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16
At the commencement of July I handed over the
control of the Ambulance to the Chief Officer of the Fire
Brigade and the figures given above are only for the
period up to that date.
I should have liked, on relinquishing the control of
the Ambulance service, to have reported rather more fully
on the sixteen years since the service was inaugurated,
but I am afraid this wish will have to remain unfulfilled.
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA.
WATER SUPPLY.
The drinking water for the district is supplied by
the Metropolitan Water Board and consists of Thames
derived stored water, filtered and terminally chlorinated.
BEVERLEY BROOK AND HOGSMILL RIVER.
During the year samples of water were taken from
Beverley Brook and Hogsmill River and submitted for
analysis.
The Analyst's report on the sample from the Beverley
Brook stated:—
" This water has the composition of a neat sewage
effluent. Suspended solids and rate of absorbed dissolved
oxygen are both much in excess of the respective maxima
of the Royal Commission's general standard for a sewage
effluent.
The water did just withstand anaerobic incubation
for 5 days at 26.7°C without putrescence, but only just."
The report on the sample from Hogsmill River
stated:—
" The rate of absorption of dissolved oxygen places
this water in the bad class of river water: the water is
of the character of a good sewage effluent."
CLOSET ACCOMMODATION.
Practically all the houses in the district have water
closets connected with the main sewage system. Only
in a few isolated instances are earth closets known to
exist.