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21
and sewage. Such fracture of water mains occurred during almost
every heavy air raid, and the Director of Water Examination has
reported that on one night alone over 500 water mains were broken.
Sewers were damaged during each air raid, with the inevitable
result that untreated sewage was discharged into the river from
which the raw water supplies came. Reservoirs were cut off from
purification works by the destruction of aqueducts. Bombs fell
into filter beds and caused short circuits between filtered and
unfiltered water channels. The demand for water to deal with
fires necessitated the occasional by-passing of the slow sand filters
in order to maintain supplies. Here, surely, were circumstances
which might be calculated to cause pollution of water supplies on
a scale hitherto unknown. Had the enemy succeeded in stopping
or polluting the water supply of one sixth of the country's population,
it would have been a staggering blow worth many military victories.
However, by exercising unremitting attention and supervision,
and by the application of special measures designed to shut out
sewage from water channels, those in charge of London's water
supplies were able to avoid a major calamity to public health and
morale. Furthermore, they have achieved the wonderful record of
being able to report that not a single case of typhoid fever attributable
to the water supply has occurred in London since September,
1939. This is indeed one of the greatest achievements during the
war; but, like so much of the work undertaken in the interests of
the public health, it has never received the appreciation it deserves
because it never allowed to occur the disasters it was designed to
prevent.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT FACILITIES.
I take this opportunity of quoting a paragraph which appeared
in my Annual Report for the year 1930.
"Inasmuch as a very large proportion of the inhabitants
work in the City and County of London, it is aptly described
as a "dormitory of the Metropolis." By no stretch of the
imagination can it be claimed that Leyton is well served as
regards facilities for travelling by rail, and the extent of the
overcrowding in the trains to and from London during 'rush
hours' cannot be regarded as other than a potent factor in
the spread of communicable disease. Your Council has
wisely made representations to the Railway Company with a
view to the provision of better facilities for the travelling