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103
SEWERS.
The length of main sewers in the parish, i.e., sewers belonging
to the Metropolitan Board, is 3½ miles.
The lengths of sewers belonging to the Vestry are 41/4 miles of
brick, and 25 miles of pipe sewers.
I reproduce here extracts from a report on this subject, which
has been submitted to the members of the Vestry.
OWNERSHIP OF SEWERS.
The chief of the main sewers in Fulham belong to the Metropolitan
Board, others have been constructed by private owners and
handed over to the Vestry. Many of these latter are in roads not
yet handed over to the parish.
SITUATION OF FULHAM.
The parish of Fulham is unfortunately not at all favourably
situated in reference to its drainage. As the level of the parish is
very close to the level of the Thames, the flow of sewage in sewers
is slow, and on the slightest fall of rain there is a tendency for the
sewage from the higher districts of London to create a back flow
into our sewers. At times of very heavy rain the sewers become
charged with sewage, and remain so for many hours, until such
time as the engines at the Yictoria Pumping Station, by the
Chelsea Bridge, raise it into the High Level Sewer. This process
has been known to occupy ten hours.
FLOODING OF SEWERS.
During one heavy thunderstorm which occurred last year the
water rose quite 10-ft. in the North End and Walham Green
sewer, and flooded many basements and low lying parts. The
depth of water in the basement of houses in the Broadway was 6
inches.
When such a flooding occurs it is evident that at every
stroke of the pumps, at the pumping station above referred to,
the subsidence of the sewage will be very gradual, and this must
lead to large deposits of solid matter in the sewers.
Fall of Sewers. The other drawbacks to the proper dealing
with this question in Fulham are the want of proper fall in many
of the sewers, and the number of dead ends without any provision
for ventilation.