THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SEWAGE QUESTION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4967, 22 February 1877, Page 3

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SEWAGE QUESTION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIITE3. Sir, That there are two sides to every question has passed into a proverb, and it would be well if people would always keep in mind this useful saying; by ignoring it they are often led into grevions error. If a town hall is to be built, heavy premiums are given to the successful designers, and by this means the best designs are received. The plan works excellently; and strange to say, when the Town Councillors decide that it is necessary to purify the city, they do not call for designs as to the best methods of so doing—on the contrary they hastily decide that there is but one plan, and the cost must not be greater than £BO,OOO. Truly a marvellous inconsistency? How did these Councillors find out that their plan was the best ? On what grounds did they base their estimate ? The report of their engineer is now published, and has met with unqualified but ignorant praise. After experiments innumerable, and failures unbounded, sanitary authorities are now agreed that there are hut two systems, the “wet’’and the “dry;” furthermore they are agreed that neither system will do- for all towns; but that in one, circumstances may make it absolutely necessary to adopt one system, while elsewhere other conditions must render it a failure. The objections to the system adopted by the Council are many and weighty. » (1.) The enormous cost. The people of New' Zealand are among the_ most heavily taxed on the earth. The people of this town have farther special debts and special, taxation. They are so poor they cannot afford to build a town hall, yet it is now proposed to tax them still further. The cost of this new scheme was stated by Councillor Dransfield to be £120,000 (already £40,000 above the original estimate). This sum, at 5 per cent, means further taxation at £6OOO a year. But this extra £6OOO a year is not the only cost, for day and night throughout the year an expensive steam-engine must be kept working; the cost of this and of repairs, cannot be less than £2OOO a year. Already we have a debt of £120,000, and an annual cost of at least £BOOO a year; but more remains to be told.

(2.) Deficiency and cost of water supply. Few people who have not studied sanitary questions have any idea of the enormous amount of water used by the water-closet system. At the lowest estimate, 6 gallons per head daily is needed; but as a matter of fact the amount is considerably greater, owing to the large amount of waste that will inevitably obtain. Under the existing conditions a water famine occurs regularly every summer. What will happen under the new system? Suppose a population of 25,000 people," the amount of water required by them will be enormous, and then must be answered the question—Whence shall we obtain our water? Certainly the hills around will not give it, and„further costly tunnels must be made. The Increased cost of necessary water supply must.M added to the £BOOO a year. (3.)fln about twenty-five years the greater part of ■ theae,sewers must be re-lined at additional heavy;expense. (4.) Sanitarypbjections to the sewer system. The sanitary objections are numerous and very weighty. No doubt, if perfectly well - constructed sewers are made, if the gradients are nowhere great, if the water supply is abundant, if the pipes and fittings are perfect, if no leakages should ever occur, the wet system is the best. But the innumerable experiments made in England show us endless failures : the sewers never are perfectly accurate; either at once or in a very short time they will leak, and the leak being hidden, they will go on leaking till the ground all around the leak is sodden and deadly ; the pipes and fittings are only perfect in an infinite minority of cases. Here again danger occurs. Somewhere the sewage will mingle with and contaminate the water supply. Theoretically not one of these evils should arise ; but practically, sooner or later, every on&will.

Again, Wellington is a moat -difficult town to drain by means of sewers, for those going to houses in the Terrace and on the encircling heights will by reason of their steepness be always empty, and will consequently act as so many ventilating shafts to the main sewers below ; in other words, the deadly fetid sewer gases will ascend these shafts and constantly contaminate the air of the houses and gardens of these unfortunate people. Another serious sanitary objection to the sewers is this : the sewers act as underground channels, carrying deadly effluvia from one end of the town to the other.

Much abuse has been heaped upon the “ dry ” system, and as carried out here it certainly is offensive, but with a little care it is excellent. If the Corporation would but reissue the orders issued by the Manchester Corporation, that every householder shall each day throw into his closet the ashes from the fire, and that once a week every closet shall be emptied by the contractor, the foul putrid odors that now poison the city would not arise. The ashes - completely deodorise the offensive material. Unfortunately in this town this is not done. The dry earth system is used in some of the largest towns at Home, and answers capitally. I have been told on good authority that the contractors pay to the Corporation of Manchester the large sum of £BO,OOO a-year for the privilege of being allowed to remove this material. It is taken long distances—to Lincolnshire—and there sold to the farmers. In conclusion, if the Corporation would adopt the dry-earth system, and see that all its details are thoroughly carried out, the health of the city will be as good as under the new system, they will save themselves from a present debt of £120,000, from further immense cost, and from laying further heavy taxes on the people. —I am, &c., Hygiene.