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Drainage and Sewerage
During the year 60 plans of drainage work to new and existing buildings were
submitted and approved.
River Pollution
During the year several complaints concerning smells in the vicinity of the
River were investigated and it was found in each case to be due to an emanation
of hydrogen sulphide from the River itself.
The River water carries a large volume of sulphate from estuarine sources as
well as a natural load in the head waters, and in the middle reaches the amount
of sulphate seems to be increased to a critical level by the discharge of heated
flue-gas washing effluents containing calcium sulphite and sulphate from the
Battersea and Bankside Power Stations. It would appear that this discharge superimposed
on an already grossly polluted water so increases the Biological Oxygen
Demand that the available oxygen is so depleted that anaerobic organisms are
favoured, particularly a very important group of sulphate reducers which are
capable of a complete reduction of sulphates to hydrogen sulphide, which not only
produces the smell of which complaint is made but by reason of its chemical activity
causes increased erosion of under-water non-ferrous parts of ship,s
it combining with soluble metallic salts in the river produces black sulphides
similarly causes the darkening of paints on craft and buildings in the vicinity
of the river.
The question of gross pollution of the Thames has been the subject of very
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