DR. CAMERONasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether his attention has been called to a resolution passed at a Conference on Cholera Precautions of the Medical Officers of the Metropolitan Parishes, declaring that the important sanitary defect of the Metropolis specially calling for notice is its water supply, and asserting the need of watchfulness over all the reservoirs and mains of the Water Companies; whether the monthly reports on the composition and quality of daily samples of water supplied to London, addressed to the Secretary of the Local Government Board, and forwarded to Members of Parliament, emanate from the Local Government Board or the Water Companies; and, if from the latter, seeing the frequent discrepancies between the results set forth in these reports, and the reports of the Official Water Examiner to the Registrar General, whether he will consider the propriety of directing, at least temporarily, control analyses, and supplementing them by explanations for microbic impurities by the methods devised by Professor Koch and Dr. Angus Smith?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKESir, the Board have had communicated to them the Resolution passed at the Conference of Medical Officers of Health referred to. The Board do not, however, find in the resolution that the water supply was referred to as "the important sanitary defect of the Metropolis." The members expressed their views as to the importance of a pure public water supply; and stated that, while the amendment of the water service in detail would receive the attention of the Medical Officers of Health, experience had shown the need of watchfulness over the reservoirs and mains of the Water Companies. The Board have brought under the special attention of the Water Examiner of the Metropolis the resolution of the Medical Officers of Health so passed. The monthly Reports referred to do not emanate from the Local Government Board, but are, as I have often stated, prepared for, and at the expense of, the Water Companies. The analyses on behalf of the Board are made by Professor Frankland, and the Board have full confidence in the results of his analysis. At present, the Board see no sufficient 1134 reason for obtaining control analyses. With regard to the supplementary examinations, the Board, some time since, arranged for samples of the water of the Metropolitan Companies being supplied to Dr. Angus Smith for examination, according to the method alluded to.
§ MR. MITCHELL HENRYasked whether the attention of the Water Companies had been called to the desirability of supplying the water direct from the mains by taps, in the manner he recommended a few days ago?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKE, in reply, said, attention had been called to the point, and that was all he could say at present.