The city is well supplied with water and its sanitary state is good.
The sanitary condition is generally bad, and many forms of disease prevail that are not due to the climate.
In 1885 the urban sanitary district was erected into a parliamentary borough, returning two members for the northern and southern divisions respectively.
The Parkes Museum of the Sanitary Institute is in Margaret Street.
In October 1896 the sanitary board census estimated the population as 107,078, of whom 50,907 were Europeans.