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29
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Section C.
1. (i) Water Supply.
The Metropolitan Water Board is responsible for
the public water supply in the borough. Throughout the year
the water supply has been satisfactory both as to quality
and quantity.
The Board's chemists and bacteriologists carry out
extensive and thorough examinations of the raw water before
treatment, and further examinations are made during the purification
processes and finally, complete tests are made of the
water as it enters the supply mains.
The water in this area is not liable to plumbosolvent
action. No complaints regarding the public water
supply were received during the year, and accordingly it
was not necessary to consult the Board regarding the piped
supplies.
Although there are over 11,000 inhabited premises
in the borough, only 13 were known to be supplied with water
derived from wells. Of these 13 premises, 7 are provided also
with a piped supply from the Board's mains. The other 6 rely
entirely upon the wells. These wells are all of the 'shallow'
type, i.e., the well is no- deep enough to penetrate the
impervious stratum, and therefore, the well is fed from the
surrounding area and is liable to become polluted. Samples
are taken from these wells periodically and are subjected to
bacteriological examination. Usually the discontinuance of
the use of well water has been brought about as the result of
this periodical examination, and it is not uncommon to find
that the occupants of the houses concerned were drinking the
water in complete ignorance of the fact that it was not a safe
supply.
(ii) Drainage and Sewerage.
The erection of the new Electricity Power Station
and the consequent interruption of work of sewage purification,
rendered this task more difficult than ever during the year.
Owing to the removal of the filter beds, the site of which was
required for the generating station, all the sewage had to be
specially treated and chlorinated before discharge into the
river.
In connection with the proposal to convey the
sewage to the West Middlesex Main Drainage Board's Works at
Mogden, a commencement was made with the new pumping main from
the Sewage ¥orks in Downhall Road to the head of the sewer in
Hampton Wick on the Middlesex side of the River Thames.
2. RIVERS AND STREAMS.
The borough is bounded on the West by the River
Thames and the only other watercourse is the Hogsmill River
which is a tributary of the Thames, which it joins at a point
a short distance above Kingston Bridge.
The effluent from the Sewage Works continued to be
discharged into the river and every endeavour was made to maintain
a standard of purification acceptable to the Thames Conservancy
Board, which is the Authority charged with the duty of prevention