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THE MOSELLE
For nearly a century the Moselle has been a source of public health
nuisance. In 1866 the Tottenham Board of Health obtained an injunction
restraining the Highway Board for the parish of Hornsey from making
further sewers or drains which would pollute the stream. For a considerable
time previously the sewage for the parish of Hornsey had been carried off
by the Moselle and the Highway Board inaugurated a new system by
which the sewage of Hornsey was discharged in a body into the Moselle
a short distance before the stream reached Tottenham.
The Moselle proper originated somewhere in the Muswell Hill Area,
and was reinforced in the valley below by a stream from Queen's Wood
now concealed in a pipe. This latter can be traced across the Crouch End
Playing Fields and, for a short distance there, is still open. The area drained
by the Moselle is the southern slopes of Muswell Hill, Queen's Wood,
Lower Highgate, Crouch End, Central Hornsey and the Campsbourne.
The approximate number of properties in this area is 7,500.
The Moselle, which eventually flows untreated into the River Lea,
should carry only surface and underground water. Almost all houses in
the Moselle drainage area have two systems of drainage and the surface
water one which is connected to the Moselle should carry only rain water.
Unfortunately it had been found that in the past many houses were connecting
waste water and soil fittings into the Moselle and the purity of
the effluent was being affected. The situation gradually deteriorated and
notices in 1947 regarding the purity of the effluent were served on the
Borough of Hornsey by the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board.
As a result of the notice a complete check on sewers throughout the
entire Moselle surface water drainage system was carried out. Each check
was followed by inspections of properties from which it was suspected
pollution of the surface water system was occurring and in all 2,819
properties were inspected. These inspections involved checking the front
inspection chambers in properties where it was often found that the soil
drain was choked and the sewage was leaking into the surface water system.
This revealed 291 cases where remedial action was necessary.
The dry weather flow of the Moselle was then sampled at six selected
points to assist the Council in isolating the pollution. These samples were
taken on seven successive weeks and clearly indicated that pollution of
the Moselle was not restricted to any one area.
After consideration by the Council it was decided that the only real
way to solve this pollution problem would be to check individual drainage
inlets to every property or building which drained into the Moselle.
The work of checking the individual houses was started by the permanent
staff of sanitary inspectors. As district inspectors could only devote
a certain period of their time to this work it soon became apparent that
two additional temporary inspectors would be required to devote their
time exclusively to this checking in order that real headway could be made.
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