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50
Water
The resident population of 94,640 in some 27,700 dwellings receive
water from the Metropolitan Water Board's mains or from deep wells.
At 31st December, 1959, eighty-five deep wells were in use. In
eighty-two of these wells, the water is used for domestic purposes. In
the remainder, one supply is used for cooling purposes, one for stand-by
in case of fire, and one for supplying boilers.
During the period of the long, hot, dry summer, reports received
in respect of one of the wells showed that the water was not of the usual
high bacterial standard. Investigations in regard to five other wells
within a quarter of a mile showed that the water in these was also not
altogether satisfactory. Advice was given to the occupiers of the
affected premises, and, during the ensuing three weeks, the quality of
the water reverted to normal. Despite exhaustive investigations, the
cause of the pollution was not discovered.
During the year, samples of water from wells in the City were
submitted for examination; satisfactory reports were received of ninety
bacteriological examinations and forty-four chemical analyses.
Public Swimming Baths
(I am indebted to the Director of Public Cleansing for the following
information)
The City Council has three public baths establishments, at Buckingham
Palace Road, and Marshall Street (each having two swimming pools),
and at Great Smith Street, where there is one pool.
The water for each of the swimming pools is supplied by the
Metropolitan Water Board and is continuously filtered and chlorinated
(with modern equipment) at a rate of 25,000—40,000 gallons per hour,
the whole of the water of any one pool being filtered and chemically treated
in four hours.
Automatic chlorine residual controllers and recorders, which
automatically adjust the chlorine content of the water to the requirements
of the bathing load, have been installed at both the Buckingham Palace
Road and Marshall Street Baths, and are the first of this kind to be used
in any public baths in Great Britain.
An independent firm of analytical chemists take samples (without
notice) of water from the swimming pools each fortnight, and the
bacteriological examinations show that the water is maintained in a high
standard of bacterial purity and is in every respect suitable for swimming
purposes.