Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/433

 May 24, 1872. THE BUILDING NEWS. 411 ———————————— ‘The relations between the authorities | 2in.—One house above £10 rental per annum and supplying water to any town, and the plumbers trading in it, have a most important influence on the efficiency of any arrange- ments which it is attempted to carry out for controlling the distribution. It is notorious that, when left without regulation, the water fittings supplied to the customers in a town are very indifferent, often lamentably bad. This arises partly from ignorance or care- lessness on the part of the plumbers as to what are the best modes of construction, partly from working cheaply (to satisfy speculating builders and others who wish to limit the outlay), and partly from a dis- graceful desire to make: future work by repairs.” So says Mr. Pole, and our expe- rience exactly confirms it. Tt is one of the first necessities, in intro- ducing a constant service, to improve the quality of the work done, and on the first introduction of the constant supply at Man- chester the Corporation undertook the plumbing work themselves, as had been suc- cessfully done in smaller towns, but the clamour and opposition of the plumbers was too much for popular representation, and the system was gradually relaxed. The Corpora- tion discontinued doing plumbing work, but they established a warehouse or shop for the sale of fittings, purchasing the very best, and, asfar as possible, compelling the plumbers to purchase from them, allowing the adoption of none which were not approved; but even this arrangement did not work well, and the Corporation considered how it would be possible to throw the trade again entirely into the hands of the plumbers, but at the same time to keep the necessary control over them; and the plan adopted was to invite the respectable members of the trade to sign an agreement, binding themselves to conform to the regulations of the Corporation, and to execute all work, both as to material and workmanship, in such a manner as the Corpo- ration should approve; in consideration of which they should be appointed “ authorised plumbers,” and their names published and widely-circulated as recommended for em- ployment. The plumbers gladly accepted this invitation, and the system, which has now been many years in operation, is found to work exceedingly well. It is true that the Corporation have no legal power to prevent work being done by unauthorised tradesmen, but the advantage to the consumer in having the sanction of the Corporation to the em- ployment of a plumber is so great that few eases of this kind happen. The general working of the thing is that when premises are to be laid on the con- sumer applies to the Corporation to recom- mend hima plumber, who, however, do not name any particular person, but invite the consumer to select one from the authorised list. It is, therefore, a matter of great interest to all respectable plumbers to get on the list: they are only admitted on satisfac- tory proof of geod character and practical competency. ‘They, and not the consumers, are the persons held responsible for com- pliance with tke regulations, and if they transgress these they are fined, and threat- ened with exclusion. If, on the other hand, work is done by an unauthorised plumber, the consumer who employs him is held responsible, which is another strong induce- ment to keep to the authorised list. The service pipes to the houses are gene- rally of lead. Iron pipes have been some- times used, but have soon fsiled from corro- sion. The lead pipes must be of the follow- ing weights per yard :— in. BMG AITCLELM.. sececsancchnaisseca) D es io 1 a Pete ph ABM eel oiks dicen onal. _Dwelling-houses are supplied by ‘service pipes of the following diameters :-— not exceeding £20, or not more than two cottages not exceeding £10 per annum each. 4in.—One house above £20 rent, but not ex- ceeding £70. Six houses in one block may be supplied by this size of pipe, but the rents must not exceed £14 per annum each. 3in.—One house from £70 to £200 per annum, but not more than four houses together at £50 each. Seventeen houses in one block may be sup- plied from this size of pipe, if the rents do not exceed £12 per annum each, The full diameter of pipe must be con- tinued through the whole of the houses sup- plied together. The service pipes are to be laid at a depth of not less than 5ft., to pro- tect them from frost. Ata less depth it has been -found by experience that the water freezes and bursts the pipes, and on thawing causes waste of water. Every pipe leading from a street main to supply any house or other premises is pro- vided with a stop-cock, either inside the house, or, if outside, made easily accessible by an iron box and cover let into the paving. The object of this cock is to allow of the service pipe being stopped off at any time, if an accident happens to the pipes or fittings within the house, without shutting the water off from the street mains, and so depriving the neighbouring premises