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16
The year was notable for the great fluctuation
in the rainfall which affected the water supply during the first
half of the year. By the end of April or the beginning of May,
each Water Company issued advertisements in the local newspapers
and/or circularised consumers giving warnings of a water
shortage. The watering of gardens was checked. The greatest
care had to be taken in the use of hose pipes and encouragement
was given to report immediately waste from leaking taps and
fittings.
The public evidently responded to these appeals,
and it was not necessary to impose further restrictions, but it
was not until later in the year that the restrictions were
withdrawn.
Complaints of insufficient or limited supplies
were not received. In one instances however, for a short
time water had to be distributed by water cart, owing to damage
to a main by enemy action. The supply is constant to all parts
of the area and there are no private wells in use. All houses
are served by public water mains and as each house has its own
supply within the house there are no stand pipes for common use.
The statutory maximum limit for hardness in the
water supplied by the East Surrey and Sutton District Water
Companies is 9 degrees and 28 samples were examined by the
Department during 1944 to ascertain that this was not exceeded.
In no case was this found to occur.
RAINFAIL.
The rainfall registered at the Refuse Destructor
was 26.94 inches, compared with 25.01 inches in 1943 and 28.93
in 1942.
CLOSET ACCOMMODATION.
Nearly the whole district is on the water
carriage system. Owing to the war very little alteration of
other forms of sanitation has been made during recent years.
The approximate numbers using the following
methods of disposal at the end of the year were
Premises with water closets drained to sewers 15,202
Premises with pail closets excluding
temporary buildings 216
The total number of cesspools throughout the
district is approximately 164
The contents of almost all pail closets are
collected by the Council's gully emptiers and disposed of in
the public sewers, as are the contents of such cesspools as are
emptied by the Council. In a few inaccessible premises the
occupiers dispose of the contents in their gardens.
PUBLIC CLEANSING.
There was no alteration in the system of house
and trade refuse collection daring the year. The fortnightly
system of collection instituted in 1941 was continued with
special drives for waste paper, books, rubber and non-ferrous
metals. There was also no alteration in the charges for the
removal of trade refuse or for cesspool emptying.
SMOKE ABATEMENT.
No action was taken in connection with any
factory chimney, but a number of complaints were received of
nuisance from smoke arising from the chimneys of workmen's
temporary billets erected by the Home Office on sites of
buildings destroyed by enemy action. These one storey buildings
with their low chimneys caused considerable trouble, both to
residents and to the Department, and no remedy had been effected
by the end of the year.