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98
Thirdly, the cost of purification and cleansing by means of electrolytic
fluid is very considerably less than the costly process of emptying
cleansing and refilling with clean water at frequent intervals. At the
same time the primary object has been to provide a clean bath for the
bathers, rather than to effect economy in the use of water.
There can be no doubt, therefore, that the value and practical use
of the electrolytic method of disinfecting swimming-baths shown in the
Poplar district clearly demand its general appliction to all swimmingbaths,
including not only those under the control of the borough and
district councils, but also those of our public schools."
The cost of the Poplar electrolytic installation was quickly recovered
owing to the greatly reduced expenditure on disinfectants as compared
with similar expenditure in previous years.
In a discussion on Dr. Forbe's paper, Dr. Shrubsall bore personal
testimony to the fact that the water in the Poplar swimming baths is
not rendered unpleasant by the electrolytic fluid, and that the water in
the second-class baths compares favourably with that of the first-class
baths in some of the Western Boroughs.
Since the report of Dr. J. Graham Forbes, the Royal Sanitary Institute
appointed a Committee to consider the question of " The Purification
of the Water of Swimming Baths." The Committee was composed of
the following well-known men :—
Louis C. Parkes, M.D., D.P.H. (Chairman); Philip Boobbyer,
M.D., M.S. ; Col. J. Lane Notter, M.A., M.D., R.A.M.C.; S.
Rideal, D.Sc., F.I.C. ; A. Saxon Snell, F.R.I.B.A. ; H. D. Searles
Wood, F.R.I.B.A. ; and W. C. Tyndale, M.Inst.C.E.
The dangers of swimming-bath water are expounded in the Committee's
report to the Royal Sanitary Institute. Two purification
processes are reported upon, namely, the "continuous æration and
filtration," and the treatment of bath water by electrolytic disinfecting
fluid, which has been in use at the Poplar Borough Baths for over three
years. The Committee were very much impressed with the results
obtained in the Poplar Baths, and in their report compared the advantages
of the two processes. An extract of the report is furnished below :—
"The Committee has also investigated the treatment of bath
water by electrolytic fluid, which is in use at the Poplar Baths,
and was very much impressed with the good results obtained.
By the addition of hypochlorite of magnesia solution to the pond