Mr. W. H. Power's report to the local government board respecting improvements in the sanitary condition of the Faversham urban sanitary district since his former inspection in 1875.

  • Power, W. H.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mr. W. H. Power's report to the local government board respecting improvements in the sanitary condition of the Faversham urban sanitary district since his former inspection in 1875. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    Mr. W. H. Power’s Report to the Local Government Board respecting Improvements in the Sanitary Condition of the Faversham Urban Sanitary District since his former Inspection in 1875. George Buchanan, Medical Department, December 6, 1880. In accordance with instructions I have visited Faversham, and have inquired as to improvements which have been effected in the sanitary state of that urban district since my report thereon in 1875. The results of this inquiry may conveniently be dealt with in the order of the “ Recommenda- tions ” of the report referred to. 1. Water Supply.-— The supply of the Faversham Water Company has not yet been generally adopted in the town, though considerahle extension of this service has occurred since 1875. At that date the company supplied 700 houses; now, 1,079 have the service, and most of them are separately supplied. The above figures, obtained in each instance from the water company, refer to Faversham town in its wider sense, and include, therefore, houses in the Rural Sanitary Districts. Faversham Urban District contains, according to the Medical Officer of Health’s estimate in 1879, some 1,700 dwellings. The water company’s service, which is now constant in all seasons, averages daily 130,000 gallons (some 24 gallons per head of inhabitants of 1,079 houses), an amount capable, it is said, of almost indefinite increase if requisite. The scale of charges of the water company for water service now includes supply to closets “ in private houses supplied with water, where the usual number of inmates does not exceed eight persons; ” but, with certain exceptions, the charge per house exceeds 2cl. per week. These exceptions include (1) all dwellings rated at or under the value of 41., and (2) such houses rated at 61. as stand in groups and are owned by one person willing to pay his water rates in advance. In these latter instances a discount of 20 per cent, is con- ceded by the water company, and this arrangement brings the charge for houses of this class within the limit of 2d. per week per house. The parts of Urban Faversham, where the Company’s water is not yet supplied to houses, are mainly those in which the dwellings of the poorer classes are aggregated. About the quays west of Abbey Street, where some of the oldest and worst house property in the town is to be found, the inhabitants of a large area still depend for their water supply almost wholly on mere surface wells, and this notwithstanding that mains of the water company pass through their midst. Island Lane, Conduit Street, and North Lane are streets in this locality. In this locality some 50 cases of enteric fever occurred, in 1878, among persons who for the most part used the water of a particular well. In Tanner Street, where also people get their water from wells, fever occurred in 1879. Several circumstances have doubtless militated against extension of the water company’s service in Faversham. As in 1875, an excuse generally adopted is to the effect that compulsion in the matter cannot well be exercised in view of the rates and charges of the water company. Formerly no doubt this plea was well grounded, but it would appear that the above- mentioned concessions of the water company have in large measure rendered the excuse invalid as regards much of the house property that stands in peculiar need of improved and wholesome water supply, as, for instance, that about Island Lane. The true reason why the company’s water has not been more largely introduced into houses of the poorer class is to be found in the objection that some owners of such houses have to incurring any expense for Q 3445. 100.—12/80. Wt. 11334. E. & S.