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(b) On account of their hardness content and alkaline reaction the Board's river and well water
supplies are shown to be not plumbo-solvent. It should, however, be appreciated that all types
of water pick up varying amounts of metal from the material of water piping particularly
when it is newly installed; this applies to copper, zinc, iron and also to lead."
In the event of any suspicion of contaminated public mains water, the Metropolitan Water Board is
informed and investigations are made; if necessary, samples are taken for examination. Complaints (which
are extremely few) have usually referred to some alleged unusual taste.
In common with many of the London Borough Councils, the City Council is in favour of the
Metropolitan Water Board being asked to adjust the fluoride content of the public water supplies to the
optimum amount necessary to prevent dental caries.
Private Water Supplies — Deep Wells
The water from 66 boreholes is used for drinking and domestic purposes in 48 premises. Of these, 16
bores supply water to 15 premises occupied by Government departments or Crown Agents, and
examination and maintenance of these are in the hands of the Government Chemist and the Department of
the Environment.
In relation to the 50 boreholes in private ownership, 107(102) samples of water were submitted for
bacteriological examination and 41(31) for chemical analysis. Of these, the results of 144 tests were
satisfactory. Of the remaining four, 2 samples were taken at a point in the supply line before the
chlorination plant, and 2 were taken from an emergency tank, not bacterially clean, which was being used
while the main tank was being re-lined. Subsequent samples from both supplies were found to be
satisfactory.
Swimming Bath Water Examination
Monthly examinations were carried out at each of the 11 municipal swimming baths in the City. One
hundred and thirteen (112) samples were submitted to the Public Health Laboratory Service for
bacteriological examination, and the same number of samples were also examined at the baths for residual
chlorine and pH value.
The results of 106 of these examinations were satisfactory. Of the remaining seven, 4 were probably due
to the low level of free residual chlorine in the samples, but 3 cannot be explained. Satisfactory samples
were subsequently obtained from these pools.
River Thames Flood Precautions
The Health Department, in co-operation with other departments of the City Council concerned in
precautions in the event of flooding, has prepared plans to be brought into operation immediately on
receipt of warning by the Police, in accordance with the London Tidal Flood Warning System.
Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963
New registrations received during 1971 totalled 783, a slight increase over the 1970 total of 729. From
the time of the original surveys made under the Act there have been successive reductions in the number of
new registrations, and from 1966 to 1970, this decrease has been steady, at the rate of about 300 per
annum. An analysis of day to day returns indicates that survey and follow-up work is revealing a proportion
of unregistered premises commensurate with changes of occupation and new establishments. The total
number of premises registered at the end of the year was 18,230, with 374,195 employees.
Accidents must be notified if they occasion absence from work of three days or more, and during the
year 467 notifications were received. Of these, 163 were investigated, and in 11 cases minor contraventions
of the Act were revealed.
The initial impact of the Hoists and Lifts Regulations produced a shortage of labour able to carry out
the repairs found to be necessary. There was also a shortage of replacements. This position has improved to
some extent, and the greatest cause of difficulty in 1971 was in the justification of heavy expenditure on
old installations in buildings with a short life.
Statistics which are set out in Table 18 page 77 include some of those contained in the Annual Report to
the Department of Employment and Productivity.