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 1958
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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Section C—Sanitary Circumstances.
Water Supply
Except for a small part of the area on the northern boundary comprising
approximately 170 dwellings supplied by the Metropolitan Water
Board, the district is within the supply area of of the Sutton District Water
Company. Water is derived from wells in the chalk situated at Sutton,
Cheam and Woodmansterne. If the need arises the supply can be
augmented by the Epsom and Ewell Corporation's water undertaking, or
by the East Surrey Water Company and by the Metropolitan Water Board.
The Company is under a statutory obligation to soften their own supply
to 9° of hardness.
All dwellings have a piped supply. The water is not considered to be
plumbo-solvent.
Comprehensive arrangements exist for safeguarding the purity of the
water as supplied to the public, including treatment by chlorination. There
is a daily check both on the raw and finished waters by the Company's
resident chemist. Samples are also taken as a routine by a firm of Consulting
Water Chemists on behalf of the Company, and by the Public Health
Departments of the District Councils in the Company's distribution area,
on an agreed rota.
The supply both in quantity and quality was satisfactory during the year. The following summary of the water examinations carried out in the Company's Laboratory, is supplied by courtesy of the Resident Chemist.
| Sample | Total No. of Bacteriological Examinations | Total No. of full Chemical Analyses | No. and % of samples showing ColiAerogenes in 100 ml. (excluding B. Coli 1) | No. and % of samples showing B. Coli present in 100 ml. of sample (Type 1) | Total No. ColiAerogenes Organisms in 100 ml. of sample | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | ||||
| Sutton Raw | 307 | 53 | 23 | 7.5 | 19 | 6.2 | 42 |
| Sutton Finished | 308 | 12 | Nil | Nil | 2 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Woodmansterne Raw | 307 | 53 | 2 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.7 | 4 |
| Woodmansterne Finished | 307 | 12 | Nil | Nil | 1 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Cheam Raw | 306 | 53 | 4 | 1.3 | 7 | 2.3 | 11 |
| Reservoir | 267 | Nil | 1 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.4 | 2 |
| District | 274 | Nil | 2 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.7 | 4 |
| Total | 2,076 | 183 | 32 | 34 | 66 | ||
The Public Health Departments in the area of supply submitted 30
samples for bacteriological and 15 samples for chemical examination during
the year. All indicated that the water was pure and wholesome and fit for
public supply. Of the 15 chemical analyses made, 3 shewed hardness in
excess of 9°. Two of these taken in Epsom in May and November shewed
hardness of 18° and they were undoubtedly samples of water taken by the
Company from the Epsom and Ewell Corporation's supply to augment
their own in that part of the distribution area. The following is the report
on a sample taken locally which is fairly representative of this chalk well
supply.
19