Report of a committee on a plan for cleansing the drains of Black Town.

Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of a committee on a plan for cleansing the drains of Black Town. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    venienccs experienced from them, that the only part certain of improvement thereby would be tlie secondary drains, in respect of which the least inconve- nience is now felt; and where, as before observed, but for defects of construc- tion capable of remedy without other aid, no inconvenience would be felt at all. 12. Although the Committee cannot, for the reasons above stated, ap- prove of Major Boulderson's project, they have given it their most attentive study, and they have the honor to subjoin a Memorandum specifying the des- cription of engine, pumping apparatus, and water pipes, suited to carry it into operation in the most efficient manner. 13. The true and only complete remedy for the evils of the main sewer, as well as of all the other drains, is an improvement in their form and capacity, and their arrangement upon proper slopes, so that the sewage shall never be allowed to stagnate ; a continuous flow being kept up from the moment of its entrance, to that of final discharge. The realization of this principle would probably require the aid of steam power, but not for the purpose, nor to the extent necessary by Major Boulderson's scheme. It has been satisfactorily proved by H. M. Sanitory Commissioners, that the most perfect, as well as the most economical system is, to lead the sewer down at a proper inclination to an artificial out-fall, and there, if necessary, pump up its contents for dis- charge ; and it is agreed that the .cost of sufficient pumping Report p, 221. applied in this way is greatly below that of sufficient flush- ing through the same districts. 14. These principles are new, and their publication has placed the science of hydraulics, as applicable to the drainage of cities, upon a new basis. Had the Committee not been possessed of H. M. Sanitory Commissioner's very valuable report, lately transmitted to Madras by the Honorable the Court of Directors, they would not perhaps have been inclined to speak so decidedly in condemnation of Major Boulderson's project. 15. The report above alluded to has so clearly established, that in all cases the water supply of the inhabitants of a city, and its drainage ought to be treated in combination, that it appears to the Committee to be their duty respectfully to point out to Government the great importance of not separating them unless the impossibility of the combination were proved. As regards the vital influence of an abundant supply of fresh water to the sanitory welfare of a town, there can be no difference of opinion, but in the present instance, as it has been apprehended that the supply would be precarious and'uncertam, the Committee would suggest that a full and careful enquiry should be made into the sources and best means of procuring fresh water, and a report, based upon a