Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the parish of Alverstoke, in the county of Southampton / by William Ranger, Superintending Inspector.
- William Ranger
- Date:
- 1852
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the parish of Alverstoke, in the county of Southampton / by William Ranger, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.
31/78 (page 29)
![])ody are of a very limited order, in all that respects sanitary iu-rangements at least, it follows as a matter of course that the drainage, the scavenging, the privy accommodation, and the like, are as bad, if not worse, than in the tov/n of Gos- port itself The country round Gosport is much intersected 1 ly creeks and inlets running up from the sea; and these are -euerally made the receptacles for the sewage aaid liquid refuse wliich are discharged from tlie houses in the vicinity. Thus, for instance, there is the Bishop s Mill Pond, which receives the contents of forty privies belonging to the houses in Nelson-place, as well as the sewage ft-om the ^[ihtary prison. The flow of the tide up the Bishop's Mill [^ond prevents the discharge of the refuse from the Military prison except at low water, and at that time the smell is tated to be of the most offensive nature; and the evil is [he orreater because the outfall for the sewag-e is within a lew feet of the main road. I might give further examples; but this one will serve as a type of many other .places of a similar kind in both the North and South Liberty portions of the pai'ish. There can be no doubt that if the Public Health Act were applied to the town of Gosport only, it would fail in accomplisliing nmch of the benefit that may be expected to arise from its introduction. 1st, The population in the villages round Gosport is very considei'able ; and 2d, The extent and resources of these places are so limited as to render it impossible for any of them to take steps for their effectual drainage or water supply. But if the Act be ap- plied to those portions of the parish of Alverstoke whicli are indicated upon the plan, both Gosport and tlie neigh- boui'ing villages will derive a mutual benefit from the arrangement,—the foimer will participate in the improve- ments to be carried out in the town, and the latter will obtain a more extended drainage area; and, if it should be required, a larger district for the purposes of the future water supply. Moreover, the policy of the Public Health Act contem- plates, as far as practicable, the union of districts and offices; because it is evident, that the more extended a district, and the smaller its staff of oflicers, and unavoid- able working expenses, the cheaper will the cost of the works be to the I'atepayers of tlie district; -and in the present instance, this consideration is a highly impoi'tant one, because of the large proportion of low rated houses in and about the town of Gosport. I have purposely refrained- from giving any particulars of the defective drainage or water supply of tlie district](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20423597_0037.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
