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49
SANITARY CONDITION OP LAMBETH
PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
(Special Report presented to the Council on June 8th, 1905.)
The Council, on December 8th, 1904, instructed the
Medical Officer to have an examination made of the drainage
of all the Public Elementary Schools in the Borough, and
to bring up a report on the subject. The question arose in
the first instance as to what method of testing the drains
should be adopted, viz., by water, or otherwise. The
Borough Council, on February 2nd, 1905 (vide Minutes,
1905, pages 534-537)t endorsed the action of the late Vestry
in not using the water test indiscriminately (such test being
a somewhat severe test, more especially for old drainage),
except in the case of new drains during construction or reconstruction.
The test, therefore, applied to the drains of the Schools
has been in each case the smoke (or chemical) test—Kinzett's
drain-testers being used ; and it must be remembered in this
connection that where no result is obtained from such test, it
does not necessarily follow that the drains tested are therefore
sound, and in good order and condition. On the other
hand, a result from the test from the drains or fittings shows
a defect or defects to exist in the drainage system under
examination.
It is true that the hydraulic (water) test is a more trustworthy
one, but it is severe, and its severity has been shown
again and again by the fact that such test has made a defect
or defects in drains which are otherwise, to all intents and
purposes, sound, by bursting the joints, cracking the pipes,
etc. Despite this well-known practical fact, the London
County Council has tested the drains of the Non-Provided
Schools throughout Lambeth Borough (with five exceptions)
with water, and it is impossible to say, therefore, that the
London County Council's action has not caused some of the
defects that are tabulated in this Report. For purposes of
comparison, it would have been well, under the circumstances,
had the London County Council also tested the