Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Report on the sanitary condition of the Hackney District for the year 1889
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*Ford's Buildings, Cross Street, Homerton.
Lorkin's Buildings, Shepherd's Lane, High
Street, Homerton.
*Houses have been pulled down to clear the ground for these buildings.
River Lee.—The state of the Lee during the year varied
very little from its ordinary condition since the Tottenham
effluent has been carried into the Hackney sewers in the
summer months. Towards the middle and the end of May the
water has always deteriorated considerably, but this year it did
not to so a great extent as usual, in consequence of the low
temperature of April and the excess of rain in May. There
were some hot days in May, immediately after which the river
assumed a dark colour and gave off a slightly offensive smell,
but the rain and cooler weather checked the progress of
the deterioration. In October, when a low temperature and
much rain prevailed, the river was not so bad as in 1888. On
October 1st a sample of the effluent was obtained a few hours
after it had ceased to run into the Hackney sewers, when I
reported that it was by no means good, as it had a strong
urinous smell, contained a large quantity of chlorine and much
ammonia. The effluent varied at different times during the
winter, but was rarely in a satisfactory condition. On one
occasion, in February, it was dark and offensive; also contained
much chlorine and a considerable deposit. In one or two other
instances it had the smell of having been kept too long in the
precipitating tanks, or of the sludge not having been removed
sufficiently often. Altogether, the present is by no means a
satisfactory arrangement, as owing to the small amount of
water ordinarily flowing into the Lee-cut above Tottenham'
and especially in summer or in dry weather, and also
the large proportion of the effluent to the water. In my
opinion no sewage effluent should be allowed to run into it.
This applies a fortiori to any proposal to carry any effluent,
however good, into the Lee in the summer months, as it is
admitted by all having a thorough knowledge of the subject