London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1881
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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122
temperature. The range of temperature of river waters is considerable, and last
year in the water of the Thames, as delivered by five of the Companies, it
amounted to 29°.2 Fahr., viz., from 38°.8 in January to 68°.0 in July. The water,
therefore, narrowly escaped freezing in the mains in winter, whilst in the summer
it was rendered unpalatable, and probably deleterious, by its warmth. The deepwell
water delivered by Kent and Colne Valley Companies ranged through 7°'9
Fahr., viz.: from 50o.0 in January to 57°.9 in June and September.
The transparency or otherwise of water is ascertained by its appearance in a tube two feet in length, and is expressed in arbitrary terms settled by common agreement, as in the following table, which shows the degree of efficiency of filtration of Thames water as supplied by the Companies in this parish, the examinations being made monthly:—
| Name of Company | When clear and transparent. | Number of Occasions. | When very turbid. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| When slightly turbid. | When turbid. | |||
| Chelsea | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| West Middlesex | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Junction | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
The deep-well waters were clear and transparent on every occasion.
When examined under the microscope the sediment deposited by turbid water,
on standing, is generally found to contain living and moving organisms. During
the year these organisms were observed in the Grand Junction Company's water on three occasions.
The annexed table shows the results of such microscopic examinations during the past thirteen years:-
| Name of Company. | Number of occasions when living organisms were found. | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1869 | 1870 | 1871 | 1872 | 1873 | 1874 | 1875 | 1876 | 1877 | 1878 | 1879 | 1880 | 1881 | |
| Chelsea | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| West Middlesex | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Junction | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
The subjoined table shows the annual averages of each determination, and thus
summarises the average results of the analysis of the waters supplied by the local
Companies during: the year; the Kent Company's water being taken as a standard for comparison.
The numbers in this table relate to 100,000 parts of the waters, but may be converted into grains per imperial gallon by multiplying them by 7 and then moving the decimal point one place to the left.
| Name of Company. | Temperature in Centigrade Degrees. | Total Solid Impurity. | Organic Carbon. | Organic Nitrogen. | Ammonia. | Nitrogen as Nitrates and Nitrites. | Total combined Nitrogen. | Chlorine. | Total Hardness. | Proportional amount of organic Elements, that in the Kent Company's Water during the 9 years ending Dec., 1876 being taken as 1.. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 10.9 | 26.99 | .191 | .037 | 0 | .188 | .225 | 1.5 | 19.7 | 3.9 |
| West Middlesex | 11.8 | 27.41 | .209 | .038 | .000 | .212 | .251 | 1.5 | 19.7 | 4.2 |
| Grand Junction | 11.8 | 29.49 | .188 | .036 | .000 | .193 | .229 | 1.5 | 19.6 | 3.8 |
| Kent | 12.5 | 43.46 | 0.77 | .016 | .000 | .457 | .473 | 2.4 | 28.3 | 1.6 |