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
Sutton 1906
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Sutton]
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| Number of registered cowkeepers, dairymen, and purveyors of milk carrying on business at the commencement of the year | 19 |
| Number since registered | — |
| Number who gave up or transferred their business during the year | 2 |
| Number of registered premises inspected during the year | 19 |
| Total number of visits paid during the year | 81 |
| Number of cowsheds and dairies at which improvements m the lighting, ventilation, paving, drainage, means of cleansing, or water supply, were made during the year | 1 |
| Number of cowsheds or dairies which were found in a dirty state | 0 |
| Number of premises at which the milk vessels were found in an unclean state | 0 |
| Number of new cowsheds erected | 0 |
Factory & Workshops Act.—The number of workshops on the register at the
end of the year was 121, and 253 visits of inspection were made. The various
premises were generally found to be in a satisfactory condition. N otices to cleanse
were served in eight instances, and to remedy defective sanitary accommodation in
three. No other offences under the Factory & Workshops Act were reported. The
following list gives the various industries as carried on at the registered workshops:—
Bakehouses 14
Laundries 17
Dressmakers and Milliners 29
Tailors, Outfitters, Watchmakers, Bootmakers, and others 61
Water Supply.—The district is supplied with water by the Sutton District
Water Company from wells in the chalk, and the various analyses made for the
Council during the year have shown the water to be of excellent quality. Under the
Sutton District Water Company Act, 1903, Section 7, it was required that from tht
1st day of August, 1906, that all water supplied to the consumers within the district
should be softened to a degree of hardness not exceeding 9 degrees. Owing to
difficulties in connection with the completion of the extensive plant required for the
process, the softening was delayed for some months, but a recent analysis shows the
Water Company to be now complying with the requirements of the Act, the hardness
being estimated at 8 6 degrees.
From the greater safety in the use of boilers, the saving in cost of the previous
necessary repeated cleansing of the same, and also in the quantity of soap required
for washing purposes, the softening of the water supply will be a great boon to the
consumer, but in addition to this the process of softening, as is well known, is a
further safeguard against any possible accidental contamination. By the advent of
" softening " the water also becomes, in my opinion, of greatly increased value for
dietetic purposes, and may now be adjudged as being unsurpassed inusefulnessby any
water supply in the country.
Sewage Disposal.—The sewage of the district is conveyed by high and low
level sewers to a farm situated in the north-west portion of the district, and treated
by double contact bacteria beds, on what is generally known as the Sutton system.
In a previous report I observe that " the capacity of the beds is at present not too
great for the effective treatment of the sewage, and as the population is rapidly
increasing, and with it naturally the volume of sewage, the extension of the system
in the future will, of course, become necessary and require to be provided for"
During the year extensions have been made to the bacteria beds, and for the
following description of the work done I am indebted to the Engineer and Surveyor.
One coarse and one fine grain bacteria bed have been constructed at the low level