The whole length of the drain is about
three thousand feet, and the entire outlet is through two nine inch pipes.
The drainage is perfectly removed, and the pipes are always clean, no foul
matters being deposited at any point. This drainage has been adopted as a
substitute for an old system of sewerage of which the main was from 4 feet
high, by 3 feet 6 inches wide, to 17 feet high and 6 or 7 feet wide. The
houses had cess-pools beneath them, which were filled with the
accumulations of many years, while the sewers themselves were scarcely
less offensive. This condition resulted in a severe epidemic fever of a
very fatal character.
An examination instituted to discover the cause of the epidemic resulted
in the discovery of the facts set forth above, and there were removed from
the drains and cess-pools more than 550 loads of ordure. The evaporating
surface of this filth was more than 2000 square yards.
Since the new drainage, not only has there been no recurrence of epidemic
fever, but "a greater improvement in the general health of the population
has succeeded than might be reasonably expected in a small block of
houses, amidst an ill-conditioned district, from which it cannot be
completely isolated."
The principle which justifies the use of pipe sewers is precisely that
which has been described in recommending small tiles for agricultural
drainage,--_to wit_: that the rapidity of a flow of water, and its power to
remove obstacles, is in proportion to its depth as compared with its
width.
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