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Sanitary Circumstances of the Area.
WATER.
Several large factories have private wells for drawing water
from the chalk, but practically the whole of the Borough is
supplied with water by the Metropolitan Water Board. The
supply is constant, and in every case it is conveyed directly to
the house. A number of houses have storage tanks in the roof
which need periodical cleansing. The cleaning of these tanks is
often difficult owing to some of them being built into the roof with
no facilities for access.
A complaint was received from the occupant of a certain
house in the Borough, on account of several of the members of
his family suffering from sore throats, due to the taste and cloudy
nature of the water supply. Samples of water were taken, and
examination revealed that the water was unsuitable for drinking
purposes.
The Metropolitan Water Board were acquainted of this fact,
and it was ascertained that there was a dead end on the 4-inch
main supplying the premises, and arrangements were made for
the periodical flushing out of the main.
The samples taken subsequently were quite satisfactory.
RIVERS AND STREAMS.
The ditches are under the control of the Town Council as
successors to the Dagenham Commissioners, as also are the
river banks for the prevention of floods. The Lea and the
Thames are both tidal rivers. The Thames is under the control
of the Port of London Authority, as is also part of the River Lea.
The remainder of the Lea and its backwaters being under the Lea
Conservancy.
As mentioned in my report for the year 1927, there are two
great sources of pollution into the rivers before they enter West
Ham. The two neighbouring Boroughs of Leyton and Walthamstow
have recently connected up their sewer to the London County
Council Hackney sewer, and only discharge into the river in case
of heavy storms; the consequence is that the condition of the
waters of the back reaches of the Lea discharging through West
Ham has greatly improved.
DRAINAGE AND SEWERAGE.
The water carriage system of sewage removal is almost
universal throughout the whole Borough. With few exceptions all
houses are provided with properly flushed modern water-closets,
discharging through appropriate drains into Public Sewers, which
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