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169
chamber, or otherwise constructed or placed so as to prevent
the pollution of the water therein.' This provision is insufficient.
Every drinking water cistern should be provided with
a proper cover.
"The third bye-law (it is numbered 14) requires the occupier
of any premises to 'empty and cleanse' a drinking
cistern once at least in every six months, and at such other
times as may be necessary to keep the same in a cleanly state
and free from pollution.' The duty of cleansing devolves
upon the owner when the cistern 'is used for supplying water
to persons occupying two or more separately occupied
premises.' In 'the case of any premises the whole of which
is let to lodgers, the person receiving the rent payable by the
lodger' is, 'for the purpose of this bye-law, deemed to be the
occupier.' In the case of a 'registered' house, the occupier,
if he lets lodgings to two or more lodgers, or the 'keeper,' if
the whole of the house be let in tenements, is responsible for the
cleansing of the cistern ('from time to time as often as may
be requisite for the purpose of keeping the same in a clean and
wholesome condition') under the 14th of your Vestry's byelaws
(made in 1885) for the regulation of registered houses.
"In my opinion, it is desirable that cisterns used for the
storage of drinking water should be 'emptied and cleansed'
once in every month. But I attach more importance to the
supply of water, for potable and dietetic purposes, without the
intervention of cisterns, viz., by means of a tap affixed to
the rising main, or service-pipe—a practice which is becoming
more usual, but is not at all generally adopted, and which has
been advocated in these reports for many years. Should your
Vestry decide to call the attention of parishioners to the provisions
of the bye-laws relating to the covering and cleansing
of cisterns, I would recommend that special attention be
drawn to this preferable mode of obtaining drinking water,
seeing that the water, as delivered from the main, is in better