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of clean water are systematically delivered in order to prevent any
deposit within the sewers. There are upwards of joo of these
flushing chambers in the District. Fortunately, all the sewers in
this District may be said to be self cleansing, and within an hour
or two of any foul matter being discharged into a drain or sewer
it is delivered to the Edmonton Sewage Works.
The sewers are ventilated by means of gratings over the manholes
and by upcast shafts ; but the gratings intended to be inlets
for fresh air sometimes also discharge foul air, in consequence of
which many of them have been closed in, and extra upcast shafts
erected at points of vantage in their place.
During the past 14 years no drains of any house have been
permitted to be connected to the sewers unless they have been
provided with a chamber just within the boundary adjoining the
street or road containing a trapped interceptor.
Although the District is scattered over so large an area there
are very few houses which are not near a sewer, so that fortunately
very few cesspools now exist, and they are becoming less every
year.
In the District there are now 36 miles of foul sewers and 26½
miles of surface-water sewers, and no less than 19 miles of these
have been constructed during the past 4 years.
Sewers.—During the past year a total of 9,848 yards of
sewers were laid as follows:—
New foul sewers 410 yards
New surface-water sewers 1,478 „
New Estate Sewers.
Foul sewers 2,793 „
Surface-water sewers 3,530 ,,
Sewers Re-laid.
Foul sewers 630 „
Surface-water sewers 1,007 „
Water Supply.—Pratically the whole District is now
supplied by the Metropolitan Water Board. Two more wells
have recently been closed, and very few houses are now dependent
on wells for their water.
Watercourses.—Bounds Green Brook and Pymmes
Brook remain in about the same condition. The periodical
cleaning by the Middlesex County Council helps to keep them
from getting very foul, but they are still much polluted owing to