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A list of houses, according to the Housing
(Inspection of District) Regulations, issued by the
Local Government Board in 1910, has been made, but
past inspection has been fairly complete, and there
are very few houses in which there has been any
difficulty in getting the repairs required by the Health
Department executed by the owners.
Bye-Laws as to Houses Let in Lodgings.—The
Council passed in 1902 Bye-Laws as to Houses let in
Lodgings. Registration of such houses, however, has
not been enforced, but inspection has been carried out,
and there has been only very rarely any difficulty in
getting notices for amending defects and nuisances
complied with.
Greater difficulty is encountered in dealing with
careless tenants than with owners, and the Health
Department finds the amending of ordinary nuisances
a simple matter compared with the cleansing of houses,
bedding, and clothes infested with vermin.
Fortunately this is confined to moderately few
families, and an improvement is taking place owing to
the combined action of the Local Education Authority
and the District Council. A nurse under the Education
Authority is visiting the schools, and following the
verminous children to their homes. In bad cases the
parents have been prosecuted and fined.
Water Supply.—The water supply is from deep
wells in the chalk just above the strip of London
Tertiaries and situated in the town. The Sutton
District Water Company is bound by Act to soften the
water to not less than 9 degrees of hardness, and it
has been found by frequent analyses made at the
Health Office that this standard was rarely exceeded.
Recent analyses carried out by experts engaged by
the District Council have shown the chemical and
bacteriological purity of the water to be of a very high
standard.
Sewerage and Drainage.—The district is sewered,
except with regard to a few houses in the outlying
rural and sparsely populated parts on the clay, where
cesspools are still in use, and emptied from time to
time by the Health Department.