Drainage for Melbourne. 4>7 



I premise, that by drainage I mean — firstly, drainage for 

 the rainfall, involving some improvements upon the existing 

 system — secondly, under-ground drainage for the sewage 

 from cesspools, water closets, and other analogous sources of 

 impurity. I say underground, for I cannot, for one moment, 

 conceive any system of open drains at all suitable for sewage 

 water. The rejection and universal condemnation of any such 

 dangerous and miserable expedients by the highest authorities 

 in Great Britain, render it unnecessary for me to do more 

 than cite that fact in support of my position. 



With respect to the surface drainage, considerable progress 

 has already been made in constructing the necessary water- 

 tables on the sides of the footpaths, but some errors appear 

 to me to be included in the existing practice. In many cases 

 drains from back-yards are allowed to run under the floors of 

 houses into the street channels. These drains are very often 

 most imperfectly formed, many of them consisting of mere 

 flat stones or planking at the bottom, the sides being 

 of brick about six inches in height, and the top of 

 planking like the bottom. In such drains the water 

 flows very slowly; accumulations of offensive matter are 

 caused by the roughness and irregularity of the channel ; 

 rats destroy these drains of porous brick, allowing the 

 escape of foul air into the houses, and, often, of the 

 dirty water into the foundations. The result is, that the 

 earth under the floors is kept in a moist and unhealthy 

 state. In fact, it becomes saturated with filth, permanently 

 exhaling an offensive odour into the house. I have known of 

 loud complaints of this class of nuisance from residents in 

 some of the best houses in Collins-street. No drains, there- 

 fore, should be allowed to pass under a house, unless con- 

 structed of perfectly impermeable materials. The kind best 

 adapted for such purposes I shall have occasion to allude to 

 presently. Another defect in the present method of surface 

 drainage is the manner in which the crossings at the intersec- 

 tions of the streets are constructed, the water-tables of the 

 leading channels being carried across the thoroughfares, as in 

 Elizabeth and Swanston streets. The result of this arrange- 

 ment is great inconvenience, both in the roadway and to foot 

 passengers, an inconvenience that could easily be avoided. 

 Take Collins-street and Elizabeth-street, for instance : — if cast- 

 iron oval drain pipes, of moderate capacity, were laid along the 

 water channel, commencing and terminating about 15 feet 

 from the edge of the Collins-street kerb, the roadway could be 