of their supply. There are different opinions in different places as to the advisability of this stop-cock. It is objected to in some other well-managed towns, as at Norwich and Sheffield, for example, partly on account of the expense, and partly because it enables the consumers or their plumbers, by turning off the water, tomake alterations in the house fittings with- out the knowledge of the authorities. It is answered, however, by the advocates of the stop-cocks, that this evil is provided against by periodical inspections. Tn both the towns named, where stop cocks are objected to, the waterworks belong to private companies, and it may be that they have not the powers to inspect the house fittings that the Corporation of Manchester have, and so protect themselves against alterations by making it impossible to make them without notice being given to turn off the water. The stop-cock in Manchester must be of the screw-down kind, which is not liable to stick fast by remaining Jong out of use. Great importance is attached in Manchester to the kind, construction, and quality of the draw-off taps. No special maker is recom- mended, as at Norwich and Sheffield, the supply being open to all, but the general description, strength, and perfection of work- manship are strictly insisted on. The taps must be on the serew-down principle with loose valves and stufling-boxes, and be capable of resisting a pressure of 300Ib. to the square inch, to which they are subjected in testing. The bib and stop taps must be of the following average weights :— in. 1 diameter mistop—aies ” Double valve bib taps to be of the ing weights :— follow- in. 02. 3 diameter 225 + . - 135 nc 10} Under the system of constant service cisterms are not required, except for water- closets, urinals, and some other special uses, and are not provided in the lower class of property. In the better houses, however, cisterns for domestic supply are very com- mon, and are encouraged by the authorities, as enabling the mains to be shut off tempo- rarily for repairs, without depriving the houses of water. But this is a very lame provision; it ie simply undoing with one hand what is well done with the other. [If cisterns are to be used for domestic supply the intermittent system of supply is as good as the constant. The truth is that the Cor- poration here display weakness. The plumber urges, in his own interest, the necessity of cisterns, finding what excuse he can for doing so, and if the best is the one stated—viz., to enable the mains to be shut off temporarily for repairs, &c., then the whole of the pre- viously well considered and arranged plan to give a constant supply is nullified. here is a lame provision made to counteract the other one—viz.,‘‘ to fix the chief supply taps on the rising pipe, so that the water may be drawn for use without passing through the cistern, there being, however, some means of drawing from the cistern when required.” If this is correctly described the benefit of a constant supply of water is nullified. For water-closets cisterns are necessary, and so far as the better class of houses have water-closets so far may cisterns be per- mitted, but to draw the water for the other uses of the house from the cistern by ‘‘ some means” is a matter which, if it has been thoroughly considered by the Corporation at all, must have been either an oversight or worse, In the matter of overflow pipes from cisterns none are allowed to lead into the drains, but detective or warning-pipes are substituted, which are brought through the external wall of the house at such a conspicuous point below the level of the bottom of the cistern as may be directed, so that if at any time water is running to waste it can be seen by the inspectors. At the time when the causes of waste were minutely inquired into the ball taps of cisterns were found to be fruitful sources, of waste. The following are some of the defects, found most common :— The bad form and soft material of the rod con- necting the tap to the ball. The ball becoming loose on the rod and losing its leverage. The ball being too small and of insufficient float- ing power. The ball getting drowned, by falling too low when the cistern is empty, and being unable to_ recover itself. The ball leaking, from bad soldering. The insufficient strength to resist high pressures. The defective construction of the valve. The insufficiency of the fastening of the tap to the ball rod. For these reasons a thorough revision of the construction of the ball taps was de- termined on, and the following requirements made. The diameters of balls for ball-taps to be as follow :— For a lin. pipe the diameter of the ball not less than Gin. For a 3in, pipe the diameter of the ball not less than 5tin. : For a din. pipe the diameter of the ball not less than 44in. For a in. pipe the diameter of the ball not less than 44in. The rods or spindles from the balls to the taps must not be less than the following lengths :— in. in. 1 diameter of tap...... 13 long. 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