London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hammersmith 1964
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hammersmith Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
28
except to those basements which are not drained efficiently by gravitation into a
sewer at all times and under all conditions of flow in the sewer.
The London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1962, authorises this
Council to serve a notice requiring the owner or occupier of such premises to close
the basement where the situation could not be remedied at reasonable expense,
or otherwise to carry out works to secure the proper and efficient drainage of
such property.
The responsibility for appropriate action under this Act has been given to the
Works Committee of the Council.
Water Supply
The water supplied to the Borough by the Metropolitan Water Board during
1964 has been satisfactory both in quantity and quality. It is derived from the
River Thames, stored in the Walton and Staines reservoirs and filtered and
chlorinated at Hampton and Ashford Common. The average result of chemical
and bacteriological analyses of water supplied are set out below: —
| All Thames Derived | |
|---|---|
| No. of samples | 371 |
| Ammoniacal Nitrogen | 0033 |
| Albuminoid Nitrogen | 0079 |
| Nitrate Nitrogen | 4.8 |
| Chlorides as Chlorine | 33 |
| Oxygen abs. from Permanganate 4 hrs. at 27° | 1.08 |
| Turbidity (Units) | 0.2 |
| Colour | 11 |
| Hardness (Total) | 270 |
| Hardness (non-carbonate) | 64 |
| pH Value | 7.6 |
| Phosphate as PO4 | 1.4 |
| Silicate as SiO2 | 8 |
| Sulphate as SO4 | 60 |
| Magnesium at Mg | 5 |
| Natural Fluoride as F | 0.25 |
| Surface Active Material as Manoxol O.T. | 0.09 |
| Electrical Conductivity | 550 |
| No. of samples | 3,811 |
| Agar plate count per ml.: 20-24 hours at 37°C | 14.1 |
| Coliform count: Per cent, samples negative in 100 ml. | 99.95 |
| E. coli-count: Per cent, samples negative in 100 ml. | 1000 |
No new important extensions of trunk mains, or changes in the general
scheme of supply have been made during the past year, but 245 yards of new
service mains have been laid. All new as well as repaired mains are disinfected
with chlorine before being brought into or restored to service.
All of the houses in the Borough, numbering some 25.000, are supplied with
water direct from the mains.