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SECTION D
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA
WATER SUPPLY
The Borough has a dual source of supply. The northern part is supplied by the Colne Valley
Water Company and the central and southern portion by the Metropolitan Water Board.
The Colne Valley water is derived from deep wells sunk into the chalk and before distribution to
the consumers the water is under constant supervision of a chemical and bacteriological staff which carries
out examinations in modern laboratories situated at the works.
The water supplied by the Metropolitan Water Board is selected Thames water which has been
subjected to purification by storage in which time it is freed of the bulk of organisms. It is filtered through
rapid and then slow filters, attaining a degree of purity which compares favourably with the general supplies
in Great Britain, but as a further safeguard terminal chlorination is applied which ensures a first class
water in every respect.
Samples of water are examined bacteriologically, chemically and for taste and other special purposes on
every day.
The supply to all areas was satisfactory in quality and quantity.
Number of dwelling houses supplied from public water mains :—
(a) Direct to houses 44,872
(b) by means of standpipes Nil
Number of population supplied from public water mains :-
(a) Direct to houses 150,200.
(b) by means of standpipes Nil
Natural fluoride content of water supplies:-
Colne Valley Water Company: Fluoride content—less than 0.1 parts per
million.
Metropolitan Water Board: Fluoride content—0.25 parts per million.
The water supplied to Hendon is deficient in fluoride and dental decay is more prevalent here than
in those areas where the element is present in optimum quantity.
HOUSING
I am indebted to the Borough Housing Officer for the following observations on the Council's
building and development progress during the year and on the housing situation generally:—
In the year under review the provision of new housing accommodation centred on the completion
of smaller sites found suitable for the location of Elderly Persons' Flatlets. 47 dwellings in five separate
developments were completed and used to accommodate elderly single people and Council tenants no
longer fully occupying the larger Council houses and flats. Progress was maintained also in assisting cases
of housing need by arranging transfers and exchanges, and the re-letting of vacated premises to housing
applicants.
The Council have continued their policy of acquiring private properties offered to the Council for
purchase in cases where elderly owners now find their dwellings too large for their needs. In these instances
it has frequently been possible to assist the owners with the smaller accommodation they seek and the
properties purchased have provided a useful addition to the Council's pool of family accommodation.
At the close of the year the Council had over 4,600 units of permanent living accommodation and
the number will be steadily added to as the Council's building schemes progress. The redevelopment of
the Housing Areas at Hermitage Lane, Granville Road, and Belle Vue is well advanced and it is anticipated
that the first of the new dwellings in these areas will be ready for letting in 1964.
Apart from the provision of accommodation to rent, the Council has encouraged purchasers of
private dwellings situated in the Borough by advances under the Council's Housing Advances Scheme and
currently, some fourteen hundred housing advances have been made.
The transfer of families from Hendon to the New and Expanded Towns continues to receive the
active support of the Council. During 1963, 50 housing applicants were found employment in satellite
towns and subsequently rehoused with their families in those areas. Certain of the longer established
New Towns are now nearing completion and the diminution in the export of families to them has, to some
extent, been off-set by the growth of expansion in other country towns outside of the Home Counties.
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