View report page

35
London Count) Council, and discharging into it at
Streatham Lane.
The state of the Brook is not satisfactory, and the
bed requires frequent cleansing by the Authority. The
above sewer is under observation, and I have instructed
the Inspector to take samples of its effluent with a view
to Analysis. It is by discovering the sources of the
pollution of this Brook, and securing their removal that
its condition will be improved, and as the Brook is a
tributary of the Wandle, the matter is important. It was
suggested that the Authority should take proceedings
against the adjoining owners of property, under the
Nuisance Sections of the Public Health Act, but I advised
the Authority, with the concurrence of the County
Medical Officer, that the condition of the Brook was not
such as would justify these proceedings.
Quite lately, a peculiar source of pollution has come
to light. In the Lonesome district of Mitcham Parish, is
a Chemical Factory, and into an adjoining ditch, at two
points, two clear waste-liquors enter. One consists of a
weak acid solution, while the other consists of a clear
solution of a Hyposulphite. When these two liquors
come into contact with each other, precipitation of
Sulphur takes place, and some Sulphuretted Hydrogen
gas is formed.
The result of this chemical reaction is that the
contents of the ditch, which eventually find their way
into the Graveney Brook, have become offensive, and
have given rise to complaints, while a thick whitishyellow
deposit is taking place along a gradually increasing
length of the bottom and sides of the ditch.
Representations have been made to the proprietor of