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
Wimbledon 1903
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wimbledon]
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The following table gives the mean of the analyses of samples taken during the year 1903 and extracted from Professor T. E. Thorpe's monthly reports to the Registrar General; from these figures it will be seen that the supply of the Lambeth Water Company is the least satisfactory.
| Company Supplying. | Oxygen consumed in 4 hours at 8o° F. (Measure of organic pollution.) | Organic Nitrogen found. | Albuminoid Ammonia. (Measure of Nitrogenous organic pollution.) | Remarks. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent. | .008 | .005 | .0015 | Supplied from deep wells. |
| New River. | .064 | .014 | .0050 | Supply partly from wells. |
| East London. | .113 | .024 | .0100 | |
| Chelsea. | .126 | .023 | .0102 | Supply from the Thames. |
| West Middlesex. | 130 | •024 | 0106 | |
| Southwark. | .136 | .024 | .1100 | |
| Grand Junction. | .141 | .028 | .0200 | |
| Lambeth. | .147 | .028 | .0116 |
The following extracts are from the same monthly reports, and
will be of interest:—
January.—All the Thames derived supplies contained considerably
larger amounts of organic matter than were found in November.
The Grand Junction and Lambeth Companies supplies were the
worst in this respect, and also contained the highest mean proportion
of organic matter, and were senerally inferior in quality to the
supplies of the other companies.
February.—The supplies of the Grand Junction and Lambeth
Companies contained considerably larger proportions of organic
impurities than were found in the previous month, and were of in-