London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1877
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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The following table exhibits the results of observation as to the degree of efficiency of filtration of Thames waters distributed by the local Companies (monthly examination):—
| Names of Companies. | Number of occasions when clear and transparent. | Number of occasions when slightly turbid. | Number of occasions when turbid. | Number of occasions when very turbid. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Middlesex | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Junction | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Chelsea | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
As in former years, the West Middlesex Company is the only
one that uniformly distributed water which, examined in a two-foot
tube, presented a clear and transparent appearance: but it is admitted
that the filtration of the river water generally has undergone
great and continuous improvement since the year 1868,
when Professor Frankland instituted these observations. When
examined by the microscope the sediment deposited by turbid
water on standing is almost always found to contain numbers of
living and moving organisms.
The subjoined table shows with
what frequency these organisms have been observed in the water supplied by the local Companies (monthly examination) :—
| Names of Companies | Number of occasions when raovine organisms were found. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1869 | 1870 | 1871 | 1872 | 1873 | 1874 | 1875 | 1876 | 1877 | |
| West Middlesex | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Junction | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| Chelsea | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
The subjoined table exhibits the averages for 1877 of solid impurity, and other particulars, the numbers relating to 100,000 parts of each water : —
| Name of Company. | Temperature in Centigrade Degrees. | Total Solid Matters. | Organic Carbon. | Organic Nitrogen. | Ammonia. | Nitrogen as Nitrates and Nitrites. | Total combined Nitrogen. | Chlorine. | Total Hardness. | Proportionate amount of organic Elements, that in the Kent Company's Water being taken as 1* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | º | 42.38 | .019 | .011 | 0 | .491 | .501 | 2.48 | 27.5 | 1.0 |
| 12.8 | ||||||||||
| West Middlesex | 12.1 | 27.41 | .170 | .029 | 0 | .216 | .215 | 1.53 | 19.3 | 3.4 |
| Grand Junction | 10.8 | 28.24 | .176 | .034 | 0 | .216 | .250 | 1.53 | 19.8 | 3.6 |
| Chelsea | 11.5 | 27.14 | .195 | .032 | 0 | .224 | .256 | 1.55 | 18.8 | 3.9 |
The monthly Reports of Colonel Bolton, R.E., the water examiner,
which are regularly forwarded to me, contain a variety of interesting
information on the state of the water in the Thames, &c.,
and with reference to the state of filtration, and the apparatus and
machinery of supply generally. Colonel Bolton states that the Chelsea
Company are now in the same favourable position as the West
Middlesex, in having sufficient storage capacity and impounding
reservoirs to avoid taking in water when floods prevail. The
Grand Junction Company, on the other hand, is not so