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(5) If and when staff were available and their duties allowed, a
preliminary survey might be made of an area of Lewisham, to ascertain
the likely problems in establishing an initial smokeless zone.
(6) Meanwhile any opportunity of putting over propaganda in
favour of burning smokeless fuels should be seized, but it would be
desirable first to see that none of the Council's own offices or depots
were offenders.
The matter was under active consideration at the end of the year.
Atmospheric pollution incidents
In October and the beginning of November, three or four
complaints were received of smells, described usually as sulphurous
smells, which had been noticed in the early hours of two Sunday
mornings previously, namely October 11 and September 27. The
complaints originated in different parts of the borough, including Lee
and Forest Hill and at a later date other persons recalled a similar
occurrence, but could not be certain of the date. A complaint was also
received that two houses which had been painted at the same time
during the summer had had the paint blackened and made greasy
from "offensive fumes which had polluted the air during the early hours
of the morning on more than one occasion." This was stated to have
occurred about a fortnight before the beginning of November, during
the early hours of a Saturday morning. The paintwork (which was
of a high gloss type) was certainly covered by greasy dirt, which, where
it had not weathered away, could be scraped off with a penknife. On the
two dates mentioned in the first sentence, there was, atmospherically,
an anticyclone giving bright weather during the course of the day, but
rather misty conditions with almost no wind during the night. This
would have tended to keep any atmospheric pollution near the ground.
The area from which the complaints came however, was so large as to
make it rather difficult to believe that the only cause was local to this
borough. Enquiries locally and observation on the part of the sanitary
inspectors failed to elicit any explanation which appeared to be
acceptable in connection with these complaints, but other information
was to the effect that pollution of the River Thames was causal, even
although the nearest point of the river was some 3 miles away.
Water supply
I am indebted to the Director of Water Examination of the
Metropolitan Water Board for the information on which the following
report on Lewisham's water supply is based.
The water supply to Lewisham is divided into three zones; the low
zone is supplied with Thames-derived filtered water; the Eltham zone
is supplied from Wilmington, Darenth and Bexley wells and, should
the occasion arise, with a small proportion from the low zone; the
Bromley zone to the south of the Borough is supplied from Shortlands
well and again on occasions with Thames-derived filtered water in
addition.