Attention is called to Fig. 20, in which the drainage arrangements are shown to be defective. Here Burton has taken such a state of affairs as is by no means uncommon in a London house. Alongside it is a drawing which illustrates a well-drained house (Fig. 21). By their juxtaposition, the defects exhibited will be made more patent.
20. Ill-arranged House.
21. Well-arranged House.
The first point demanding attention is the condition of the main drain. It will be seen that it is little other than an elongated cesspool. The size is unnecessarily large. As a consequence, even if it were perfect in all other respects, it would not be self-cleansing, inasmuch as there can never pass down the drain which serves for a single house enough water to scour out pipes of the size illustrated, namely, 9 in. diameter.
It will be seen, however, that the state of affairs is far from correct, apart from the size of the pipes. In the first place, the joints are not tight; sewage will soak out into the ground through them. In the second place, although there is ample allowance between the two ends of the drain for a good fall, or incline, this fall has all been confined to a few feet of its length, the part underneath the house being laid almost level. This is done simply to avoid the trouble of excavating the ground to a sufficient depth.
Let us now follow the action of a drain of this kind, and see what it will lead to. Sewage matter finds its way into it. As we all know, this matter depends on water to carry it forward. It is probable that, while the drain is new and the ground comparatively solid around it, sufficient water will remain in it to carry the greater part of the sewage to the sewer. But this state of affairs will not last. Before long, some unusually heavy or obstinate matter will get into the drain. It will be carried only so far, and will then stick. Any water now coming behind it will “back up,” to a certain extent, and will very soon find its way into the soil, from one or more points behind the obstruction—not yet amounting to a stoppage. As a consequence, sewage now passing into the drain, loses its carrying power, and gets no farther than a certain distance. Before long, a complete stoppage takes place, and all the sewage of the house soaks into the ground under the basement. After this, things go from bad to worse. The saturated ground no longer properly supports the pipes, which, as a consequence, will become more and more irregular, and all hope of the drain clearing itself is lost. It is only a question of time, with a drain such as that shown, and the inmates of the house will be living over a cesspool.