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27
PUBLIC BATHS
The Minister of Health (Circular l/60) has requested that
reference should be made to any public swimming baths in the borough.
The Council have provided indoor swimming pools at the Public
Baths situated in North Kensington at the junction of Lancaster Road
and Silchester Road.
The original building was constructed about seventy years ago
and no major structural alterations have since taken place. There were
four swimming pools, two of which have now been discontinued. The
swimming pools now available are as follows:-
(1) The large mixed swimming pool.
(2) The small mixed swimming pool.
The large pool has an area of approximately 4,500 sq. ft.
and the smaller one is one-third of this area.
Both pools are available for swimming in the summer months
mid-April to mid-October, but during the winter months only the large
pool will be available to the public.
The water used for swimming is taken from the Metropolitan
Water Board's supply at the commencement of the bathing season, and
throughout the season it is treated by a continuous filtration system.
Low pressure sand filters were installed in 1927 and a continuous
chlorination equipment added several years later. This plant
is now worn out, and new equipment embodying the latest improvements
was substituted during the winter of 1959/60.
The filtration process consists of drawing water from the
deep end of the pool through a suitable strainer and, after the
addition of coagulants to flocculate organic matter and to obtain
efficient filtration, the water is pumped to the top of four Vertical
Air-Scoured Pressure Filters. The water, before filtration, is
sterilised; this is done by introducing chlorinated water into the
circulating flow from "Wallace & Tiernan" Automatic Residual Chlorine
Control equipment, with hydraulic solution feeder for automatic pH
Control. This gives an accurate method of controlling the dosage.
The chlorinator automatically injects water chlorinated to the correct
strength and at the same time adjusts the doses to suit varying bathing
loads. The amount of chlorination provided operates on the principle
of "breakpoint chlorination" and is recorded on a chart from which the
degree of sterilisation of the water is known at any time during the
swimming season.
The filter units consist of vertical closed cylinders containing
graded Non-Friable Leighton Buzzard Sand supported on a bed
of graded granite chippings, through which the water passes at a rate
of 230 gallons per square foot of filter area per hour. The sand has
to be washed regularly - this is done by steam and air agitation and
reversing the flow of water, which runs to waste and carries impurities
with it. Water taken from the pools is used for the washing
process.
The filtered water is then aerated, thereby assisting in
the maintenance of bacterial purity. It is then heated by calorifiers
to about 75°F. It re-enters the swimming pools through
suitable inlets at the shallow ends, and scum troughs have been
provided on the sides of the pools which draw off any pollution which
may accumulate near the surface, together with any dust which settles
thereon.