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72
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 heated, filtered and
chlorinated 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.
Fully automatic chlorine residual controllers and recorders, which
adjust the chlorine content of the water to the requirements of the bathing
load, are in use at both the Buckingham Palace Road and Marshall Street
Baths and were the first of their kind to be used in any public baths in
Great Britain.
An independent firm of analytical chemists takes samples (without
notice) of water from the swimming pools each fortnight and the
bacteriological examinations show that the water is maintained to a high
standard of bacterial purity and is in every respect suitable for swimming
purposes.
A further swimming pool of 70,000 gallons, which is available to the
public but owned by a private company, is sited under a large block of
flats within the City. The water is drawn from deep wells; continuous
filtration through sand and chlorination is maintained during the time
that the bath is in use, with a turnover of four hours. Ozone treatment
plant is also available. An independent firm of analytical chemists and
bacteriologists takes samples every week (without notice) and a high
bacterial and chemical standard is maintained.
There is also the Lido in Hyde Park, which is under the control of
H.M. Minister of Works.