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36
In many instances, the drains, on exposure by the
contractors to carry out certain repairs, or to remove
an obstruction, were found to be in such a defective
condition that the owners finally agreed to carry out
the necessary work of reconstruction, thereby rendering
further action unnecessary.
In all cases of difficulty, full details are reported
to the Committee, which enable them to decide upon
the works to be carried out.
Of the total number of house drains reconstructed
25 were in respect of the combined system, and
which were reconstructed at the expense of the
respective owners, and I was pleased to note the harmony
in which the contractors worked with each other
during the progress of the works, thereby reducing to
a minimum the inconvenience to the occupiers, which
is not at all times possible to obviate.
Personally, I regard the use of iron pipes for
house drainage as having a distinct advantage over
the stoneware pipes. The reason being that the
modern stoneware drains cannot always be relied upon
to retain their water-tight condition, notwithstanding
that every possible care and attention are given to see
the works carried out in a satisfactory manner. This,
in mv opinion, is a serious matter, on sanitarv grounds,
on behalf of the inmates of the houses, and, financially,
for the owners of the property. Some of the chief
causes, I may mention, are probably due to expansion
of the cement used for jointing the pipes, and the concrete
in connection with same, also the movement of the
subsoil and subsidence of buildings in close proximity
to the drains. It is a common occurrence to find on
exposing a cement-jointed drain, either the sockets are
in pieces, or that the pipes are broken at the back of
the sockets, sometimes leaving a space of at least oneeighth
of an inch between the two parts.
With regard to cast iron pipes, I have applied the
water test to several iron drains, some of which have