[Report 1967] / Medical Officer of Health, Tyne Port Health Authority.

  • Tyne Port Health Authority.
Date:
1967
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1967] / Medical Officer of Health, Tyne Port Health Authority. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    In view of the large amount of water supplied to sea-going ships, the attention of the officers of the Authority has been concentrated on these water-boats, visual inspections being carried out on 23 occasions during the year in addition to visits made when sampling. During the year 93 samples were taken from these vessels and sub¬ mitted to the Public Health Laboratory ; the results received were as follows :— Highly Satisfactory Satisfactory Suspicious Unsatisfactory Total 65 14 9 5 93 It will be seen that about 15% of these samples came within the category of suspicious or unsatisfactory, and on a few occasions evidence of the presence of Bacillus Coli was found. Whenever these conditions were found to exist, even in a minor degree, the water-boats were taken out of commission at once, the tanks superchlorinated and throughly flushed out; return to service being dependant on a satisfactory sampling result after treatment. During the year one new water-boat came into commission, and the initial examination revealed conditions which were far from satisfactory. A considerable amount of inspectorial time has been spent educating the crew of the vessel in the basic principles of hygiene, including personal hygiene. There has been a marked improvement in the general standard, but continuous vigilance is still being exercised in order that this standard be further improved.