential parts of such a closet are the basin, with its flushing rim, and the trap, which in this form are cast in one piece and not, asin long and short hoppers, in separate parts. The closet is made of smooth glazed stoneware or porcelain, and to avoid soiling, the posterior wall is almost vertical, whilst the anterior is oblique. For flushing it, each closet should be provided with a small cistern contain- ing 8 gallons, placed 8 feet above it, and connected with the