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The Board further state—
(1) That notice to "cut off" is sent to both the Clerk and the Medical
Officer of Health of the Local Authority concerned, instead of only
to one of those officers as formerly.
(2) That during the half-year ending Michaelmas, 1906, with 1,100,000
supplies, only 214 were withdrawn for non-payment of water rate, and
of these only about 150 were inhabited houses.
(3) That with a view to giving the Local Authority information as to the
reason of disconnection, we have arranged that the notices sent to them
shall in future declare in all cases the reason for the withdrawal.
STREET CLEANSING AND REMOVAL OF HOUSE REFUSE.
Prior to 1891 the work of cleansing the streets and removing house refuse was
done by a contractor. In that year the late Vestry undertook to carry out the work
by direct labour, and it has since so been done by the Sanitary Authority. For
the following brief note as to the system in operation 1 am indebted to Mr. T. L.
Hustler, the Borough Surveyor, under whose supervision the work is executed.
When first undertaken the whole of the work of cleansing the streets was done
by day, but after a trial of three months this was found to bei unsatisfactory, and
a system of partial day and night was adopted and is the one now in operation.
The whole of the main thoroughfares and most of the paved streets are cleansed
at night, and the remaining macadamised and secondary streets by day, all the
streets in the Borough, including courts and passages, being cleansed daily at least.
Principal roads are also cleared if required by an orderly gang which is set on
according to the state of the weather. All gullies are emptied and cleansed by
night once a week. A special gang of men is engaged to sweep the principal
macadamised roads on Saturday nights to make them tidy for Sunday.
The slop picked up from the roads is taken to the Council's wharf to be barged
away by a contractor. On an average about 17,000 tons are thus disposed of per
annum. Dry sweepings and market refuse are taken to the destructor and burned
whenever possible.
The refuse from the whole of the houses in the Borough is called for and
removed once a week, but in many cases where special request has been made
practically a daily collection is in vogue. All house refuse is taken to the dust
destructor and burnt. About 30,000 tons are so disposed of during the year.
From the end of March to the end of September the whole of the main roads,
when required, are watered three times and the bye-roads twice in the course of
the day. Special attention is directed to keeping roads well watered where food
is exposed for sale in dry and dusty weather, two additional vans being employed
to assist in carrying out this watering efficiently.
SANITARY WORK.
Preliminary notices as to insanitary conditions were served in respect to 3,341
premises, of which 348 were dealt with under the supervision of the Chief Inspector,