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39 1929
In this country no bacterial standard has been adopted.
The standards of bacterial purity vary in different parts of the
United States. The most recent standard is that of the Joint
Committee on Bathing places of the Americ in Public Health
Association and conference of State Engineers, and quoted in the
Ministry of Health's Report.
Until quite recently in Acton we had no need to adopt any
standard of purity as we had an abundance of water. The water
is supplied from a deep well, and the water in both swimmingpools
was changed every other day. Even in the hottest and
driest summers the water was always fairly clean. There was plenty
of water and general drought made no difference. The well water
never failed. The increasing popularity of the swimming baths
has altered conditions and now, in the second day, the cleanliness
of the pool leaves much to be desired. The purification of the
water is under consideration, but there are more or less obvious
provisions with regard to the structure of the baths, the habits of
the bathers, the exclusion of diseased persons and other points
which can be improved. The most drastic recommendation is that
all bathers should take a complete soap and water bath before
entering the swimming pool. Probably we are far from this ideal
yet, but it is an ideal, never-the-less, which we should set up.
There are too many people who regard a bathe in the Public
Swimming Bath purely as an ablution process, and every means
should be used so as to educate the users to the fact that they
should be as clean as possible before entering the pool. It may be
taken as certain that the water which is used at the bath is
particularly pure when it is pumped. Reference is made to this
matter in a previous paragraph, and no anxiety need be felt about
the contamination of the well.
In the Council's swimming baths a large portion of the
dirt found in the water is carried in from without by the boots of
the bathers, spectators and staff. The side paths of the bathing
pool are used by the bathers both for entrance to and exit from
the boxes and for walking round the baths. The side paths are
almost always covered with visible dirt in suspension in water,
and although drainage for these paths away from the pool is
provided, a considerable quantity of pollution reaches the water
on the bathers' feet. The only way to avoid this entirely, of
course, is to have entrances to the boxes from outside and
separate from those by which the bathers enter the water. This
is impossible in the Council's baths. The original planning precludes
any possibility of re arrangement so as to obtain the separate
entrance to the boxes. But it would be possible to set aside
rooms where the boots and stockings could be divested before
entering the baths. There is a room adjoining the first class