[Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Leek U.D.C.

  • Leek (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Leek U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Removal and Disposal of House and Trade Refuse. The removal of house refuse is accomplished by the public scavengers employed by the Council, who make weekly rounds to collect the contents of about 2,000 movable receptacles ; otherwise where ashpits exist these are emptied on notice being sent to the Authority. During the year 36 offensive uncovered ashpits have been abolished. 1 am glad to see suitable covers of tarpaulin have been provided to some of the ashes carts, but I notice with regret these are by no means in constant use. The disposal of refuse consists in its being emptied on the “tip.” I have long advocated a Destructor as the most sanitary method of refuse disposal, but I am bound to admit that the “tipping” as at present carried out at the sewage farm is robbed of many of its objectionable features, inasmuch as the refuse is levelled and covered over with a good layer of earth, thus obviating the nuisance associated with the ordinary tip. The want of a “destructor” is perhaps more keenly felt for the final disposal of “trade refuse” accumulating from butchers’, fishmongers’ provision dealers’, green¬ grocers’, fried fish and tripe shops ; this is not collected with house refuse and leads occasionally to cases of nuisance. Of all kinds of refuse this is surely the worst, and requires destruction by fire. Water Supply. The water supply is one of which we are justly proud : taking its origin in a series of deep springs in the millstone grit of the Roches which are all carefully covered in, the water is carried directly, practically with¬ out storage to the town. The only approach to storage consists in the use of a reservoir situated on the outskirts of the town, which receives the surplus water during