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52
FLOODING OF HOUSE BASEMENTS IN CLAPTON PARK.
During the period I have been Medical Officer of Health for
Hackney, my attention has frequently been called to the flooding of
the basements of houses with sewage, in different parts of the district
during unusual rain falls; but while in some parts the incident is
fortuitous and apparently unpreventable, there is one district where
flooding occurs with so marked a constancy after rainfall as to cause
me to believe there is some local condition favouring such an event.
The area in question is situated at the most eastern part of
Clapton Park, stretching from Glyn Road on the west to the Hackney
Cut on the east, and from Millfields Road on the north to Blinco
Road and Redwald Road on the south. I do not mean to state that
the whole of the houses in this area are subject to floods during
heavy rainfall; but where basements are present in the house, there,
with few exceptions, flooding takes place ; and if more houses in this
area had been provided with basements, more would be subject
to floods from overcharged sewers.
As I remarked above, the recurrence of floods in the area caused
me to make enquiries as to its cause; and I have been much assisted
in this enquiry by Mr. Lawrenson, the Surveyor of Sewers, who has,
with the permission of Mr. Lovegrove, your Chief Surveyor, kindly
supplied me with information as to the character of gradients, depth,
etc., of the sewers in this locality—so far as his knowledge extends.
The following table which I have compiled from the information thus
afforded shows:—
1.—That the whole of the sewage of the above district is
carried off by the Marsh Sewer, which receives also the sewage
from Tottenham; and that now its dry weather flow is about 18
inches. This leads to the result that a considerable length of
the main sewers conveying the sewage from the eastern section
of Clapton Park is charged with backed up sewage.
2.—The gradients of many of the branch sewers are too
small for the effectual conveyance away of the sewage.
3.—That owing to the presence of basements in certain
streets, the gradients are still further reduced ; the consequence
being that the house drains are almost flat.