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Complaints. 4,703 complaints of nuisance were received and investigated.
The necessary action was taken where defects or nuisances were discovered.
Water Supply. The Metropolitan Water Board is responsible for the water
supply for all domestic purposes in the Borough, all dwelling houses being supplied
direct from the public water mains.
Wells. There are now only eight wells in use in the Borough, and these are
used chiefly for trade and kindred purposes.
One private spring in the Woolwich Borough is at Conduit Meadows, Eltham.
There are three private deep wells used for trade purposes and also deep wells at
the Council's Woolwich and Plumstead Baths and at the refuse destructor plant
at Plumstead. Another deep well, the supply from which is unfit for drinking, is
situate in the Royal Dockyard. Other wells within the Borough have been sealed
off and there is no access to them.
Drainage. The inspection of new drains is carried out by the Borough Engineer
and reconstruction and repair of drainage work supervised by the Health Department.
During the year repairs to 260 drains were carried out. Twenty drainage systems
and 6 combined drainage systems were reconstructed.
Smoke Abatement. During the year 36 observations were made on factory
chimneys in the Borough and in two cases offences were committed. In one of
these cases the nuisance was abated forthwith and in the other the emission of smoke
was still the subject of correspondence between the Council and the owners of the
factory at the end of the year.
At the annual meeting of the National Smoke Abatement Society, at which
the Council was represented, a resolution was passed : " That the Minister of Health
be requested to make a condition of qualification for their approval of new housing
schemes or for the issue of a licence in respect of houses built by private enterprise,
that any solid fuel-burning appliances proposed to be installed should be on the
Government's list of approved appliances." The Council supported this resolution.
Rag Flock. Rag flock must comply with the Rag Flock Regulations, 1912,
in which it is laid down that soluble chlorine in the form of chlorides must not exceed
30 parts of chlorine in 100,000 parts of flock.
The Public Analyst reported that the three samples submitted for analysis
during the year conformed to the standard of cleanliness laid down in the Regulations,
the number of parts of chlorine being 11, 8 and 9 respectively.
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