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33
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA
WATER
Supply
Almost the whole of the area obtains its water from the Colne Valley
Water Company, coming from wells supplied by gathering grounds in
the Chilterns. Full particulars of the places at which the water is collected
and details of the purification processes carried out were set out in the
Annual Report for 1954.
Safety
Responsibility for the wholesomeness of the water supply rests with
the Water Company.
In addition, district councils have under Section 111 of the Public
Health Act, 1936, a responsibility for ascertaining the wholesomeness of
the water supplies of their district. To this end samples are submitted
periodically for full chemical and bacteriological analysis. In addition,
samples are submitted for analysis of water collected from houses in
which there are persons suffering from complaints which might have
been contracted by consuming water. Particulars of these cases are passed
by the Public Health Department to the Water Company.
The following is the conclusion of the investigator on the results of
the chemical analysis of a sample of water submitted for analysis in April:
This sample is reasonably clear and bright in appearance, just
on the alkaline side of neutrality and free from metals, apart from a
negligible trace of iron. The water is hard in character but not
unduly so. Contains no excess of mineral constituents and it is of
satisfactory organic quality. From the aspect of the chemical analysis,
these results are indicative of a pure and wholesome water suitable
for drinking and domestic purposes.
The following, which is a summary of a bacteriological examination
of a sample submitted for analysis in June, is typical of other reports:
No coliform bacilli present in 100 ml in MacConkey incubated
for two days at 37°; no faecal coli per 100 ml.
It is only occasionally that complaints are received about water
supplied to this district. One was received from those at a school in the
district of a stale sour taste. From information obtained from the Chief
Chemist of the Colne Valley Water Company, it seems likely that the
complaint was the result of the water leaving the Company's service
reservoir at Bushey Heath having a slightly earthy taste and smell, the
water coming from the Hillfield Park storage reservoir. The analysis
of a sample of water submitted for full chemical examination gave normal
findings.