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schemes is to form part of the Lea and Boding Valley scheme,
promoted by the Lea Conservancy Board; another which would bo
confined to the Roiling Valley alone. The Barking Urban District
Council have expressed their disapprobation of any plan having ita
outfall within their jurisdiction. Neither of these, in my opinion,
have much chance of success.
The Present Condition of the River.
Of course the reduction of temperature and the heavy gales, accompanied
bv rain, have all combined to improve matters considerably;
in spite of these modifying factors however, on several dates during
November and December I found the water in as bad a condition, if
not worse, than during the summer months.
I do most earnestly hope that the measures that are now being
taken by the Essex County Council and the Barking District Council,
may result in a better state of things above the Town Quay. The
vigilance of the Thames Conservancy Board should guarantee a pure
river wherever that river comes within their sphere.
East Ham Sewerage Works—Outfall.
I am distinctly of opinion that the present condition of things at the
point where this effluent is discharged, needs attention. Several times
during the past year I visited this locality, and the emanations arising
from the mud exposed at low water were foetid in the extreme.
The watercourses on the marshes over the gates during the summer
months were very foul, and I repeat what I have already stated in
former years, that milk derived from cattle partaking of this liquid,
cannot be wholesome.
In connection with the outlying district special attention has been
paid during the year to the water supply of houses not supplied by the
Water Company, and where possible the public supply has been laid
on. Wherever infectious diseases have broken out the premises have
been visited and the necessary alterations (if any) ordered to be made.
Other inspections have been made at intervals by the request of the
Council or individual ratepayers.
The insanitary condition of the Kennedy Estate has been a source
of great trouble and anxiety during the year. The condition of things
at the present moment is most serious. As soon as a cesspool is dry
it is at once almost filled by the drainage into it of surrounding
subsoil water so that every week or two they need emptying. In my
judgment these cesspools should be impervious to sub-soil water and
large enough to take a sufficient amount of slop water so as to only
need emptying at long intervals. Particulars of the scheme as
sanctioned by the Local Government Board will be found under the
head of Sewerage System.