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19
SECTION C.
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA.
(i) Water Supply.—The district is served by the Metropolitan
Water Board and the South Essex Waterworks Co., both maintaining a
constant supply.
The onus on these Undertakings to provide a pure water supply was
laid down by Section 35 of the Waterworks Clause Act, 1847, "to provide
and keep in the pipes to be laid down by them a supply of pure and wholesome
water" ; they have also a specific obligation; Section 17 of the South Essex
Waterworks Act, 1901, imposes a duty on the Company "to provide a supply
of pure and wholesome water," while Section 7 of the Metropolitan Water
Board (Charges) Act, 1907, lays an obligation on the Board that "subject
to the provisions of this Act the Board shall cause service mains or pipes
(not being communication pipes) to be laid down and a supply of pure and
wholesome water for domestic purposes to be brought to every part within
the limits of supply."
The Waterworks Clauses Act of 1847 was repealed in 1945 by the passing
of the Water Act which placed upon the Minister of Health the duty of
promoting the conservation and proper use of water resources and the
provision of water supplies in England and Wales and of securing the
effective execution by water undertakers, under his control and direction,
of a National policy relating to water.
From the Barking boundary the South Essex Waterworks Co. supply
(with certain exceptions referred to hereunder) that portion of the district
lying East of the River Roding, South of the L.N.E.Rly., East of Cranbrook
Road and High Street, Barkingside, South of Forest Road to and including
Fairlop Station, East of the railway to a point approximately 500 ft. South
of Hainault Station, then South of a line drawn from this point to the South
end of Dryden Close, West of a continuing line to Forest Road and South
from this point to the Dagenham boundary. In addition the Company are
about to supply the Council's temporary housing estate fronting Forest
Road and abutting the Dagenham boundary, by arrangement with the
Board. Nos. 130-144, Cranbrook Road (even numbers inclusive), though
on the West side of Cranbrook Road are also supplied by this Company.
The portion of the district to the West and North of the area is served
by the Metropolitan Water Board, together with a number of isolated
premises which include Valentines Mansion, Emerson Road, Nos. 65, 67,
69, 71a, and 36, High Road, 6, 8, 18 and 20, Station Approach, Ilford, and
six shops known as Old Post Office Buildings, High Street, Barkingside.
The Metropolitan Water Board has one deep well within the district at
Eastern Avenue to augment its river supply.
The South Essex Waterworks Co. obtain their water from the River
Stour and from seven deep wells situated in their area of supply, three of
which are within the district at Mill Road, Grove Road and Roding Lane.
The water supplied by the South Essex Waterworks Co. is derived from
two sources, namely:—
(1) The River Stour after purification at the Langham Filtration
Works.
(2) The Seven Kings, Ilford and Roding Pumping Station, each of
which obtain their supply from deep wells in the chalk which has
a superficial covering of London Clay, Woolwich and Reading Beds,
and Thanet Sand, thereby preventing any possibility of surface
contamination.
In regard to the River Stour supply, which constitutes about 65 per cent,
of the water distributed in Ilford by this Company, the river water is
subjected to preliminary storage and equalisation in a Sedimentation
Reservoir from which it passes through Continuous Flow Settlement Tanks
provided with facilities for the addition of chemical precipitants, should
such be necessary.