London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of Westminster 1904
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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Another section gives power to the Sanitary Authority to require
the cleansing, purification, or destruction of any articles in any house or
elsewhere as are in such a filthy, dangerous, or unwholesome condition
that health is affected or endangered thereby, or where there is risk of
infectious disease, or where it is requisite to check such. Under the
same Act, where movable ashpits have been provided, the Sanitary
Authority may require the removal of fixed ashpits. Provision is also
made to deal with sanitary conveniences in or accessible from any street
which are so placed or constructed as to be a nuisance or offensive to
public decency.
Water Supply.
Taking the average amount of organic impurity in a given volume
of the Kent Company's water during the 9 years ending December,
1876, as unity, the proportional amount contained in an equal volume
of water supplied by each of the Metropolitan Water Companies
during each month of 1904 is shown in the following table, extracted
from the monthly reports of the Analyst (Prof. Thorpe) of the Local
Government Board:—
Proportional Amount of Organic Impurities in Waters.
| Kent. | New River. | Lambeth. | South wark. | Grand Junction. | West Middlesex. | East London. | Chelsea. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January llth | 1.1 | 1.8 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| February 8th | 0.9 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| March 21st | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| April 18th | 0.8 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.7 |
| May 9th | 0.8 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
| June 6th | 0.6 | 1.1 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
| July 14th | 0.9 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.5 |
| August 15th | 0.7 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| September 19th | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 2.1 |
| October 17 th | 0.9 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 1.9 |
| November 21st | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 2.6 |
| December 12th | 0.8 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 2.7 |
The water supplied during 1904 was of a much higher standard of
quality than in the previous year, but the district supplies vary to a
considerable extent: this is almost solely due to the amount of storage
available. On account of the large amount of impurity in the water
taken from the Thames in 1903, much deposit was caused in cisterns,
and a good deal of trouble was caused through pipes becoming
obstructed. The City Council issued the following notice to all
householders:—
Cleansing of Cisterns, &c.
The Westminster City Council desire to call the attention of householders
in the City to the importance of carrying out the by-laws
made under Section 50 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, for