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لبنيا

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference T

PHIC.O. 882

4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

Ventilation required.

All sewers to

be ventilated

at their apper

outfall soon showed the cause of this, everything reached it in a perfectly fresh condition.

212. Much time must elapse before the house drains of Victoria are brought to the necessary state of perfection. Steps to provide ventilation must therefore be taken, but it will be well to proceed tentatively and experimentally.

213. In any case, it is obviously necessary that all main sewers should be carried back, up the slopes of the hill, well above the town, and there terminate in open mouths. ends if possible. Further, to promote a current of air, their intakes should be made in the form of vertical shafts constructed in the masonry of the dams, which are proposed to form the catchpits at the head of the sewers. Figs. 49-53, Sheet XII., show this arrangement. For complete ventilation also inlets at the lower extremities of the sewers near the Praya will be required. They must be so arranged as not to be closed by the rising tide. If the whole of the sewer-gas can be discharged above the level of the town, a most desirable result will have been attained, and it will be well to try the effect of this arrangement first.

Action of ven tilating shafts

is usually local.

Possible ex- ception to this

in Hong Kong.

214. Experiments on the ventilation of sewers by means of shafts and furnaces, have shown that their action is confined almost entirely to the portions of the sewer in their immediate neighbourhood. These experiments have, however, been made on long and level sewers. Those of Victoria are short and very steep (nearly 500 feet rise in three- quarters of a mile). It seems reasonable to hope that there will be a sufficient upward current, to take all the gas to the top, and that the draught caused by the shaft will not wholly be supplied by air drawn in through gulley-holes in its immediate vicinity.

215. If this be not the case, it will be well to avoid the discharge of sewer-gas in the should one ven- narrow streets, especially in a climate like that of Hong Kong, subject to long periods of hot, still, oppressive weather. The sewers must be divided into short lengths by means of flap-valves, preventing the upward movement of the air in them. Below each flap, a ventilating pipe must be provided, leading to an upright pipe carried up side of some building and terminating high above its roof. After all, this will be but a partial cure of the evil, for it will be impossible to make these ventilators so high as to be above all the houses in the districts above.

Arrangement

for ventilation;

tilation at top be suficient.

True cure for

sower-gas nuisance is

to prevent its formation.

Dralunge of

fiat portions of city.

Use of Alush tanks.

Note on inter- cepting sewer.

Cast-iron pipe recommended.

New water- works.

With increased water supply

the

216. I again repeat that the only real cure for the sewer-gas nuisance, is to prevent its formation, by securing immediate removal, to which end proper house drains are the first step. This is true whether fæcal matter be excluded from the sewers or not.

217. The flat portions of the city, namely, that between Queen's Road and the Praya, traversed by Bonham Strand, and that eastward of the military property, should be provided with pipe sewers of small diameter, arranged to receive sewage only. The available falls are small, and their outlets will be covered at high water. Artificial flushing should therefore be provided. For this purpose I would recommend the use of Field's flush tank. This contrivance consists of a syphon, by which the contents of a tank of any desired size may be discharged rapidly into the sewer, thus washing away any deposit. The tank is filled by a continuous dribble of water; when full, the syphon comes into action, and it is emptied automatically. The frequency of the flush merely depends on the size of the tank and the quantity of water entering it. It will not be necessary to use water from the waterworks for this purpose. The perennial flow of Indeed the sewage from higher districts may be the Nullas will, in most cases, suffice. used for this purpose.

218. As to the intercepting sewer, I would merely remark that, assuming the Sulphur Channel as the outfall, a cast-iron pipe seems the most suitable means of conveying the of the higher districts to that point by gravitation. Such a pipe will work under Bewage pressure and need not have a uniform gradient, by which much trouble and expense will be saved. If desired, I am prepared to submit plans for this, but it seems premature to do so till the outfall is fixed on.

PART II.

SECTION 5.

WATER SUPPLY.

219. As the most serious sanitary defect of all, the miserably inadequate water supply, is about to be remedied by the construction of new works, calculated to afford abundance of water to all, little need be said on the subject of quantity.

