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approval was given to the arrangements which the officers had made to avert,
as far as practicable, the difficulty arising from the limitation of water supply.
On Saturday, the 3rd September, a further diminution in supply took place,
and from that date water was only turned on for two hours twice daily. Stand
pipes for the supply of water were erected in prominent places. Street watering
and gulley flushing ceased to take place with East London Water—but water
from the New River, as well as from the well in the Destructor Yard was freely
used for these purposes.
The East London Waterworks Company arranged to supply the Board with
as many stone jars as should be required for distribution among the poorer
inhabitants who were unable to store water for drinking purposes.
Notices were printed and distributed throughout the District informing the
inhabitants of the hours when the Company had arranged to turn on the
water, and also stating that application could be made at the Offices of the
Board by persons who required jars.
The reason for the latter notice was to enable the Inspectors to visit the
homes of applicants, to get information at once of any nuisance which might
arise through the limitation of the Water Supply. It soon became apparent that
the pans of water closets in the homes of the poor were liable to become choked,
and that the house drains became foul where they were used by many people.
With the co-operation of the Surveyor, after a consultation with that
gentleman and with the Clerks, it was arranged that water vans should be employed
to take water to those houses which required it, and that regular daily
flushing of water closets of such houses should be carried out. From this time
until the Company renewed the constant water supply, nine men were constantly
employed with three water vans in carrying on this useful work Each
closet which was discovered to be choked, was cleared by means of a plunger,
then pails of water were dashed down, and disinfectants were also freely used.
Constant service was resumed on the 12th of December, a nine hours
supply having taken place on November 23rd. In addition to the above
measures, disinfection was regularly performed with per-chloride solution by
an additional man. The water closets connected with nearly 300 of the
houses occupied by the poorest people were thus daily treated.
Whether these precautions limited the number of Infectious cases it is of
course impossible to say, but it is interesting to note that the fees paid during
the third quarter, for the notification of such diseases, were the lowest since
any record has been kept. The number of cases of Infectious disease will be
found in Table " O " of the Appendix.
During the year, the Fees paid for notification of Infectious diseases
amounted to the sum of ,£68 11s., and for the three previous years the Fees
were respectively ,£109 11s. ; £131 6s.; and £110 5s.
It is not within my province to discuss the great water question—but I do say
that means should be taken to prevent any limitation of pure water in the future.
Although connected with the Surveyor's Department, I may be permitted to
state that so soon as the necessary arrangements have been completed, the
dustmen will call at the houses for the dust pails. They will then cease to
remain upon the pavements as eyesores and often nuisances, as at present.
By direction of the Chairman of the Board, a sample of water from the
Destructor Yard was submitted to Professor Attfield. The result of his
analysis is given below,