Though much was thus most unsatisfactory, yet in many other important matters which vitally affected the public health, considerable progress was being made.
In the matter of water supply a steady but slow improvement had, under public pressure, taken place. In 1892 a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire as to whether the existing sources of supply were adequate, and it reported in the following year.
“We are strongly of opinion,” they said, “that the water as supplied to the consumer in London is of a very high standard of excellence and of purity, and that it is suitable in quality for all household purposes. We are well aware that a certain prejudice exists against the use of drinking water derived from the Thames and the Lea, because these rivers are liable to pollution, however perfect the subsequent purification by natural or artificial means may be; but having regard to the experience of London during the last thirty years, and to the evidence given us on the subject, we do not believe that any danger exists of the spread of disease by the use of this water, provided that there is adequate storage, and that the water is efficiently filtered before delivery to the consumers.”
This statement was to a certain extent satisfactory, but the fact remained that both the Thames and Lea still received sewage effluents above the intakes, and considerable pollution from other causes; and that diseases might still be water-borne and water-distributed by them. The thoroughness of the filtration also was often open to doubt.
Improvement was gradually being effected in the system of removal or disposal of filth and refuse of all sorts and kinds; the sweepings of the streets, the refuse from houses. According to the general practice of the local authorities the great bulk of this stuff was first brought to yards or places, the property of the authorities, and there sorted or sifted and sent down the river or along the canals in barges, or sometimes even by rail to the country. But the system was costly and insanitary and inefficient, and as was pointed out—“it could not be deemed satisfactory when large metropolitan districts inflict their filth upon smaller communities in urban districts.”
A system of destroying much of this filth by fire had been devised, and gradually was adopted by the local authorities. It was found that with a properly constructed and efficient destructor no nuisance need result, and this method of disposing of house refuse was much more desirable from a sanitary point of view than that usually adopted by London Sanitary Authorities.
A certain number of local authorities adopted this method to the great advantage of the community, and though there is still much to be done in this direction, the change, so far as it has gone, has undoubtedly minimised a great evil.
Both numerous and various are the measures which have to be taken for the protection of the public from disease. One of the most essential of these was disinfection—the disinfection of rooms where there had been infectious or contagious disease, and the disinfection or destruction of clothing or articles used by the person suffering from the disease. The process of disinfection originally was of the most primitive character and doubtful efficacy, but the progress of science had elaborated really effective methods.
In 1866 the local authorities had been given power to provide a proper place with all necessary apparatus, &c., for the disinfection of infected clothing, &c., free of charge, and to give compensation for articles destroyed. Thus every inducement was given to the public to get infected articles disinfected. But many years were to pass before provision by the Vestries was extensively made.
By the Public Health London Act, 1891, this provision was made imperative on the local authorities.