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SECTION C
Sanitary Circumstances of the Area.
1. (i) Water.
The water supply for almost the whole district is
derived from the Metropolitan Water Board. There are
a few houses where the supply is obtained from wells.
In March, 1947, the Lee Bridge Water Works of
the Metropolitan Water Board were put out of commission
by the bursting of reservoirs caused by thawing of
the abnormal snowfall, after the cold spell which lasted
for nearly three months.
A similar failure of water supply due to enemy
action occurred during the war when the district was
without water for about a week.
In this instance there was no water in the mains
from 3 to 7 days according to the source, but most
houses had a normal supply in 5 days.
Steps were taken as follows:-
All householders were circulated with warning
notices telling them to economise in the use of water
and to save as much as possible to flush drains. The
digging of shallow trench latrines in back gardens was
advocated, but so far as it is known it was not necessary
to resort to this.
The Metropolitan Water Board sent round a fleet
of water tanks and the war time experience previously
referred to gave householders some idea of their daily
water requirements and of the necessity of someone
being at home to collect it when delivered.
A dump of water tanks was located at a Ministry
of Works Depot at Waltham Abbey and arrangements
were made to collect and distribute these to provide
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