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
Harrow 1969
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]
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127
CLEAN AIR
Smoke Control
Three further Smoke Control Orders came into operation during the
year and nineteen Orders are now operative. These cover an area of 5,419
acres and affect 34,721 premises, including 32,355 dwellings which
represents approximately 47% of the dwellings in the Borough.
During 1970 a further 5,752 dwellings will be added, which will raise
the percentage to approximately 55.
During the year 3,412 visits were made by the staff engaged on the
survey and inspection of premises and work of adaptation to the value of
£57,795 in some 877 dwellings was inspected. In addition, the necessary
certificates were issued to enable the grants to be claimed.
The cost of work of adaption continued to rise and on an average householders spent £52 on adapting their fireplaces. The grant paid average £27 per claim received. The following figures show the amount of grant paid over the past four years:—
| No. of dwellings | Amount of grant paid | No. of claims for grant | 4 verage per claim (to nearest £) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | 3,832 | £20,241 | 1,205 | £17 |
| 1967 | 3,977 | £19,732 | 885 | £22 |
| 1968 | 5,246 | £16,195 | 686 | £24 |
| 1969 | 5,831 | £23,341 | 877 | £27 |
Smoke from Industrial Chimneys
Two industrial plants were renewed during the year, in one case an
automatic oil-fired boiler plant being installed to replace coal burning
plant which, though adapted to automatic firing some years ago, often
emitted smoke when being operated under low loading conditions. In
another factory increased production gave rise to wood waste beyond
that which could be dealt with by their incinerator. Here, a specially
designed combustion chamber was installed in front of an existing boiler
so that the heat generated could be used for steam-raising purposes.
Teething troubles were experienced when the new plant came into
operation but these were overcome and the apparatus has since worked
extremely well.
In another part of the district the heating plant in a cinema has given
trouble for a number of years. In this case, a sectional boiler with an
underfeed stoker was replaced by a boiler designed to burn gas oil with
fully automatic control.