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25
Besides the drainage thus effected, upwards of 500 houses have,
during the year, been drained into the sewers by the owners, either
voluntarily, or in obedience to notices issued by the Board; such
drains being carried out under the superintendence of their officers;
the Board having previously approved the plans submitted to them
for that purpose.
The great proportion of the houses thus drained are in Loampit
Yale, Avenue Road, and Rushey Green. A very inconsiderable
portion in Penge and Sydenham communicate with sewers only
partially covered.
The expense of all house drainage is by the Act made payable
by the "owner," who is defined (sect. 250), to be the person
receiving the rack rent. This has been very generally complained
of as a serious tax, especially where, as is frequently the case, the
owner has only a short term of years, or the property consists of
small tenements, and the outlay, consequently, very disproportionate
to its value. With the view of mitigating as far as possible the
complaints on this head the Board have abstained from ordering a
water supply, water supplying pipes, cisterns, and apparatus (which
very materially increase the expense), to be provided as a general
rule, although in exceptional cases it has been ordered. The
necessity for it in every case has, however, been strongly urged by
the Medical Officer, and on more than one occasion has been made
apparent to the Board by experience. They are therefore fully
persuaded that the absence of such supply renders especial care
necessary on the part of the occupants of all premises that the
drains should be kept thoroughly cleansed ; and upon the exercise
of this caution the Board still rely to justify them in relaxing the
extreme letter of the Act.
As no power is given to require the drainage into a sewer of any
premises not within one hundred feet of it, cesspools must for a considerable
time remain attached to a large proportion of the houses
in this district. The Board have, as regards all houses under such
circumstances which have been built during the year, required that
they should be drained into cesspools constructed at a proper distance
from the houses*, and as regards all old houses, similarly
circumstanced, where any nuisance exists, the remedy applied has
consisted in the construction of proper cesspools and their being
emptied, the privies cleansed or reconstructed, and the premises
generally being put in a proper condition, according to the requirements
and facilities of each case; what has been done in this direction,
and what remains to be done, will be seen to a great extent
from the Medical Officer's Reports.
The complaints of nuisances by inhabitants are comparatively
rare; the Board therefore rely on their Medical Officer and Inspectors
of Nuisances for the efficient performance of this branch of their
duties ; the zeal of the former is fully manifested in his Reports.