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249
[1903
to the water-waste-preventers attached to W.C.'s. Such cisterns should,
however, supply nothing else, and consequently should have no draw-off taps
fitted to them. If they were reserved solely for this purpose then a
long step would have been taken towards the universal supply of an uncontaminated
water supply.
In this connection it might be pointed out that the water for domestic
purposes supplied by the water companies of nearly all, if not all, the great
towns is drawn direct from the main, without the intervention of a cistern. In
towns with which your Medical Officer of Health is well acquainted the supply
is direct, and cisterns are never used except to supply water closets. Indeed the
public would not tolerate a system by which it is always possible for the supply
to be seriously contaminated.
Purity of the Supply. —For the first time for many years complaints
were received as to the character of the water supplied by the New River
Company. There was, however, no cause for alarm, because, beyond the fact
that the water was more or less discoloured owing to the floods which followed
heavy rainfalls at various periods of the year, there was nothing seriously
wrong with it, as the Company's filters, which as usual worked efficiently,
had removed the impurities, although they were not able to remove all the
discoloration. This discoloration was never very great, and at times could
only be perceived when the water was examined through a deep glass, or in
considerable quantity, as in a swimming bath. The Chairman of the Baths
and Washhouses Committee (Councillor Ambrose Jones) drew the attention of
the Medical Officer of Health to the matter, but he was in a position to assure
him that apart from the discoloration there was nothing in the water that
could affect the health of the bathers.

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