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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.
Samples of water were taken from the Thames in connection
with the supply for Corporation Baths in Lyle Park. Upon examination
it was found to be unsuitable.
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 Lee and the
Thames are both tidal rivers. The Thames and part of the river
Lee are under the control of the Port of London Authority. The
remainder of the Lee and its backwaters are under the Lee Conservancy.
As mentioned in my report of 1927, there were two great
sources of pollution of the rivers before they enter West Ham.
The two neighbouring Boroughs of Leyton and Walthamstow
have now connected up their sewers with the L.C.C. Hackney
Sewer, and only discharge into the rivers in the case of heavy
storms, the consequence being that the condition of the water from
the River Lee reaching West Ham is greatly improved.
DRAINAGE AND SEWERAGE.
The water carriage system of sewage removal is almost
universal throughout the whole Borough. With very few exceptions,
houses are provided with properly flushed modern water
closets, discharging by modern drainage into the Public Sewers
which also convey the surface water. The part of the Borough
lying South of the Victoria and Albert Docks drains into the two
main sewers, just touching East Ham and discharging into the
L.C.C. Sewer at North Woolwich.
With the exception of about 200 acres on the North side of
the Borough, the whole of the sewage is waterborne. A scheme
is being considered to deal with this part of the Borough under
the Town Planning Act.
Excepting this comparatively small area, the whole district
North of the Victoria and Albert Docks is drained by gravitating
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