Welcome to Newman Plumbing

Hawthorn Plumbing Experts Since 1988

Phone Newman Plumbing on: 9899 3442

Night Carts and Mains

As well as regulating the built environment, council faced the difficult task of providing the necessary infrastructure to support a modern, healthy community. Councils employed “night men”, private contractors who visited homes and emptied privies into an enclosed cart, disposing of the waste in trenches and market gardens on the outskirts of Melbourne. The system was unhygienic and open to abuse by unscrupulous carters who simply emptied their loads into the Yarra or into the open gutters along the road side.

The 1888 Royal Commission into Public Health in Melbourne resolved that some co-ordinated action should deal with the increasing filth and disease of a metropolis without sewerage. That “unsavoury but very important question” was dealt with in 1891 through the formation of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works {MMBW}. After years of bitterness and fighting over representation and taxation, the municipalities came together to manage Melbourne’s sewerage problems. Representatives on the MMBW, which consisted of forty members was determined by 1890 property values. A small municipality like Hawthorn, with only a modest amount of commercial property, elected one member to the board; there were three from Prahran, four from South Melbourne and seven from Melbourne proper.

Although the MMBW now had sole responsibility for financing and building Melbourne’s sewerage system, local councils still had to deal with the problem of sewerage disposal in the meantime. In 1892 Hawthorn Council instituted the more hygienic double-pan system, where night-men replaced the used pan with a deodorised, clean one, removing the waste in a hermetically seal carrier. Removal took place between the hours of 11p.m. and 5a.m. at an annual charge of 22 shillings to each householder, with all new closets built according to council specifications. As a result, an 1898 report claimed that the health of Hawthorn residents had improved substantially; at least no deaths from infectious disease were registered that year. But poor conditions still prevailed in low lying areas of the city where typhoid cases were found.

The Boroondara Standard reported a typical case in Spencer Street: “Near the house where the disease occurred there is some low-lying portion of some ground that has been filled in; towards Elgin Street this low ground is in bad condition, as some of the houses in College Street drain into it: the sewerage accumulates here and stagnates, there being no drainage or outlet for it”

The plans for Hawthorn’s sewerage system were finally completed between 1902 and 1907. Baths, sinks and water closets were to be linked to MMBW’s reticulation sewer feeding into the new branch line tracing the path of Hawthorn Creek. Hawthorn’s waste then flowed into Richmond main which crossed the river at South Yarra. Gravity carried the sewerage through the Hobson’s Bay main until it reached the lowest point in the system at Spotswood pumping station. Such enormous construction took time to complete. In 1914, despite frenetic efforts of the MMBW, 140 dwellings, mainly in the south-east portion of Auburn in Hawthorn’s east, were still not connected.

The last Doncaster tram ran on 6th January, 1896.

Newman plumbing are the experienced plumbers in Hawthorn providing plumbing services to properties including:

• Blocked drains
• Hot water units
• Roof leaks
• Burst pipes
• Taps & Toilets
• Water jet drain cleaning
• Gas leaks

With knowledge in resolving plumbing issues that are common to Hawthorn homes and businesses we are able to expertly help you with your plumbing issues. For a reliable and prompt Hawthorn plumber contact Newman Plumbing on 9899 3442

Our Melbourne plumbing services cover the following areas:

Alphington Ashburton Ashwood Balwyn Balwyn East Balwyn North Blackburn Blackburn North Blackburn South Box Hill Box Hill North Box Hill South	Bulleen Burwood Burwood East Canterbury Camberwell Clifton Hill Collingwood Deepdene Doncaster Doncaster East Donvale Fitzroy	Forest Hill Glen Iris Glen Waverley Hawthorn Hawthorn East Ivanhoe Kew Kew East Mitcham Mont Albert Mont Albert North Mount Waverley	Nunawading Park Orchards Richmond Ringwood Surrey Hills Templestowe Templestowe Lower Vermont Vermont South Wantirna Wheelers Hill

 

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