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45
Transport Commission offered to bear the cost of the work, subject to
the Council's agreeing to adopting the sewer. This they did.
Soiling of Railway Tracks. More especially because of the large
numbers of railway lines running through, the question of the disposal of
sewage from trains is a matter of concern to those in this district. The
following is an abstract from the Annual Report for 1957 of the Coordinating
Committee of the Royal Society of Health on the problems of
Public Health Engineering. From this it would seem that the British
Transport Commission still have this matter under consideration:—
"The request to consider this problem was received from the London
District Committee of the Plumbing Trades Union. Through the Society of
Medical Officers of Health, the Committee sought the views of medical
officers of health of large towns, which were railway centres or terminals,
regarding the effect on public health of the present method employed by
British Railways for disposing of faecal wastes. The Committee informed
the British Transport Commission that they had this matter under consideration
and asked whether British Railways contemplated any new
development in the method of disposal. In their reply, the Commission
stated that a team of medical and research officers had recently studied the
problem on their behalf but that there could be no assurance, at the
moment, that a solution would be found, or that there could be any
change in the present arrangements in the foreseeable future.
The Committee were of the opinion that although the present method
of disposal employed by British Railways was aesthetically objectionable,
there was no evidence that this resulted in any increase in the incidence
of disease, and they were unable to obtain any definite evidence that there
was any danger to health."
Flooding. Certain parts of the district suffer in times of sudden heavy
rainfall from the surcharge of the surface water sewers. This causes
sections of some roads to be under water ; exceptionally adjoining
properties are affected. More serious from the public health point of
view and as a nuisance to those more especially affected, is the effect of
the larger volume of surface water pushing back the contents of the soil
sewers, resulting in fouling of the roads and pavements and in parts
private gardens.
One of the heaviest falls of rain in this district in recent years was on
19th October, 1955, when there was heavy prolonged rainfall between
2.0 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. during which there were nearly 2½ inches of rain,
nearly one inch of this falling in one hour. The design of the local sewers
is on a rainfall of 0.5 inches in a sixty-minute storm. This rainfall
was followed by the surcharging of many surface water sewers, drains
and water courses. Surcharging of the soil sewers was caused with
resulting flooding and pollution.
On the 6th August, 1952 exceptionally heavy rain fell in North West
london causing widespread flooding of roads and houses. In Harrow the
heavy rain began to fall at 7.30 p.m. continuing to 8.15 p.m., during which
time 2.62 inches of rain were recorded. The rain from this storm was
some five times that for which the sewers are normally designed. In these