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intention to provide on and after the 1st January, 1884, a constant
supply in so much of their district as lies to the east of Regent
Street and north of Piccadilly and Coventry Street, consequently it
was not necessary to take any action in the matter.
The cleanliness of cisterns where the constant supply system does
not prevail is of so much importance, and yet frequently receives so
little attention from householders, that the following extract from
a report by Colonel (now Sir F.) Bolton on the subject is not without
interest:—
Every exertion is made and means adopted by the Companies, after
the water is taken in by them, to deliver it to their districts effectually
filtered and of a wholesome quality. The water thus delivered
for domestic purposes is frequently deteriorated after leaving the
Companies' mains, by the dirty state of the receptacles on the
premises of the consumers. 'All cisterns and other receptacles
should be frequently cleaned out, and every care should be taken to
prevent the contamination of the domestic supply after delivery
The contamination of water from the gases generated by sewage is of
far more frequent occurrence than is generally understood. Wastepipes
from cisterns are still to be found in direct communication with
the sewers, and the gases thus flow back into the cisterns and become
absorbed by the water. To prevent this, the overflow pipe should be
brought outside the house and the end left exposed to the air, instead
of being carried into the drain, as is often the case. By the adoption
of this plan the poisonous effluvia and gases from the drains will be
got rid of ; these would otherwise ascend through the pipe, and not
only be partly absorbed by the water in the cistern, but be mixed
with the air in the houses, thereby becoming a cause of fever and
disease.
It may not be generally known that one of the regulations made
under the Metropolis Water Act, 1871, prohibits any overflow or
waste pipe to a cistern, except as a warning pipe. The regulation
runs as follows:—
Regulation 14.—No overflow or waste-pipe other than a "warningpipe"
shall be attached to any cistern supplied with water by the
Company, and every such overflow or waste-pipe existing at the time
when these regulations come into operation shall be removed, or at
the option of the consumer shall be converted into an efficient
" warning-pipe," within two calendar months next after the Company
shall have given to the occupier of, or left at the premises in which
such cistern is situate, a notice in writing requiring such alteration to
be made.