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67
CANAL BOATS
The number of registered canal boats inspected during the year was 17,
a decrease of 6 on the preceding year. What few registered boats there are,
are, generally speaking, well kept. A great many boats, both registered
and unregistered, are now in the hands of the Government.
The following contraventions of the Acts and Regulations were dealt
with :—
2 dirty cabins,
1 cabin top defective,
1 cabin required painting,
all of which have been remedied.
FACTORIES, &c
A great deal of time has been given to the inspection of factories, workshops,
and outworkers' premises. 135 visits were paid to the factories, 268
to workshops, and 711 to outworkers; included in these inspections are bakehouses
and laundries. The contraventions that existed were at once dealt
with. Increased W.C. accommodation has been provided in four factories.
One munition factory commenced with very crude sanitary accommodation
and water supply, and we were not even aware that the factory was
in use until we saw the erection of new wooden buildings. This old factory
is situated on the north-eastern boundary of the district. However, after
many inspections and much correspondence, we adopted the pail system,
having no sewer within a mile of the premises, and with the assistance of the
Council's Engineer an arrangement was made whereby the foul water and
the contents of the pails were deposited in a closed cart and disposed of on
the Council's sewage farm, the firm paying the cost of cartage, etc.
The only water supply was from the Lea Navigation Canal; then a
small pump was fixed and water was obtained from a shallow well, which
was analysed and found to be totally unfit for dietetic purposes. A temporary
arrangement was made for boiling the water until such time as a well could
be sunk deep enough into the chalk to obtain a pure supply. The work of
sinking this well is now in progress.
The male employees have now been provided with one urinal and 5 pail
closets. The females with 12 pail closets, and the floors of the closets rendered
in cement and made to drain to a catchpit for washing-down purposes.
Fifteen lavatory basins have been fixed and made to discharge to a properly
covered cess-pool.