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
Mile End 1859
Report of the Medical Officer of Health to the Vestry of Mile End Old Town
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| Oct., 1858. | Novem.,1858. | Jan., 1859. | May, 1859. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Impurityper gallon. | OrganicImpurityper gallon. | Total Impurity per gallon. | Organic Impurityper gallon. | TotalImpurityper gallon. | Organic Impurityper gallon. | Total Impurityper gallon. | Organic Impurity per' gallon. | |
| Pure Distilled Water | ||||||||
| Chelsea | ||||||||
It is desirable that the much greater amount of impurity
contained in the water of surface wells should be set forth
in plain terms; also that the danger of their contamination
through percolation of poisonous filth through the subsoil,
should be clearly understood. Cesspools and drains are often
made of porous and destructible materials, and of a kind subject
to rather speedy decay. It is very easy for a surface
well (from 12 to 16 feet would be the ordinary depth in our
Hamlet) to become contaminated by the escape of the contents
of a decayed cesspool or sewer, and that the laws