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22
The New River Company distributes water over about three-quarters of the parish,
and the East London the remaining quarter, comprising portions of Haggerston and
Shoreditch South.
The supply generally in the district is constant, the water being drawn from pipes
communicating directly with the Companies' mains without the intervention of
cisterns.
Cisterns for containing water for domestic purposes have now nearly all been
abolished; a few, however, still remain, and these are dealt with by the sanitary
officials when necessary, as, from time to time, they come under their notice.
For some few years past complaints have occasionally arisen through the cutting
off of the water during the night in the portion of the parish which is supplied by
the East London Water Company. During the summer months of this year there
were frequent complaints made with regard to this deficiency in the water supply.
The water-closets, as a rule, are provided with small waste-preventor cisterns,
only capable of holding two or three gallons, and as they are soon exhausted, when
the water is cut off, the closets are left without any water for flushing purposes, a state
of things which is liable to be attended by serious nuisance.
It is only in certain portions of the district supplied by the East London Water
Company that the supply appears to have been interfered with, that mainly
in the region of Weymouth Terrace, Hackney Road, Brunswick Street, and some of
the other streets in the neighbourhood.
The attention of the Company has been frequently called to the inconvenience
and nuisance caused by this interference with the water supply, which has been
complained of as taking place during the night, and the explanation which has been
furnished by the Clerk of the Company at the request of the Board of Directors, is
that the step was rendered necessary, as the storage in the reservoirs had fallen far
below the usual quantity, owing to the deficient rain-fall, and consequent non-repletion
of the springs which resulted from the drought of last year.
It seems that the volume of water flowing down the Lea Valley had been
diminished, and it had become necessary to economise the supply in the district, and
it was thought that the stoppage during the night would be attended with the least
inconvenience.
It was the opinion of the Directors that it was absolutely essential, being, indeed,
imposed by public and private Water Acts, that due provision should be made in each
house for storing a sufficient quantity of water to meet emergencies. It was also
stated that the constant service would be renewed in its entirety as soon as it was
possible to do so.
In October, a special report of the engineer of the East London Water Company
upon the temporary cessation of the constant service of water, together with a better
urging the Vestry to insist upon the provision of a proper cistern for each dwelling,