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67
Water Supply.
Another evil present in many of our tenement houses is the inconvenienceof
the water supply. A common arrangement is that in which there are watertaps
on the ground floor or basement, but none in any of the two or more floors
above the ground floor. As the result of this arraugement the occupiers of a
tenement (say) on the 2nd floor have to carry all their water up several flights
of stairs to their rooms. The effect of this is that there is good reason for
using as little water as possible for cleansing purposes, and for keeping drinking
water for prolonged periods in pails, etc., instead of taking it fresh from
the mains whenever it is wanted.
The effect of Section 78 of the London County Council (General Powers)
Act, 1907, is to enable the Sanitary Authority (subject to provisos) to insist on
a water-tap being fitted on every floor where rooms are sub-let, and on 23rd
July, 1913, the Council passed a resolution that "the Sanitary Inspectors are
" to report any cases that come under their observation to which the Act
" applies, in order that the necessary notices may be served."
Since that date owners of all tenement houses which have been found, on
inspection, not (o have water supply within reasonable reach of each family
have been called upon to provide additional water-taps and sinks. Up to the
end of the year intimation notices were served under this Section in respect of
353 houses. There were no prosecutions during the year consequent upon
these notices.
Underground Rooms.
A very large part of the St. Pancras houses are built with the basement
rooms wholly or partly underground. In many tenement houses these rooms
are used for sleeping purposes, and very frequently the whole of a tenement
consists of such underground rooms. The use of most of these rooms as sleeping
places or even as living rooms is very undesirable, and in the opinion of
most sanitarians is responsible for much tuberculosis and other conditions of
ill-health and mortality. This may be accounted for by three conditions
which tend to prevail in many underground rooms: —
1.—Absence of light, due to the windows abutting on "areas" instead of
the open sky. This partial darkness leads to a depressed vitality, aids
the growth of the germs of disease (for sunlight is a powerful disinfectant),
and discourages proper household cleanliness.
2.—Dampness. Many of our underground rooms are damp owing to the
absence of proper damp-courses, though very frequently the dampness is
hiden behind the match-boarding with which the walls are lined. Damp
habitations are one of the most fertile sources of consumption, and other
illnesses.
3.—Exhalations from the earth. Most of the basements of the tenement
houses have no impermeable structure (such as concrete) between the
wooden floor and the earth, and sometimes no space between the floor
and the earth, or no ventilation of such space when it exists. The
consequence of this is that ground-air and dampness must readily find
their way into the basement rooms, being drawn up by the internal
warmth of the house, as well as by other causes.
Section 96 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, enacts that no underground
room shall be occupied separately as a dwelling unless it complies with
a list of requirements set out in the section. The great disadvantage of this