220. I would, however, point out that if waste of water which now obtains be not prevention of prevented, by stringent regulations strictly enforced, all the streams of Hong Kong will waste is neces- not be able to satisfy the wants of the city.

inspection

to tubes and

221. The completion of the new works, and the introduction of an augmented supply House-to-house must be preceded by a complete house-to-house inspection of services and fittings. requisite, and Regulations must be drawn up and enforced, as to the pattern and quality of tubes, taps, regulations as and fittings to be employed. Notices must be served on owners of premises, where the attings must be fittings are defective, directing them to renew them by a certain date, on pain of enforced. summary discontinuance of the supply. Penalties must be provided for the punishment of wanton acts of waste, or infringements of the regulations. As the existing Water- works Ordinance gives no powers of this sort, a new Ordinance will be required, somewhat on the lines of the English Waterworks Clauses Act.

duction of ad-

222. It is to be presumed that the Government of Hong Kong propose to abandon On the intro the present barbarous and dangerous intermittent supply, and introduce the simple, donal water, convenient, and economical constant system. The dangers to health and the incon- constant venience in case of fire caused by the intermittent system are well known. They exist, supply will be

given. as we have seen, in an aggravated form in Hong Kong.

stant supply

223. With a constant supply, waste may be reduced to a far lower amount than with the With a con- intermittent, and this without any vexatious restrictions as to the legitimate use of water. waste re To this end it is principally necessary to exercise strict and careful surveillance over the duced to a minmum. nature and condition of taps and other house fittings. The defective condition of these goes The leakage in each case may seem small, but it is the principal cause of waste. on night and day, and takes place in so many instances, that the total loss is formidable. Wanton and careless waste, by leaving taps open, is far less serious than usually supposed. In fact, with a constant supply under good pressure, the mess and noise made by a tap left running is such that someone closes it in self defence. It is not difficult, also, to select positions for taps, such that they cannot be left open without proving an intolerable nuisance.

quired to main-

tion of minor

224. Suitable fittings must be used, and to ensure their being kept in repair, continual Inspection re careful inspection ie requisite. I strongly recommend Government to execute certain main fittings. minor repairs gratis. It pays in the end. The most important of these is the repair of Gratis zeen- the draw-off taps. In the pattern usually employed for high pressures, a disc of leather repairs re- is pressed down on the orifice through which the water escapes, thereby closing it. In commended.

The turncock, the ordinary course of events the leather wears out, and the tap leaks.

or district inspector, should renew the leather at once, an operation which takes but a few minutes. In practice he carries several' spare taps with him, and he takes off the defective and replaces it with a perfect one. The faulty tap is then taken to the store and re-leathered, cleaned, and given out again. The cost of this is trivial, and the effect on the waste very great; a private plumber would charge a considerable sum for this work, and there would be much waste of time, during which loss of water goes on. By such simple means as this it is possible to keep down the consumption of water to a very low amount indeed. I know of several small towns where it does not exceed from 10 to 15 gallons a head a day, yet there is no restriction on the use of water whatsoever.

225. I should also recommend that public standposts (known as "hydrants" in Hong House services Kong, a term usually applied to firecocks), should be abolished as soon as possible. should be en Less waste takes place with well-managed house services than with public standposts, standpipes in which are no one's property, and which no one looks after. They are always a nuisance, the streets making a great mess in the street, and the assembled water-carriers cause noise and casing waste

obstruction.

couraged and

abolished, as

and disorder.

226. On the introduction of new supply, no paine should be spared to promote the The Govern introduction of house services. Water should be laid on to every house, or at least to ment should lay on house

cost price. every court or alley. To ensure the use of proper materials and workmanship the vices at Government should lay on services themselves. They will be able to do this far cheaper than the private plumber (I speak from personal experience), and the work will be well done. Further, to encourage services they might be done for deferred payments, or even for an annual rental.

to lead.

227. In almost every respect, wrought-iron piping is preferable to lead for house wrought-iron services. In the first place, it is cheaper both as to prime cost and labour of fitting. pippable Plumbers are not required. An ordinary intelligent labourer can soon learn to screw together wrought-iron pipes. The same men that excavate the trench can lay the pipe and complete the service, the connexion to the main being made by the turncock. (This has been done with Russian labourers.) In the second place, wrought iron resists hydraulic shocks better than lead; and lastly, it does not contaminate the water.

228. The quality of wrought-iron pipe known as "best steam" not "gas," should Quality of be used, and it should be coated with Dr. Angus Smith's composition. In salt pipes, their ground this may not sufficiently protect the pipe, which in such cases should be laid in a pretion from little V-shaped trougli of boards, filled with a concrete of tar and sand.

E 2

wrought-iron

corrosion.

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