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WATER SUPPLY.
The water supply for the district is provided
by the Lee Valley Water Company with the exception of a portion
of the South Ward which is supplied from the mains of the
Metropolitan Water Board.
All the houses in the district have an internal
supply and no complaints were received during the year concerning
the quality of the water, Four hundred and seventy-five
bacteriological and nine chemical samples of the water supplied
to Friern Barnet were examined by the Water Company and were
reported as conforming to standards of purity suitable for
public supply purposes.
The water has no plumbo-solvent action.
PEST CONTROL.
The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949,
imposes a responsibility on occupiers to keep their premises free
of rats and mice, and the Council has the duty to see that this
is done. From the outset, however, the Council has provided
a free service to the occupiers of private dwellings and this
arrangement has proved of value in control by encouraging
householders to report infestations which are then dealt with
by trained staff. Moreover, where, as is so often the case,
more than one property is involved the treatments can be
effectively co-crdinated.
The number of complaints received during the year
concerning rats was ninety-nine. The actual number of
infestations found in investigating these reports and as a result
of routine surveys throughout the district was seventy-one.
These figures are very similar to those recorded in 1962 and
1963 and shew a significant reduction - of more than 50%
compared with previous years.
For the first time since 1947 it was not possible
to undertake treatments against rats in the district sewers
because of the shortage of labour.
Eighteen premises were freed of mice.
Complaints were received of nuisance arising from
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