CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



from all other parts of the house. A ventilating 

 shaft, carried alongside a chimney flue, so as to 



from the kitchen and scullery of a house, is one 

 of the constant causes of such stoppages. The 

 fat, as it cools, congeals on the sides of the pipes, 

 and forms a hard cake. The best method of 

 preventing this is to form a small cess-pool, into 

 which the kitchen water is poured first, and then 

 to take an overflow through a siphon into the 

 foul drain, so that the liquid only enters, while the 

 fat can be removed by hand from the cess-pooL 



The sewage-matter having been thus all thor- 

 oughly removed from the house, should be con- 

 veyed in the drain-pipe to some convenient spot 

 where a sewage-filter should be built The ac- 

 companying diagram represents one originally 



A, basin ; B, metal trunk ; C, copper pan ; D, do. when open ; 

 E, cesspoooL 



create a draught, and opening outside, is the most 

 effectual way of ventilating a water-closet. 



An essential point, and one but little attended 

 to, is the ventilation of the drain-pipes into which 

 the water-closets and sinks of a house empty 

 themselves. It is evident that water-traps can 

 exclude the foul air of the drains only when that 

 air is under no extra pressure a condition that is 

 often wanting. In fact, whenever any part of the 

 pipe or drain below the trap is filled with water, 

 there must be a regurgitation of foul air into the 

 house every time that water flows down the pipe. 

 Any extraordinary rush of water into a drain, or 

 even the difference of pressure between the warm 

 interior of a house and the cold outside, will cause 

 the resistance of the stench-traps to give way, and 

 force poisonous gases into the house. A safety- 

 valve should therefore be provided by carrying a 

 ventilating-pipe from some part of the drain-pipe 

 to a point as high at least as the roof. Another 

 essential matter is the testing of the soil-pipes by 

 hydraulic pressure, to detect holes in the lead. 



In constructing the drains from houses or large 

 public buildings, there should be an entirely 

 separate system for the sewage or foul water, 

 apart from that for rain and surface water. Stone- 

 ware pipes are the best material to be used for 

 sewage-drains, because they are perfectly non- 

 absorbent ; but in many cases, glazed earthenware 

 will answer very well The smallest size of pipes 

 of any description that should be used for re- 

 moving sewage from a house is six inches in 

 diameter. This size, then, may be gradually in- 

 creased as is necessary, and one of nine inches wil 

 remove the sewage of 500 people. Any fall from 

 an inch- hi five feet to an inch in 60 will work wel 

 enough, provided a body of water is allowed to 

 pass through with a rush twice or three times a 

 week. This is of more consequence than the 

 gradual passage of a larger amount flowing daily 

 in an equal, uniform stream. At every twenty 

 yards there should be a pipe laid, from which 

 the upper half can be removed, and any stoppage 

 remedied without the necessity of breaking the 

 pipes. Greasy water, such as is poured down 



508 



Fig. 9. 



The whole sewage matter enters at D ; flows in the direction of 

 the arrows ; the solid matter becomes arrested in the bottoi 

 chamber, while the liquid rises and passes oft at t through 

 filtering beds. By opening a tap at B the liquid in the tank or 

 filter can be drawn off, and by opening that at C, the sohc 

 matter can be removed. The whole must be water-tight and 

 air-tight A is a valve for shutting the pipe during cleaning. 



designed by Prince Albert In this, the solid and 

 iquid matters of the sewage are mechanically 

 separated, and the former can be removed from 

 time to time say once in two months while the 

 .atter should be applied to irrigation. To allow it 

 to run into any stream, is not only dangerous and 

 wrong, but illegal. 



3 and 4. The Drainage of Towns and Utili- 

 sation of Sewage. The arrangements of water- 

 closets, &c. for the individual houses in towns are 

 substantially the same as for isolated buildings in 

 the country. The additional points to be here 

 considered are the main drains and the outfalL 

 Half a century ago, the only drainage existing in 

 towns was for the rain-water and surface-water, 

 all solid refuse and fecal matter being removed by 

 the scavenger; but with the introduction of the 

 water-closet, systems of drainage had to be 

 designed to carry off both sewage and surface- 

 water. The main drains were made large enough 

 to allow a man to pass through them to keep 

 them clean. Into these sewers, all the smaller 

 house- drains were led, and the surface-water, 

 through street gratings, passed into them as well 

 The ordinary water used for domestic purposes 

 and the occasional rainfalls were relied upon to 

 flush those large main sewers ; but their great 

 size made this an exceedingly difficult and un- 

 certain process, and they, in fact, became only 

 cess-pools elongated. A further step was then 

 taken by sanitary engineers. The idea of men 

 passing up the drains was set aside, and the 

 smallest possible drains have been constructed, 

 sometimes no larger than an 1 8-inch drain for 

 a town of 10,000 inhabitants. These drains con- 

 sist either of earthenware pipes or oval culverts 

 built of brick or stone cemented. The rainfall 

 is stiU relied on to a certain extent for flushing 

 purposes, but a supplementary assistance is giver 

 at some points by flushing with water from the 



