London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Carshalton 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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Section C—Sanitary Circumstances.
Water Supply
The greater part of the district is supplied by the Sutton District
Water Company which obtains its water from wells in the chalk situated at
Sutton, Cheam and Woodmansterne. These supplies can be augmented if
the need arises by the Metropolitan Water Board, the Epsom and Ewell
Corporation Water Works and the East Surrey Water Company. The
company has a statutory duty to soften to 9° of hardness. A small portion
of the northern end of the district comprising about 170 dwellings is supplied
by the Metropolitan Water Board.
All dwellings have a piped supply. The water is not considered to be
plumbo-solvent.
Following the water epidemic of 1936, very comprehensive arrangements
were devised for ensuring the future standard of the public supply.
Treatment of the raw well water was modernised and intensified to be able
to deal with any foreseeable accidental pollution, whilst a fuller scheme of
testing was instituted to enable the earliest warning to be given of any
deterioration in the purity of the supply. The services of the Company's
resident chemist provide a daily check on the raw and finished waters.
This is supplemented by analyses conducted by independent water analysts
at intervals and by sampling by the Public Health Officers of the District
Councils in the supply area on an agreed rota.
Quality and quantity were satisfactory in 1957 as for many years past.
One sample only barely failed to comply with the required statutory
standard of softening viz. 9° of hardness.
The following summary of water examinations is provided by courtesy of the Company's resident analyst.
| Sample | Total No. of Bacteriological Examinations | Total No. of full Chemical Analyses | No. and % of samples showing Coli-Aerogenes in 100 ml. (excluding B. Coli 1) | No. and % of sample showing B. Coli present in 100 ml. of sample (Type 1) | Total No. Coli-Aero-genes Organisms in 100 ml. of sample | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | ||||
| Sutton Raw | 307 | 52 | 9 | 3.0 | 8 | 3.0 | 17 |
| Sutton Finished | 312 | 12 | 3 | 1.0 | 2 | 1.0 | 5 |
| Woodmansterne Raw | 306 | 52 | 1 | 0.3 | Nil | Nil | 1 |
| Woodmansterne Finished | 310 | 12 | 1 | 0.3 | Nil | Nil | 1 |
| Cheam Raw | 311 | 52 | 18 | 6.0 | Nil | Nil | 18 |
| Reservoir | 284 | – | 1 | 0.3 | Nil | Nil | 1 |
| District | 300 | – | 9 | 3.0 | 1 | 0.3 | 10 |
| Total | 2,130 | 180 | 42 | – | 11 | – | 53 |
The sanitary authorities of the districts served by the Company
examined 13 chemical and 27 bacteriological samples during the year and
all were satisfactory. The following is the report on one of the two complete
examinations arranged by the District Council.
20