PLUMBING PROBLEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14209, 4 November 1909, Page 6

PLUMBING PROBLEMS.

| A PUBLIC HEALTH QUESTION! j ENCOURAGING LAX WORK ■ ■ .. • ■ ■ . " ' 0-ve of the qualifications of a plumber'in' ; Auckland is to have a working knowledea' ' of from half-a-dozen to a dozen sets of hr " ?$ • laws. - The reason, for this is 'that tJh'el&N destinies of the suburbs are guided b " l "''**- something like that number of local bodies'' > each of which hap, its own set of K* laws. Some plumbers meet trouble halt : way by devoting their spare time to V study of the various by-laws, but r mojfc plumbers content themselves with knowina the city by-laws, and studying the sal* urban by-laws just as much as their varVT'' I makes necessary. Some plumbers, whoa* # course of reading has been liberal enou ,£v#. to embrace all the suburban • by-laws de '&$£ clare that there is in them such diversity as to make the course an education in iU - self. The world moves apace, however and in order to economise time, that'-'fiat''-"''' now to be spent in reading by-lawsiftSß' master plumbers of Auckland are T asking : ' the various local bodies within the Auct land and suburban drainage area to adoc£" uniform by-laws throughout. 'In this •»»''*' quest they are seconded by the men. " A more serious consideration than inconvenience to plumbers is, however, involved*'^ l ' in a continuance of the present state of' ' ■ things; the public health is threatened. ' ; - ; i , This aspect was elaborated by Mr. A ji Letham, secretary of the Master Plumber*' Union, in the course of conversation with a Herald representative. Many of tW by-laws adhered to by suburban local bodies Y were not governed by modern sanilarw ".'/•' science, and left loopholes by which'repiW& domic-breeding smells could assail inhabitants, Mr. Leiiiam said, and he proceeded to enumerate some. Several of the local authorities, he remarked, did not insist on. waste pipes being trapped, and this madi the house liable to a malodorous draught Some of the by-laws, also, did not provid* ml for the placing of terminal vents on drains' ' with the result that the drains got foul'' and contaminated the water in gully C'*/ trap, to the detriment of the health; of tSiWi occupants of the house. •" Another '■?< com.' .' , mon mistake sanctioned by some.;6fitl«j I %*'i; suburban by-laws was to allow waste pipes - from sinks, baths, and basins to discharge into soil and down pipes, instead of indw*l"; pendent! - Waste pipes were also discharged into drains without gully traps. $£ The result .was that gas from the drain ';;£" might escape into the house. Again;-**-many of the drains in the suburbs wi?re; put in without intercepter traps, leaving '?£ nothing to stop sewer gas from goine it to-*&'-' the private drain. The Parnell bv-lavj,. '$■• Mr. Letham said, were fairly good, but the, city were the best, and ;if the by-laws 'nib,* suburban bodies were made to conform witS :>.' them there would be little to complain pfj^r r It was, of course, open for • plumbers'. ,t2 ■''. ; set their own standard when doing private ; work, but a large • amount of work was' done by tender, and in tendering it waa necessary to allow for no better class of {■:,? work than was insisted on By the by-laws. Mr. Letham also insisted strongly on th'aSf need for more thorough inspection raftlj*li§ suburbs.