A CRITICISM ON MR. CLIMIE'S REPORT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4972, 28 February 1877, Page 2

A CRITICISM ON MR. CLIMIE'S REPORT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sir, —la this report there appear to me to be several 'errors; which errors are altogether apart from the question whether the " dry," or the " wet," or the " combination" system should be used. He says that decomposition of sewage material begins in twenty-five or thirty hours, and very justly expresses his abhorrence thereof; and he leads the unwary reader to suppose that decomposition does not go on in sewers, and that therefore the odours are harmless. As a a matter of fact, every empty or half-empty sewer is filled with deadly gases ; if this were not so, why doeß he propose to have "costly ventilators and expensive disinfecting apparatus ? Clearly he contradicts himself ; his early statements are merely clap-trap arguments- to stay the dry system. Has Mr. Glimie never heard of deposits in sewers composed of heavy sand and black putrid stuff, where decomposition rapidly sets in ? Even in the pipes and sewers which he talks of as being self-cleansing he will find that various substances will cling to the sides and roofs of these sewers and pipes, and that there will be a constant addition to these deposits, and the calibre of the drains will often be much diminished by a most foul mass. The author thinks there is no need of cisterns for water-closets, because, he says, there is a constant supply of water at high pressure. But everywhere cisterns are necessary, for at times the water supply is turned off for a few hours ? Does he suppose that from henceforth Wellington will always have a constant supply of water that never will there occur a nece^___ sity for turning it off ? Again, unless cisterns be used the waste of water will be enormous, for somewhere in the city the taps are sure to be wron« , ) and the waste from only 1-inch pipes would be enormous. A wonderful feature of this report is the total absence of any mention of subsoil drainage; yet this is almost as important as that of which he talks. The general idea of dryness of soil is that all is right if the upper layers be dry. Below these upper layers there lies at a varia-

ble depth the ground-water. Upon this unseen ground-water will very often largely depend the public health ; by carefully draming it, or even by lowering it a few feet, much good will result. By this means consumption, lun" diseases, rheumatism, colds, and many other diseases are much chocked. An intimate connection has also been proved to exist between the height of this ground-water and the prevalence of typhoid fever, cholera, epidemic diarrhoea, &c. To introduce a costly Bystem of drainage, and to take no heed of the condition of the subsoil-water, would be a most foolish proceeding. Owners of houses in considering this Bcheme must not overlook the fact that connected with it there is for thema very heavy outlay, for at their individual cost waterclosetsand connections must be put up. Mr. Climie talks of waterclosets costing only 215., but these are bad, and double that price in England would require to be given. Except in the houses of the very poor, waterclosets would cost in England more than £2 each. The cost of piping at Home is about 3s. 6d.per foot running. In short the cost of laying drains, of erecting closets, fitting traps, cisterns, and water connections will average at least £7 per house. In taking into consideration the cost of this scheme this Bum must not be overlooked. The report is deficient, too, m that it tells us nothing of the yearly cost of working and maintaining this system. How _ much will it cost to keep the pumping engine m work ? How much must be set aside yearly for keep. ing in repair ? The report talks of the cost of only one engine ; but bearing in mind the ha- | bility of comDlicated machinery to get out of I order, and the disastrous events that might follow any long stop, it becomes necessary to have a second on the spot. The author suggests that in addition to the sewage water proper, much of the rain water should be admitted. The annual rainfall is about 55in. Say that only 40in. go into the sewers, then the amount of rain water required' to be pumped to a height of 20ft. will be 4,000,000 tons per annum. Surely an enormous amount of work that need not be done. Mr. Climie says we possess a constant supply of water at high pressure ; if so, why does he propose to let all this rain run into the sewers, as this entails an enlargement of sewers and a great expenditure of coal ? The report either makes very light of all drawbacks to the system or it utterly ignores them; and hence people who read it hastily are apt to consider it as admirable. A good instance of this is the way in which mention of the escape of sewer water and of gas is avoided. A very prevalent, but very erroneous, notion is this as long as sewers are laid down and water turned on everything needful has been done. This simple notion would soon be dispelled if people would only take the trouble to read some of the reports of the sanitary inspectors in Great Britain. There they would learn that however easy it may be to talk of perfect drainage and of air-tight fittings, yet that practically it is impossible to obtain them. From these reports they would learn how frequent and how deadly are among the dwellers in the aristocratic portions of cities, where the drainage and water supply were presumably perfect, while often the poorer parts of thesame townsare quite healthy. The fact is that people do not realise that sewers contain two fluids, which are for ever trying to escape through the smallest of cracks, that one of these fluids will rise, and when once out of its channel will spread everywhere. A man walks along a firmly-laid street, and says to himself, " What a capital plan this sewerage system is ; here are no smells, no escape of poisonous stuff." He thinks it perfect. Let him be taken into the adjoining houses. Probably on the first floor he will see a doorway; on opening it he will perceive a strong odour; on pulling up the plug of the watercloset foul air will rush up, spreading, according to the law of diffusion of gases, throughout the house. Each householder has' carefully laid a pipe which shall actually convey into the centre of his house the foul gas from the street sewer ; and he does this in the very manner in which he brings the gas he burns from the street pipes. Anyone who has lived in London can fully- attest the truth of this statement, and will remember the stuffy fetid odour obtaining in the waterclosets of almost every house in which he may have lived. The reports of sanitary commissioners, too, would teach people that hilly towns are most difficult to Bewer properly, and that as yet no method has been adopted which prevents the sewers and pipes running to houses on the heights from acting a 3 so many pipes specially laid for the conveyance of deadly gases. They would learn from a perusal of these reports to think very seriously over the matter, and would firmly resolve to resist at all cost any risk whatever of admitting sewer gas into their houses.

The author says that there is no system " equal in efficiency to an underground flow, self-acting, and out of sight;" but I trust that I have shown that the " flow," though " selfacting and out of sight," 13 a flowing of only one fluid, whereas the other fluid flows and self-acts in a most deadly fashion.—l am, &c. Hygiene.