View report page

WATER.
The public water supply has remained as in previous years,
by two Statutory Undertakers—The Colne Valley Water Company
and the Rickmansworth & Uxbridge Valley Water Company.
The steps taken to ensure the purity of the water by
these two Companies were described in the Report for 1937.
In June the Colne Valley Water Company issued a warning
to the public that owing to the unexampled drought the Company
requested the assistance of all consumers by exercising the greatest
economy in the use of water for gardening, motor washing
and other non-domestic purposes. The public supply of water,
however, was not curtailed for domestic purposes, nor in any
other way which might have interfered with the public health.
The Ministry of Health Circular 1684 was received in
March. While no part of this circular can be considered
unimportant, the paragraph relating to effective collaboration
and co-operation between water undertakers and a Local
Authority appears to be of most intimate significance to the
Borough Council, having regard to the fact that, in Wembley,
the water supply is by Statutory Undertakers.
The Circular states that in such circumstances the water
undertakers "should always be ready, on request, to furnish
full information to the Local Authority, or its medical officer of
health, as to the quality of the water supplied and the precautions
taken to safeguard its wholesomeness." Herein, surely, is an
implication that such a request should be made from time to
time. In this regard, also, the Public Health Act, 1936, Section
111 seems relevant:—
111—It shall be the duty of every local authority
(1) to take from time to time such steps as may be
necessary for ascertaining the sufficiency and
wholesomeness of the water supplies within their
district; and
The Circular, on the other hand, states that the Local
Authority should make it their duty to bring to the notice of
the water undertakers cases of enteric fever or other diseases
likely to be water-bourne.
The Circular also suggests Local Authorities making it
their duty to bring to the notice of water undertakers any
building developments or any other operations in their area
which may effect the purity of a source of water supply.
52