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19
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA.
WATER.
Particulars of the water supply to the district and the procedure
of sampling by the local authority to satisfy itself as to the suitability
and safety were set out in the Annual Report for 1945. The laboratory
findings of the samples submitted for detailed analysis gave the same
satisfactory results.
SEWERAGE AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL.
There has been no change in the arrangements detailed in the
Annual Report for 1945.
PUBLIC CLEANSING.
Refuse Disposal.
Up to the end of the year it had not been found practicable to
arrange for a weekly instead of a fortnightly collection of house refuse,
a change which was not introduced until the early months of 1947.
Never have so many complaints been received of the deposits of
accumulations on a number of parcels of land throughout the district.
These deposits are more unsightly than a real injury to health, though
any site on which any sort of accumulation has been deposited is an
invitation to the dumping of other forms of matter. Sometimes the
main component is builders' rubbish, at others old tins and hardware.
From the public health standpoint some might be brought in because
the deposit offers a harbourage for rats, or in the warmer months receptacles
for collecting water facilitating the breeding of mosquitos, or
decaying vegetable refuse, causing offensive smells or encouraging the
multiplication of flies. So often though, they are more potential than
actual nuisances from the public health standpoint, but all the time are
an eyesore and an encouragement to further deposits—factors lowering
the tone of the neighbourhood. So much of this matter comes from the
house, and it would seem at times that the householder is driven to
depositing this matter in this way because of the difficulties of otherwise
dealing with it. Particularly at times of such household activities as
spring cleaning there must be much to be removed from a house other than
that which ordinarily finds its way into the household's dustbin. A
generous interpretation of what is house refuse would remove the necessity
for people to dispose of their accumulations in ways which might
cause offence to others. It is much better for the householder to have
the mattress he wishes to dispose of removed as house refuse than for
him to dump it on a parcel of land, there to encourage others to dump
their cardboard boxes and worn-out furniture.
It might be suggested that steps be taken to insist on the owners
of these parcels of land taking such measures as would prevent the sites
being used for dumping and for tidying up those which have already been
abused in this way. One difficulty, of course, is that compulsory measures
can be taken only if there was a sanitary nuisance. Again, these days
it is not easy for the owners to obtain the materials necessary to prevent
the intrusion of people on these sites.