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46
Water Famine.
In the earlv part of July, the inhabitants of Mile End were
startled to find that the constant Water-supply was curtailed
to an alarming extent. At first it was restricted to a few hours'
supply, and in a short time two hours per day. This change
without the slightest warning from the Water Company, was felt
keenly. In the early month of the year there had been more or
less drought, and one naturally thought this was the cause. On
enquiry in different parts of the Metropolis we found that no
other water authority was placing such restrictions on its consumers.
From a sanitary point of view the effect of this short
supply was at once apparent. The fact that nine-tenths of the
houses have no storage cisterns contributed largely to the
inconvenience which was felt all over the Hamlet, as well as
the time when the supply would be cut off not being advertised.
So it happened in hundreds of cases that the water was turned
on and off at such an hour that it was impossible for working
people, who were out the greater part of the day, to effect any
storage whatever. The Sanitary Committee were called together
and a deputation at once waited upon the East London
Water Company, and the Committee were told that the Company
had no alternative but to curtail the supply in the manner
they had, as the reservoirs were nearly empty. The Committee
urged on the Company the necessity, in order somewhat to
mitigate the inconvenience, of allowing standpipes to be fixed
in the more crowded parts of our district. This they agreed
to, and promised to increase the hours of supply to the longest
possible moment. The sewers and house drains were beginning
to foul, and the road watering had to be restricted. The
Harrilet was in this condition for at least six weeks ; had this
continued much longer the effeCt on the public health must
have been more disastrous : the death-rate went up by leaps
and bounds, as the table following will show, and although it
is difficult to exactly estimate what effeCt it had on the public
health, there is no doubt that the immediate and also remote
effeCts were injurious. One of the great dangers of an intermittent
supply is the contamination of the water by sand, etc.,