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Professor Koch has expressed the opinion that the maximum number of microbes should not
exceed 100 per cubic centimetre, he regards 2-l gallons of water per square foot per hour as the
maximum rate at which the water should be permitted to flow through the filter.
Constant water supply.—As the result of the action of the Council and the water companies, the
number of houses in London receiving constant water supply was increased during the year to about
79 per cent, of the total houses in London.
Quality of water from well in Plumstead.—The medical officer of health of Plumstead refers to an
improvement in the quality of water supplied from the Kent Company's well in Park-road, which had
previously been deteriorating, as a result, it was thought, of " increasing impregnation of the soil with
organic matter." Dr. Davies now reports a considerable reduction in the number of cesspools in the
district, but he mentions cesspools still polluting the soil and causing nuisance by overflowing.
Regidations as to Water Fittings.—During the year the Local Government Board forwarded to
the Council copies of communications which the Board had received from certain of the London sanitary
authorities on the subject of the amount of water required for the flushing of water-closets. This
subject was considered by the Public Health Committee and reported upon by the officers of the
Council. On December 5th the Committee presented to the Council the following report—
Capacity of v:ater-closet flushing cisterns.
Regulation No. 21 made by the water companies under the Metropolis Water Act, 1871, provides
that every water-closet cistern or water-closet service-box, fitti d or fixed after the confirmation of the
regulations, in which water supplied by the companies is to be used, shall have an efficient wastepreventing
apparatus so constructed as not to be capable of discharging more than two gallons of water
at each flush.
The Local Government Board has forwarded to the Council a copy of correspondence that has
passed between it and certain of the sanitary authorities of London and the water companies respecting
a proposal that regulation No. 21 should be altered so as to provide that every water-closet cistern or
service-box shall be so constructed as to be capable of discharging three gallons of water at each flush.
The Board asks for the Council's observations on the subject. Many of the sanitary authorities consider
that a two-gallon flush is inadequate, while the water companies contend that two gallons are sufficient
when proper apparatus is provided, and that when the flush is unsatisfactory the reason generally is
that the down pipe from the cistern to the pan is of too small a diameter, and the inlet into the pan also
too small. This, they assert, destroys the efficiency of the flush. The companies also state that to
increase the size of the cisterns as suggested would involve an enormous increase in the quantity of
water to be provided, and seriously affect the present undertakings and works of the companies, in
addition to causing great expense and inconvenience to occupiers of dwelling houses.
We have given careful consideration to the views expressed in the various letters forwarded by the
Local Government Board, and have received reports from the Council's officers on the question. We
have also made inquiries of six municipalities which control their own water supply, and learn that
Edinburgh and Bradford have decided that three gallons should be required, while Leeds allows two
and a half gallons in special cases. At Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds and Dublin, two gallons are used,
but the city engineer of Dublin is of opinion that this quantity is too low.
We also asked the Sanitary Institute for their views upon the question, and have received from
them a detailed report giving the result of a large number of experiments carried out by the institute,
and concluding with an expression of opinion that the regulation should be altered so as to provide for
the construction of flushing cisterns capable of discharging not less than three nor more than three
and a half gallons of water at each flush. We took advantage of an opportunity kindly afforded by the
institute of seeing their experiments, and were impressed by the fact that the experiments were
conducted under much more favourable conditions than are generally.found in London houses.
As we thought it would be very useful to have the opinion of sanitary engineers on the question, we
communicated with some of the best known firms. From their replies it appears that all the firms are
of opinion that a three-gallon flush is desirable, if not absolutely necessary. It is true that one or two
of the firms state that two gallons may flush some of the best types of basins when the water is discharged
with sufficient force and the discharge pipes are of sufficient dimensions ; but at the same time
they point out that all these favourable conditions are but seldom combined, and that therefore the
quantity is too near the margin of efficiency to be an adequate maximum.
With regard to the statement of the water companies respecting the effect of imperfect apparatus
upon the flush, we rccognise that there is an intimate relation between the conditions indicated by the
companies and the amount of water required for flushing, but we must point out that it is impossible to
condemn many kinds of apparatus now in use in London, although with only a two-gallon flush they are
unsatisfactory. We are, therefore, of opinion that water closet cisterns should be capable of discharging
a three-gallon flush, and that regulation No. 21 under the Metropolis Water Act, 1871, should be
amended accordingly.
We are advised that it would not be within the purview of the regulations of the water companies
to prescribe a minimum capacity for flushing cisterns, but that section 39 of the Public Health (London)