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58
3. DRAINAGE AND SEWERAGE.
The joint drainage of the Boroughs of Ilford and Barking provides for the
whole of the sewage of the district to be dealt with at the disposal works of the
London County Council.
The scheme was completed at June, 1035, and is functioning satisfactorily.
4. RIVERS AND STREAMS.
The rivers and streams running through the area are controlled by the River
Roding Catchment Board, whilst the River Thames, your southern boundary, and
one of its tributaries, the River Roding, which flows through Barking, is under the
control of the Port of London.
Within the tidal limits the River Roding receives the sewage effluents from the
works of three authorities, and higher upstream the effluents from the works of three
further authorities.
On no account should anyone bathe in the River Roding.
When it is remembered that the general level in Barking is about 27 ordnance
datum, it will be appreciated that in order to prevent local flooding it is imperative
that surface water drainage should be effectual.
As most of the surface water is discharged into streams and ditches it becomes
urgent that the levels of such streams should be regulated, and that choking or
silting should be remedied where this occurs.
In order to avoid trouble from these causes the culverting of watercourses in
the district is to be recommended,
As the reclamation of low-lying land continues and the minor ditches are
filled in, it would be helpful if the Corporation required builders when laying out
land for this purpose to culvert any streams which it is felt should be retained.
The very wet weather we have experienced during the year has given
prominence to this aspect of housing development with the rise of subsoil water
into sub-floor spaces.
It is with satisfaction that I refer to the reclamation of a large area of the
" saltings " to the River Roding at the rear of Westminster Gardens. This should
lessen the nuisance from mosquitoes in that neighbourhood.