London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Barnes 1961

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Barnes]

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13
THE REPORT OF THE CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTOR
Mr. W. L. LEACH, IS CONTAINED IN THE FOLLOWING
SECTIONS 'C', 'D' and 'E'
SECTION 'C' — SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE
AREA
WATER SUPPLY.
There has been no change in the method of collection, purification
and storage of the domestic water supply for the district. Daily
samples are taken by officers of the Metropolitan Water Board at each
stage, and the average result of the bacteriological examinations of
1,835 samples is given in Table 14.
A uniformly high standard of purity and quality was maintained.
All houses in the district have a supply of piped water. Not all,
of course, have drinking water direct from the mains, many taking all
supplies from a main storage tank. These storage tanks may not be
in a state of thorough cleanliness. Finding out is often quite a task
as the tanks are invariably in most inaccessible positions.
All drinking water should be taken direct from the mains. In this
district, however, this is not a legal requirement. It sometimes happens
that the presence of small feathers in a beaker of drinking water leads
to the discovery of a dead bird or something similar in an uncovered
tank !
The Board's waters are not plumbo-solvent and are derived from
the non-tidal portion of the River Thames, stored in the Metropolitan
Water Board reservoirs at Staines, Littleton and Walton, and filtered
and chlorinated at the Hampton Works.
We are indebted to Dr. Windle Taylor, Director of Water
Examination to the Board, for the information in Table 14.
SEWERAGE AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL
The work of thoroughly cleansing and overhauling sections of
the public sewers has proceeded very well largely due to the successful
operation of the new cleansing apparatus purchased in 1960. Some
complaints were received when parts of the Beverley Brook became
stagnant as a result of a diversion of flow made necessary by the
reconstruction of the main surface water sewer in Rocks Lane and
Church Road, but these were soon remedied.
There were again a few complaints of unpleasant odours and flies
in the vicinity of the Sewage Works. It is unfortunate that, in this
congested built up area, dwellings must be situated within such a