View report page

62
The drains of some 97 houses and premises were entirely
reconstructed during the period under review, and the existing
drains of 9 other premises were properly repaired.
This work involved the laying of 1,877 yards of stoneware,
and 486 yards of heavy cast iron coated pipe drains, 189
stoneware gullies, 65 intercepting traps, 158 w.c. basins, and
94 soil pipes and ventilating shafts were fixed and 110 manholes
were built; the whole necessitating the application of
246 water tests and 139 smoke tests. As in the past, the
water test is applied to all new drains after the ground has
been filled in, and a steel disc is passed through the pipe to
ensure the removal of any obstructions which may be present
in the form of pieces of cement or other rubbish.
It occasionally happens that cases come under our notice
which afford striking evidence of the need of supervision of
sanitary work by some responsible authority. In one such
instance during the year a new line of drain at a vacant house
was surreptitiously laid in a new position and connected to
an old pipe near a party fence in the side passage. No precaution
was taken to ascertain that the old pipe referred to
had a suitable outfall. A few days after the house had been
occupied I found that the drain was blocked, and upon investigation
it was discovered that the pipe to which the new
drain was connected merely discharged into the earth near the
footings of the adjoining house. It is to be regretted that the
Public Health Acts in force in the district do not provide for
the prosecution of persons guilty of executing sanitary work
in such an extremely negligent manner, or for the giving of
notice to the local authority of intention to carry out drainage
or other similar work. In order to remedy these omissions,
suitable provision has been made in the Finchley Urban District
Council Act to be submitted to Parliament during the
present Session.
Since the year 1902 a plan of every drain relaid under
the direction of your Council has been prepared by your