Evening star., 1897-08-26
THE CITY PLUMBING
Annual Report of the Superintendent
of the District Service.
SUGGESTED SYSTEMS AND REFORMS
Sanitary Condition Of the Various
Public School Buildings.
THE AMENDED REGULATIONS

The operations of the plumbing depart
| II ent of the District for the past fiscal
year were made public today in the annual
report of the superintendent of plumbing
In his report he says:
| THE operations of the division of plumb
| ing inspection during the fiscal year ended
June 80 1897, show a marked increase in
the number of inspections over those made
| in any previous year, the total being IA. 1l:.
| The total for the preceding year was SGT,
a difference. of 5,436
| This increase is due to four principal
cause.-the introduction, through the ope-
| ration of the compulsory act, of house
sewers and water supplies into many
premises heretofore unserved; the greater
| facility Of movement afforded the assistant
| inspectors by their equipment with bicy
| cles, the increase of one-siXth in the force
| of assistants, and an added attention to
| the fulness of the record of inspections
made.
| 1.-The act of Congress approved May 1S,
| 1885, compelling the connection of un-
| drained and unSewered premises with the
| sewer system, and the substitution of wa
| ter closets for privies, has resulted in the
| service OF nearly 100 notices by the health
| officer. of which, it is believed, at least
| 1000 have now teen complied with. Each
| of these cases has required two or more
| ins pections.
| System for New buildings.
"The examination and approval of plans
| and specifications of the plumbing systems
| for new buildings has been conducted as
| heretofore, the total number considered
| having decreased from 964 in the previous
year to III for the year just past. Especial
attention has been directed to securing an
advance upon the current practice regard
ing location and directness of run of soil
lines. and with good results. 1t is my
conviction that frame bath rooms should
not be authorized. as at present, to be add
ed to brick dwellings, for the reason that
| it is impracticable to adequately protect
| the waste and supply lines located in such
supplementary structures against the ef-
fects of frost and the settlement of walls
and floors.
The number of two-story houses in which
| the use of a-inch soil stacks has been
authorized in the past six months is fifty,
a number sufficient to show that the ap-
| prehension of stoppage which was felt by
plumbers upon their Introduction no long
er exists. l am not informed that a single
case of obstruction has resulted from the
use of the smaller size, as now designed.
| 1t is believed that the greater security at
| tained by the substitution of galvanized
wrou"ht-iron pipe with recessed threaded
| fittings for the common cast-ron soil stack
| of small size will justify the slight increase
| in the cost of the material.
Repairs nrd decentralization.
1.-The understanding had with the inspec-
| tor of buildings relative to the advance ap-
proval of plumbing plans for repairs and
reconstruction of buildings has now been
] brought into a permanent and recognized
| form by requirements made in the new
| building regulations
by the coincidence of three conditions
a new main sewer system, recent house
plumbing, and an isolation of dwellings
J from each other-attending the introduc-
| ton of sewerage into the lexington valley
and Brookland drainage area, an oppor-
| tunty was afforded for the safe omission
| of running traps from the house sewers of
| this district. The Commissioners. upon
| consideration of the facts. ordered the
| traps to be not required within the limits
specified, an exception which it is hoped
may in the future be applied to certain
other water sheds.
"lt is provided in amended plumbing reg
ulations that all exterior stop-cocks on
water service lines are to be supplied by
| the water department.; that all tapping of
main sewers, whether the material be Of
brick or vitrified pipe. shall be done by an
employe of the District, and not by the
plumbers; that the back vent from water
closet trap may be omitted if the fixture
is the upper only closet on the stack
and has it's center within two feet of the
center of the stack; that water services be
laid to specified depths, and that a terra
Gotta fresh air inlet pipe shall be termi-
mated at the ground level with cast iron.
1T has frequently come to my notice that
many well-informed citizens have no
knowledge of the willingness of this office
| to render assistance without charge to
such as desire to determine whether the
plumbing work in their homes is in safe
condition or otherwise. Indeed, many who
understand in a vague way the dangers
arising through the admission of sewer air
to their dwellings, fail, either through
apathy or the fear of expense TO obtain
any assurance that their own persons and
families protected against this insidi-
1l.s1;
ing carefully prepared circular letter, SO
phrased not to excite undue alarm in
over-cautous minds, but indicating where
common defects in old plumbing may be
looked for and the nature of such defects
as well as the readiness of this bureau to
afford expert service by advice or examin-
alton and rendering its free cooperation in
making tests of house plumbing.
Dangers of AsphyxintfOn.
Some study was given during the winter
of 1915 to determining the best practical
method of obviating the dangers of acct
dental asphyXiation through the escape of
illuminating gas, due to defects in old fix
lures and pipes, and that investigation has
been continued during the period covered
by This report. An opinion expressed
by the coroner in January 1895, that GER
tain deaths which took place about that
time were due entirely to defective gas
fixtures He recommended that a thor
ough inspection of all buildings especially
sleeping apartments therein, be made rel
ative 10 the condition of the fixtures. Two
similar instances were brought to public
notice during this year.
I'm February, 1897 list of the principal
hotels and boarding houses was collated
and forwarded to the Commissioners, with
a request that it be determined if author
ity existed to make inspection of the gas
appliances in these buildings. The opin-
ion rendered by the attorney was an ad-
verse one, and no further action was TAX
en- / consider that the conditions justify
the enactment of a statute allowing the
entrance of my assistants for such exami-
nation and compelling repairs after due
service of notice.
Precautions in other Cities.
THAT this subject is deemed of pressing
Importance in other municipalities is evi-
denced by the report made to the Massa-
chusetts legislature by the board of gas
and electric light commissioners of the
city of Boston on February 20. 1897. The
report states that four propositions have
been considered by the board. First To
require the use, in the sleeping rooms of
hotels and lodging houses, of some kind of
burner from which the gas cannot escape