Both main drainage and house drainage were thus steadily being extended and improved, but in many places things were still outrageously bad. Nor had the creation of fresh evils been effectually prevented, for from Bromley came the complaint that several new estates were rapidly being covered with small house property which drained into cesspools.
And the Medical Officer of Health for Fulham wrote (1866):—
“The active operations of your Board have fortunately relieved the Fulham district to a large extent from that pregnant source of mischief—want of drainage; still there are large tracts of building land yet unprovided for, on much of which houses by dozens are being squatted without any regard to this great essential by the builders, save the horrid cesspool system. It is enough to have to counteract the evils of past imprudence without perpetuating them by such wilful recklessness….”
The supply of water to the inhabitants of London was of equal importance to an efficient system of sewerage. The problem had by no means been solved by “The Metropolis Water Act” of 1852, which had enacted that within five years after the passing of the Act a constant supply should be given by the companies. Unfortunately, the supply was in the hands of various public companies over which the local governing authorities had practically little or no control, and, like all sanitary legislation of this period, the results were not commensurate with the intentions of the Legislature.
An illustration of how insufficient the supply was, was detailed in a report of the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel in 1862:—
“A return has been made by the Inspector of 133 courts in the district.
“Of these—in 48 which contain 388 houses and have a population of 3,233 persons the water supply is by stand taps only, from which the water flows daily (Sundays excepted) for a period varying from quarter to half an hour.
“This intermittent supply is totally inadequate to the wants of the people.”
Parliament made an effort in 1862[81] to amend the law, and enacted that where a house was without a proper supply of water the owner or occupier might be required by the Vestry to obtain such supply, and if such notice was not complied with, the Vestry might do the necessary work and recover the expenses from the owner, and then require the water companies to supply the water.