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During the year 1911,906 notices of drainage reconstruction or
alteration were received, and in 778 eases the work necessitated the
deposit of plans and written particulars. In 494 of these latter cases the
work could not be delayed until the Council's approval of the plans had
been received; in each of these cases the prescribed "urgency" notice
was therefore submitted by the builders, the work put in hand forthwith
and the plans, etc., deposited at a later date.
Of 778 notices of drainage alterations, etc., requiring the deposit
of plans, 341 related to work that involved the entire reconstruction of
the drainage system. In 420 of the 778 drainage cases the work was
carried out voluntarily, the number of instances in which voluntarily complete
reconstruction was carried out being 134. The voluntary work
was chiefly done in connection with the larger houses in Hampstead, and
in many cases the voluntary drainage reconstructions were of a very
extensive character.
In the majority of cases the drains were laid in iron pipes, iron
being found the most durable material. It is the practice of the
Council to insist on the use of iron pipes in the case of all drains that
run under a building. This requirement is enforced, if necessary, by
an order made under the Metropolis Management Acts.
Combined Drainage.
During the year the Council, as in previous years, received a number
of claims that certain defective combined drains, for which notices
had been served were " sewers," which the Council were under legal
obligation to repair at the cost of the ratepayers. In all these cases
except one the Council were able sucessfully to resist the claim and to
show that the drains in question were really "drains" for which the
owners of the property were responsible. In one case, however, the
Council were advised that the claim could not be resisted, and the combined
drain was relaid as a " sewer" at a cost of £35.
The Cleansing of School Children.
During the year the Council entered into an agreement with the
London County Council for the cleansing of school children infested
with vermin, the arrangement being that the Council should carry out
the cleansing and that the County Council should pay 2s. per chil do