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33
Kent Company.—Cisterns are prescribed by the company's Act, and
are generally provided, but this retention is not now insisted on in the case
of small cottage properties.
Lambeth Company.—Cisterns are generally maintained in the better
and middle class houses
New River Company.—Cisterns for storage are always provided in
houses of any size. In small property the abolition of cisterns is sanctioned
by the company by special arrangement.
Southwark and Vauxhall.—It is estimated by the company that 40
per cent. of the houses within their district are provided with cisterns.
West Middlesex Company.—Cisterns are maintained except in a few
courts of very small houses where stand pipes have been erected with
satisfactory results.
The great drawback with regard to the provision of storage cisterns is the
frequency with which people neglect to clean them out; this is especially the case
in crowded and poor localities, where they oftentimes become a source of danger to
those who drink water from them.
Storage cisterns provided in connection with the water supply of dwelling
houses, should be properly covered, and so placed as to be easily accessible for
cleansing. They should supply the waste-preventing apparatus of the water closets,
so as to ensure there always being a supply for flushing purposes, should the
constant supply be interrupted. Water for drinking and dietetic purposes should be
taken from a tap which should always be provided on the rising main.
In accordance with section 48 Public Health (London) Act, 1891, 55 dwellings
were certified as having a proper and sufficient supply of water, and during the year
121 communications were received from the water companies, 68 from the New River,
and 53 from the East London, with regard to the cutting off of the water supply
to dwelling-houses. These communications referred to 225 premises, 78 of which
were empty