The drainage of Hobart

Having lately had to report officially upon the sewerage of the City of Hobart, it has struck me that it might be useful to place before the Royal Society some facts and considerations connected with the subject. It is so important that the more it is discussed the better, provided that the discussion leads to the adoption, and the early adoption, of the best means to ameliorate the present condition of things.
To place the matter before you, allow me to make the following recapitulation from my official report to the Central Board of Health: The area of the city is 1,270 acres; the population is about 25,000; the number of houses is about 4,500; the water supply is said to be equal to 65gal. a day to each inhabitant, or 330gal to each house. There are probably 400 houses with waterclosets, 600 with privies with moveable pails that are periodically emptied by the nightmen in the service of the corporation, and the remaining 3,500 have ordinary privies, the cesspools of which are emptied at much longer intervals of time. The length of public sewers is not accurately known, but the greater part of the city is without underground drainage. The length of streets is about 37 miles.
No plan of sewage treatment is at present proposed, but the outfall sewers are so arranged as to admit of the construction of depositing tanks and other works, should such at any time hereafter be found desirable.
Various problems had to be solved before any complete system could be properly formulated. In the solutions herein proposed it will be found that the greatest efficiency is invariably accompanied by the greatest economy.