5o4 TUh'OUY OF ARCHITECTURE. Book II.

removed from the second portion, and thus tliere is not sufficient to carry off the sedi-
mentary matter, which would be done when the two systems are combined.
1888</. The position and size of tlio drains having been stttled, ihe fall has to La
arranged. It has been proved beyond a doubt that matters easily carried away by the
increased velocity gained by using a smuU drain, remain as an obstruction in a largo
drain. A velocity o/ 2 feet per second is th') least wliich will keep sewers clear of all
ordinary obstructions
;
while house drains and small pipes require a velocity of 3 feet
per second lo keep them clear (Hurst). A fall of from 2 inches or 3 inches in 10 feet
will be found quite sufficient for all practical purposes. A fall of 1 in 30 is considered
by many to be a good fall, and not always to be obtained. Pipes half full, with a velocity
of 3 feet per seco- d require the fcJlowing falls :

4 inch pipes, 1 in 100 ;
6 inch, 1 in
1-30; y inch, 1 ill 225; 12 inch, 1 in 300
;
15 in.h, 1 in 350
;
18 in.di, 1 in 450
;
24 inch,
1 in GUO
;
30 inch, 1 in 700. With a velocity of 2 feet per se. ond, 4 inch pipes require
a fall of 1 in 200
;
6 inch, 1 in 300
;
9 inch, 1 in 450
;
12 inch, 1 in 600
;
15 inch, I in
700; 18 inch, 1 in 900; 24 inch, 1 in 1200; 30 inch, 1 in 1400 (Sears).
1888A. Hence also the advantage oi Jliishbig a drain. One pierson has urged that his
ten-r()0med house and outbuildings have not, in the course of many years, ever been
inconvenienced by tlie use of a 3-inch drain, whilst other houses of similar size, having
6-incli and even 9-incli drains, have been seriously affijcted. Much depends on the fall,
and on the careful lading of the pipes, and something tn the quantify ot water used for
household purposes. Where a watei" closet is placed at or near the head of a drain, a
stoppage of its pipe often o''curs
;
while grease trom the kitchen sink incrusting in the
pipe, for want of occasional flushing with hot water, is ancjther Irequent cause. Sewers
also occasionally require assistance by flushing them from their head. One of the
best arrangements proposed is that of an iron tilting ci>tern, to hold about 90 gallons,
inserted in a brick pit at the head of a pipe sewer. This cistern, with its br.iss bt-ar-ngs
and plates, brickwork, stone cover, and water tap, costs about nine pounds, and if one
were placed at the head of each pipe sewer in a town, and all were turned off' at the
same time, a material assistance in keeping the main line also clear, wcmld be found.
The
"
self-acting syphon flush tank
"
is now much used for such purposes. Rogers Field's
patent consists of two concentric tubes, the outer one being closed at the top ;tnd steadied
by radial ribs projecting from the inner tube. The annular spiace between the tubes
constitutes the ascending or shorter leg, and the inner tube the descending or longer leg,
of the syphon (Bui/dcr,
1879, xxxvii.
1,002).
There is another arrangement patented
by him, combined with a grease intercepter. (See Wati-e Waste Phf.ventek.) A some-
what similar one is put forward as
"
Adams' patent flushing syphon." Another by
Banner, as in The Sanitarian's Comjjanion.
1888'.
The house drain should be eflfectually cut off from aerial connection witli the
common sewer, or any other house ilrain
;
also, the house should be cut olf from aerial
connection with all soil and waste pipes
;
and all these external pipes and the house
drnin should be so formed and so connected that they shall at all times be freely tluslied
with fresh air, and all contribute to their mutual purification.
"
House drains," writes Mr.
Hon'-ynian, '' as usually laid at pres^nt are nrit ventilated. A 4-inch drain, as recom-
mended by Sir Robert Rawiinson
(
7Vas. of Sanit. Inst., vol. vi.,
p. 72)
and others,
cannot be ventilated by merely leaving openings at each end of it. The friction in such
a pipe would neutralise a considerable amount of energy, aiid there is no energy. The
movement of the air is sometimes in one direction, sometimes in the other, and the
quantity which gains admission is just about sufficient to promote fermenta'ion and the
propagation of organisms, and to allow the escape of abominably polluted air at either
end, or into the house if it have the chance. My advice is to increase the size of the
drain, to confine the sewage in a narrow channel, and to kee.p the whole clean. I am not
pirepared to say tliat even a well-ventilated house drain would be superior to one abso-
lutely without ventilation, from which atmospheric air is entirely excluded
;
but it
appears to me to be indisputable that there must be either thorough ventilation or none,
and that in this case the usual via media is the very worst course that can possibly b'j
adopted."
1888-1'. A system has lately
(1887)
been patented by Mr. H. R. Newton, architect,
whereby he shows the absolute necessity for the total enclosure of sewage fronr air in
all ways, to prevent exhalations arising, and to absolutely control the method for their
suppression. He points out the injurious influence of forcing air into fouled water in any
way, or of allowing fouled wafer to have any contact with air; drains and sewers, he
maintains, should be always full, instead of empty.
1888/. Various arranaements are advertised for obtaining access to drains for inspec-
tion without the necessity for breaking into them, or for clearing stoppages. At the end
of the drain next the sewer (and perhaps at other places) should be formed a manhole
or
"
inspection
"
chamber, having a syphon trap in it, or between it and the sewer. It may
be formed of bricks in cement, sometimes set on a concrete bed, and is usually 3 feet
6 inches by 2 feet 6 inches in the clear, and finished with an air-tight cover, as by a