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ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
Measurement of the pollution of the atmosphere continued to be carried out regularly
month by month at separate stations set up on five sites in the Borough. At Jubilee Gardens
on the north side and Recreation Ground on the south side, gauges for the measurement
of the sulphur gases in the air are in operation and in Hortus Cemetery, on the Railway-side
allotments and at Dormers Wells Primary School, deposit gauges for measuring the quantity
of grit and dust dropping from the atmosphere.
The results obtained from these gauges are tabulated on page oo, and where on these
tables " NR " is marked, this means that due to some technical difficulty at the Laboratory,
an estimation could not be carried out. The figures for atmospheric pollution are not good
for the year 1955. At each of the sites, the average for the whole year is worse than in the
previous year, and at the times of low pollution in mid-summer, the lowest level reached was
still considerably higher than in 1954.
The new gauges situated on the Railway allotments and at the Dormers Wells Primary
School demonstrated clearly that there is heavy pollution from the Railway sidings, the
average for the year being over 50% higher at the railway site than at Dormers Wells School.
The worst month of the year as recorded for deposits of smoke and grit was May, when
very heavy figures were obtained at all three deposit gauge sites, the worst individual figure,
for the year, however, being obtained not from the railway sidings, but from the Hortus
Cemetery gauge in June.
Comparison 6 years' averages at Hortus Cemetery.
Total solids Deposited:—
1950
1951
1952
13.50
12.95
11.93
1953
1954
1955
10.67
14.30
16.94
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