Requirements For The Drainage Of Every House. {From the Sanitary Engineer, September 1, 1879.)

In the light of present knowledge, the following seems to us the essential requirements for the drainage of every house. Time and further experience may suggest other features or modifications of these:

A trap should be placed on every main drain, to disconnect the house from the sewer or cesspool.

Every main drain should have an inlet for fresh air,* entering at a point inside the main trap, and carried to a convenient location out of doors, not too near windows. In.places liable to unusual pressure from the sewer there should be two traps, with a vent-pipe from between them running up full size above the roof; or, where the pressure from sewer is only occasional and the rigor of climate will permit, this vent may be carried to the sidewalk or area, at a safe distance from windows. If the first trap is forced, the gas can gain easier exit through this pipe than through the second trap.

Every vertical soil or waste pipe should be extended at least full size through the roof.

No traps should be placed at the foot of vertical soil-pipes to impede circulation.

Traps should be placed under all sinks, basins, baths, wash-trays, water-closets, etc., and as near to these fixtures as practicable.

All traps under fixtures, wherever practicable, should be separately ventilated in order to guard against syphonage.‡ Such vent-pipes should not branch into a soil-pipe below where any drainage enters it. In some cases it is preferable to carry it to outer air independently.†

*This inlet will relieve the smaller house-traps from pressure occasioned by a descending column of water that would otherwise be likely to force the seals of these traps. The air drawn through this inlet to the lower part of the drainage-system assists the circulation within the drains, and is essential to insure the diffusion of the gases generated within them.

† The extension of soil-pipe, full size, through the roof is not a certain protection against syphonage of traps branching into it, and no protection when traps are on a horizontal pipe a distance from the vertical soil-pipe.

‡ And to permit the circulation of air through the drainage system.

Rain-water leaders should not be used as soil-pipes, and when connected with house-drains they should be made of cast-iron in preference to galvanized sheet-iron or tin, there being less liability of corrosion. Joints should be gas and water tight, to preclude possibility of drain-air entering open windows.

No safe-waste should connect with any drain, but it should be carried down independently to a point where its discharge would indicate the existence of a leak or any overflow above.

No waste from a refrigerator should be connected with a drain.

Unless the water-supply is ample, so that it will rise to every part of a building, insuring at all times the proper flushing of fixtures and traps, a cistern should be provided into which the water will rise at night, or into which it may be pumped. Said cistern should be large enough to hold an ample daily supply, be kept clean, covered, and properly ventilated. The overflow-pipe from it should never be run into any drain under any circumstances. The supply for drinking-water should not be drawn from it, but from a direct supply - i. e., direct from the street-main.

Water-closets should never be supplied directly from street pressure or by a pipe from which branches are taken for drinking-water. Where the valve-closets are preferred to those that are supplied from a small cistern immediately over them, then the supply should be taken to a storage-tank, from which it can be conveyed to the valves on the closets, thereby insuring an equable pressure and securing more reliability in their working.

All drain-pipes within a house should be of metal in preference to stoneware, owing to the liability of the latter to crack, and the difficulty of keeping the joints tight. It is best to run them along the cellar-wall or ceiling, with a good incline. They should never be hidden underground, as then leaks will not be perceptible. In some places it is common to paint pipes white, so that any leakage will show itself to the most careless observer.

All drains should be kept at all times free from deposit; and if this cannot be effected without flushing, special flushing arrangements should be provided, so as to effectually remove all foul matter from the house-drains to the public sewers.

All horizontal drains should be laid in a straight line, with proper falls, and should be carefully jointed and made water-tight. No right-angled junction should be allowed, except in the case of a drain discharging into a vertical shaft.

No drain should be constructed so as to pass under a dwelling-house, except where absolutely necessary; and then it should be constructed of cast-iron pipes, with lead-calked joints, laid so as to be readily accessible for inspection, and ventilated at each end.

Whenever dampness of site exists, it should be remedied by laying subsoil drains, which should not pass directly to the sewer.

Water-supply and waste pipes should be concentrated as much as possible, and not scattered about a building. Horizontal soil and waste pipes are objectionable.

Plumbing-fixtures should not be hidden behind walls and partitions where their condition is never apparent. They ought properly to be open to view, and so situated that any leak would be readily detected. It is also well to have a plan of the plumbing of each house for the tenants' or owner's convenience and guidance in any emergency.

In planning house-drains they should be got outside the walls of the house as quickly as possible, so that there maybe few joints of pipe, and the smallest chance of leakage from defects or accidents, taking precautions in locating to guard against freezing.

New York, April, 1885.

[In the light of the last few years' experience, we should say that there are few places where it would be desirable to use a double trap on the main drain. In other respects the requirements for the drainage of a house as formulated here seems to be as proper now as they were then, for most cities of the United States. And the plumbing regulations of certain leading cities, printed elsewhere, in the main very properly follow the lines here laid down.]