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 1960
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949
Six thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven visits were made by
the Rodent Operatives concerning 831 properties and 307 rat and mouse
infestations found. Of that number 274 were found in private premises,
27 in business premises and 6 in Council premises.
With regard to sewers, one maintenance treatment was carried out in May and the results are shown in the following table, together with the three previous years:—
| May Treatment | November Treatment | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | |
| Manholes baited | 194 | 198 | 188 | 161 | 199 | 190 | — | — |
| Manholes in which takes of prebait were recorded | 62 | 80 | 7 | 4 | 83 | 51 | - | - |
| Percentage of manholes showing infestations | 33.0 | 40.4 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 42.7 | 26.8 | - | - |
| Percentage in relation to total manholes in district | 5.7 | 7.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 7.5 | 4.5 | - | — |
The sewer maintenance treatment which was carried out in May
revealed so very few rat infested manholes that the next maintenance
treatment was deferred until the following year.
Swimming Baths
There is only one public swimming bath in the district which is in
the ownership of the Council. It measures 45ft. by 22ft. and the depth
of the water increases from 3ft. at one end to 6ft. at the other. The
water supplied from the mains is subjected to precipitation, filtration and
chlorination on the "break-point" principle, and is completely replaced
at the beginning of each season.
The water was sampled both at the shallow and deep ends on 6
occasions during the swimming season. All 12 samples were free from
coli bacilli and 11 had total bacterial counts of less than 10 per ml,
the twelfth having a total count of 20. It will, therefore, be seen that
since breakpoint chlorination was instituted in 1959 the condition of the
water has been entirely satisfactory. Owing to the relatively small size
of this bath its use has to be carefully regulated to ensure that the capacity
of the purification plant is not overloaded.
A relatively new development is the establishment of private swimming
baths associated with schools. One such bath has been provided
by voluntary effort on the part of the staff and parents at the Barrow
Hedges Primary School at an approximate cost of £2,000. This provides
a valuable amenity to the life of the school and has been established
only after careful consideration of the technical and public health considerations
involved.
Offices
Twenty-one inspections of offices were made but no action was
found to be necessary. When the new Offices Act comes into operation
in 1962 the regulations to be made thereunder will provide a valuable
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