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19
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA.
This section of the Report deals with such important services
from a health point of view as water supply, sewerage, drainage, and
scavenging. I have in several previous reports described these in
detail, and seeing that this is a survey report it will be appropriate
to summarise them again and refer to improvements, if any, that
appear to be required.
Formerly the sphere of action of those engaged in health work
was confined to a large extent to these elementary health services
which have now been developed to a very high degree of excellence.
At the present time the term health work has a much wider significance,
and the Health Department is concerned not only with the
sanitation of houses and their surroundings, but is concentrating
more and more on the personal hygiene of the individual, the giving
of instruction on healthy ways of living, how to avoid and prevent
disease, and generally how to attain the highest degree of health
and physical fitness that our present knowledge will permit.
A consideration of the matters dealt with under the sections
into which this Report is divided will indicate the extent of the field
of preventive 'medicine and how numerous and varied are the influences
which affect the health of the community.
Water Supply.
The whole of the District is supplied with water by the Metropolitan
Water Board. The water is derived from two sources : (a)
The greater part of the District being supplied from the Lambeth
Section of the Board's service, and (b) a small part approximately
confined to the Shortlands Ward receiving its supply from deep
wells sunk in the chalk, and known as the "Kent Wells."
The Lambeth supply consists of water taken from the River
Thames, which, after a period of storage, followed by filtration, is
delivered for use.
There is a constant service of water to every house, and most
of the houses have a pipe direct from the main for drinking