View report page

125
together with other tabulated particulars, form a complete
and valuable record of the re-drainage work carried out in the
district.
With respect to the pipes used for house drainage, further
experience and observation only Serves to strengthen my
opinion, which I have expressed in several of my previous reports,
that stoneware drains as at present constructed are un
reliable, and, in many cases, rapidly develop defects which
render them leaky. I consider that property owners will
be well advised if they use cast-iron pipes, which can be relied
upon, under ordinary circumstances, to provide a more
permanent water-tight drain.
Of the 59 houses re-drained during the year, 40 were
provided for by means of 11 combined systems of drainage.
House-to-House Inspection.
Four hundred and fifteen house-to-house surveys were
made during the period under review, as compared with 181
in 1910.
The house-to-house register, which has been kept for
many years, is on the card index principle, and a separate
card is allocated for each house. The general condition of
each of the properties visited is recorded on these cards, which,
together with references to other registers, constitutes a complete
and reliable record of the action taken respecting any
house which has been inspected under the house-to-house
system.
It will be recalled that the Local Government Board in
1910 made regulations under the Housing and Town Planning
Act, 1909, entitled "The Housing (Inspection of District)
Regulations, 1910," in which Local Authorities are
required to arrange for the periodical inspection of their
districts with a view to ascertain whether any dwelling-house
therein is in a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to