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nitrate upwards of 15.0 p.pm or so in a sample however satisfactory in all other
respects, I would not regard it as conforming to suitable standards.
"I confirm that every chemical sample we examine is tested for lead, copper,
zinc and iron. An unobjectionable trace of iron, in most cases picked up from the
mains, is frequently found, but the other three metals are invariably absent. The
water is not plumbo-solvent and lead pipes have been widely used for very many
years throughout the whole of the Barnet Divisional area with every satisfaction."
Sewerage and Sewage Disposal
Finchley has been properly sewered for many years but there have recently been
certain additions to the system to provide for new development as on the land at the
rear of Nazareth House, East End Road, and adjacent to Woodside House, High Road
and Totteridge Lane, N.20.
At the time of writing this note, it is hoped that all the sewage from Finchley
which drains to the Sewage Disposal Works will soon be diverted to the East Middlesex
Main Drainage system. In the meantime, the Sewage Works are being made to
operate as well as practicable in the face of enormous difficulties, particularly with
regard to the digestion and disposal of sludge. The plant which has been seriously
overloaded has been gradually failing and only constant vigilance of the staff has
made it at all possible to maintain reasonable conditions.
Periodic tests are carried out on the effluent from the Works by the Lee Valley
Conservancy Board as well as by the Corporation's own consultant chemists.
I am grateful to Mr. P. M. Spencer, the Borough Engineer and Surveyor, for this
information.
Housing
I refer again to the housing of elderly persons and, with the kind assistance of
the Borough Housing Officer, I give details of the Council's activities in this
connection.
Although it is only in recent years that the Government has urged local authorities
to provide this type of accommodation as a major part of their building programme,
the Finchley Council has been concerned in the housing of elderly persons for some
considerable time and has used ordinary one-bedroom Council dwellings for this
purpose.
In 1962, 32 purpose-built units and 7 units from conversions were provided.
Plans for the provision of further elderly persons' accommodation, both purposebuilt
and conversions, are in hand and it is hoped in a short while that approximately
240 units (including the ordinary one-bedroom Council dwellings referred to above)
will be providing accommodation for elderly persons.
With regard to "handicapped" persons, I would add that many of these are
included in the elderly persons who have been allocated ground floor accommodation.
Also, the Council has already provided a purpose-built bungalow which houses husband
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