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In cases other than notifiable infectious disease the service is carried out on
request, an appropriate charge being made.
During the year 290 library books and 5 gramophone records were disinfected.
The number of rooms disinfected during the year was 191.
Local Land Charges Enquiries
During the year enquiries were made by the Town Clerk in respect of 4,261 properties
as to whether there were any notices outstanding, whether in a Smoke Control
Area or whether any Certificate of Disrepair was in force under the Rent Act, 1957.
The necessary searches were made and the information supplied.
Choked Drains
During the year, the Council's workman cleared no less than 912 choked drains
at private premises. This is unpleasant work which the local building contractors
appear to be quite content to leave to the Council to carry out. A charge is made
for this service based on the time taken by the workman, transport charges and
necessary overheads. The average charge is about 10/6d. Complaints are received
from time to time that the charge is excessive, but I suggest that it is a charge
with which few local builders would care to compete. The Public Health Inspectors
also frequently have to deal with the mistaken belief, even amongst builders, that
the section of drain between the intercepting trap and the Council's sewer is the
responsibility of the Council. The belief arises from the fact that this section of
drain is usually under the Council's highway, but the drain is nevertheless the
responsibility of the owner of the property until it reaches the Council' s sewer.
The service, however, continues to grow, the number of requests for the clearing
of drains increasing each year. Requests are also received for a service of periodical
cleaning and flushing of drains of private and commercial premises, but this is
not a service which the Department has been able to undertake, only one employee being
available for all drain testing and cleaning work.
The above figure does not include choked drains at Council houses, which are
dealt with by the Borough Housing Officer's Department.
The commonest cause of drain stoppages is obstruction of the intercepting trap,
which is now happily omitted from modern drainage schemes. The dispensing with these
traps also eliminates that other source of trouble, the fresh-air inlet. Where these
have been fitted, as is most commonly the case, at garden level, they are usually
found to be broken. For some years now the Department has, instead of calling for
their replacement, simply requested owners to have them removed and the pipe thereto
sealed off in the wall of the chamber. Some hundreds have now been dealt with in
this way and in no case has any subsequent trouble with ventilation of the drainage
system been experienced.
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