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194
THE WATER REGULATIONS.
The Water Regulations framed by the Companies,
under the Act of 1871, contain many useful provisions, and it
would be well if express power were given to the Sanitary
Authorities enabling them to enforce such of them as have a
distinctly sanitary bearing. The twenty-first regulation deals
with the subject of FLUSHING-TANKS for the supply of water
closets, providing that the tank or service-box shall not be
capable of discharging more than two gallons at a flush, a
quantity which the two-gallon flushing-tank is practically
unable to deliver. The attention of the Sanitary Authorities
was called, last year, by the St. Giles' District Board of Works,
to the desirability of an amendment of the regulation, so as to
allow of the provision of a tank of three-gallons capacity, on
the just ground that a two-gallon receptacle does not allow
a sufficient flush of water to secure the effective action of a
water-closet. The Board desired the support of the Sanitary
Authorities for an application they had made to the Local
Government Board, to take steps "with a view to the 21st
Regulation being altered so as to provide for the use of
cisterns or service-boxes which will permit a discharge of not
less than three gallons of water at each flush." The proposal
was supported by your Vestry, although I had the satisfaction
of stating that the local Companies did not raise objection to
the fixing of tanks of three-gallons capacity, which is all, 1
think, we could fairly ask of them. The Local Government
Board desired to be informed of the view taken by the Sanitary
Authorities on the subject—and that they were favourable
to the view taken by the St. Giles' Board I do not doubt
—but at present no steps have been taken to give effect to the
request for the amendment of the regulation, which would be
necessary to secure the desired object in a lawful way. In my
report dealing with this matter (No. 12, December 5th, p. 149),
and recommending your Vestry to comply with the request of
the St. Giles' Board, I suggested that the Local Government