View report page

66
During the year, the number of complaints received was
27 compared with that of 23 for the previous year and, where
justified, arrangements were made to reduce the pigeons to a
reasonable number.
Remarks concerning this matter bear constant repetition, viz.,
that whilst there can be no objection to the feeding of a limited
number of pigeons in any particular area, it is reprehensible that,
persons who are so inclined, make available supplies of food of
such proportions that birds lose their natural feeding habits and
tend to congregate in the vicinity of the source of their sustenance
to the detriment of the surrounding property.
River Pollution.—Although no complaints were made to this
department during the current year, many have been lodged in
previous years, not only with this department but with other
riverside boroughs, concerning obnoxious smells arising from
pollution of the river by sewage effluent. This has brought into
relief the whole problem of sewage disposal.
In the London area, sewage and its disposal, amounting to a
daily dry flow of approximately 300 million gallons, is under the
control of the London County Council and after treatment at the
northern and southern outfalls at Beckton and Crossness respectively,
the resultant sewage effluent is discharged into the Thames.
It is then considered by various authorities to be a pollutant and the
predominating cause of the complaints.
By way of explanation it may be said that when the concentration
of dissolved oxygen in the river falls to zero, the sulphate
which is found in tidal waters is reduced by bacterial action and
hydrogen sulphide is formed. In this respect, the Director of the
Water Pollution Research Laboratory at Stevenage has asserted
that during dry weather many miles of the Thames Estuary contains
no oxygen and in this region hydrogen sulphide is evolved, giving
rise to complaints both because of its smell and because of the
corrosion it causes.
Having long been aware of the shortcomings of its sewage
disposal system laid down in the 1860's and which has been
unable to keep pace with modern demands, the London County
Council took steps in September 1950 to improve the situation
and new works in connection with improvements were put into
effect. These improvements were expected to be completed early
in 1964 at a total cost of about £10 million.