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88
Action is being taken to prevent the dumping of
rubbish in the river and in regard to small discharges
from pipes not connected with sewage works.
A joint scheme with the Middlesex and Hertfordshire
County Councils including collecting the
sewage from the populous parts of the Roding Valley
by means of a valley sewer discharging to a large
central sewage works on the Thameside in the
neighbourhood of Barking, which would have provided
a satisfactory solution of this difficult problem,
was dropped on economical grounds. Since then
the Essex County Council agreed not to oppose
improvements and extensions to Sewage Works in
Chigwell Urban and Wanstead and Woodford
Borough.
Improvement in the condition of the river is to
be expected when the several schemes now in progress
are completed. With the very small natural flow in
dry weather, however, it does not appear to be
practicable to regain and maintain the pristine purity
of this river."
Consideration of the pollution of the River Roding
must have regard to the discharge of effluents into the
Thames from the Outfall Works of the London County
Council which are situated at the confluence of the
Roding and the Thames, and also to the effluents discharged
into the Roding from the Outfall Works of
the East Ham County Borough. The latter discharge
takes place into the Roding during its passage within
the boundaries of the Borough of Barking.
During the year I received two reports from the
Port of London Authority upon results of the analysis
of river water. In one case the report stated "this
water is of the character of a good sewage effluent,"
and in the other "this is a brackish water polluted by
sewage effluent."