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 1886
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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The subjoined table shows the annual averages of each determination and
thus summarises the average results of the analysis of the water 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
| Name of Company. | Temperature in Centigrade Degrees. | Total Solid Matters. | 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., being taken as 1°. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 10°.8 | 27.84 | .149 | .032 | 0 | .227 | .259 | 1.7 | 18.8 | 3.1 |
| West Middlesex | 11°.8 | 28.01 | .151 | .033 | 0 | .236 | .269 | 1.7 | 19.0 | 3.1 |
| Grand Junction | 10°.9 | 28.39 | .158 | .028 | 0 | .236 | .264 | 1.8 | 19.3 | 3.1 |
| Kent | 12°.6 | 42.69 | .029 | .009 | 0 | .491 | .500 | 2.5 | 29.4 | 0.6 |
The Water Examiner's Report.—The post of Water
Examiner, so long held by the late Colonel Sir Francis Bolton,
R.E., has recently been filled by the appointment of MajorGeneral
A. de C. Scott, R.E., to whose courtesy I am indebted
for an early copy of the Annual Report of the Water Examiner
for 1886, which General A. de C. Scott refers to as "a brief
statement, without comment, of facts on record, as nearly as
possible in the form adopted by the late Sir F. Bolton, and
deduced from the materials collected at his instance." On this
report and on the report for March, 1887, by General A. de Scott,
the following remarks on the water supply of the Metropolis are
mainly founded. The duties of Water Examiner, it may be
remarked, are multifarious and important. He makes monthly
inspections of the several Metropolitan waterworks, filter beds,
reservoirs, &c.; examines the quality of the water, both at the
intakes and after filtration at the works, and reports, monthly, the
results of such inspections and examinations to the Local Government
Board. Upon him rests the responsibility of seeing that
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