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138
Air Bath at Bloemfontein Road and the First-Class Bath
at Lime Grove were satisfactory, on a few occasions only
were adverse reports received in respect of these baths.
The reports in regard to the Second-Class Bath at Lime
Grove, however, were not so satisfactory.
During the whole of the season that the Open-Air Bath
was in use the water was particularly good. On no occasion
did the plate count exceed the maximum per cubic centimetre
which has been adopted as a standard. One report
only disclosed the presence of B. Coli in '20 and 10 c.c.,
and it is interesting to note that the day upon which this
sample was taken was the only occasion when the chlorine
content of the water in this bath was found to have fallen
below the recommended minimum.
Five samples out of twenty-nine from the First-Class
Bath were reported to have a bacterial count in excess of
the standard, but on no occasion was B. Coli found to be
present.
Fourteen samples out of twenty-eight from the SecondClass
Bath were reported to contain bacteria in excess of
the standard, and on three occasons the presence of B. Coli
was noted.
It should be understood that a bacterial count in excess
of the adopted standard does not necessarily indicate that
the water is in a dangerous condition for bathing. Bather
does it show that the treatment of the water had not been
entirely satisfactory. The Ministry of Health has
suggested that the chlorine dosage should be sufficient to
maintain a strength of free chlorine in the water of the
bath itself of not less than 0.2 parts of chlorine per million
parts of water, or greater than 0.5 parts per million. In
practice it is endeavoured to maintain the chlorine at about
0.4 to 0.5 parts per million. This concentration is
sufficient to destroy all harmful bacteria and efficient filtration
should give satisfactory results. Too large a dose of
chlorine is likely to result in complaints from bathers of
discomfort and smarting eyes.