London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Heston and Isleworth 1930
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
This page requires JavaScript
11
Late in the afternoon the same day, samples were taken, giving
the following results:—
Chlorine in Parts per 100,000
Metropolitan supply entering storage tank 1.55
Drinking fountain on Mezzanine floor 1.55
Cold water tap over sink in kitchen 1.55
The analyst's report on the canal water was as follows, showing gross pollution :—
| Parts per 100,000 | |
|---|---|
| Total solid residue | 84.96 |
| Ammonia, free | 1.75 |
| Ammonia, albuminoid | .072 |
| Nitrogen as nitrates | 1.167 |
| Nitrogen as nitrites | .030 |
| Oxygen absorbed in 4 hours at 26.7 C | .584 |
| Chlorine (combined) | 8.90 |
| Alkalinity, calculated as carbonate of lime | 27.1 |
| Total hardness (by soap test) | 32.0 |
| turbid |
Some samples taken the next day showed analyses identical
with the Metropolitan Water Board analysis. Traces of zinc found
were less than .05 parts per 100,000, which is entirely negligible.
The analyst made the following report:—
" From the analyses it is possible to calculate the probable
proportion of the canal water present in the drinking water
services on the 1st inst., and below I give two sets of figures :
"A" means of two samples taken from cold water services.
"B" means the calculated composition of a mixture of 5
volumes of M.W.B. water with 1 volume of canal water.