despite the opposition, manchester's first proper council was elected in 1838, although its area of jurisdiction was quite small, and there were independent areas within the city, such as chorlton-on-medlock, which had their own committees to manage local functions. the new council began the task of constructing a brick-built sewerage network within the city. in 1847, john francis the borough surveyor suggested using egg-shaped clay pipes instead, and using these proved to be much quicker. however, the period also saw the introduction of the water closet, the forerunner of the modern flush toilet, and this resulted in much larger volumes of effluent entering the system. the council tried to limit their use to public buildings and the homes of the rich, as the waste was discharged in an untreated state into the rivers, which were becoming grossly polluted. this policy was not successful, and by the early 1890s, around 90 per cent of the housing in manchester had water closets.