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21
SECTION C— SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES
Water Supply
Richmond has two separate sources of drinking water:—
(a) From local wells.
(b) From the Metropolitan Water Board.
(a) There are seven wells and they produce the bulk of
the water supply to the district. One of them, known as
the Terrace Gardens Well, is 320 feet deep and reaches two
miles of adits in the chalk. The remainder are shallow wells
which draw their water from the ballast covering the London
Clay.
The water is not filtered but is chlorinated before being
passed into the mains for supply to the public.
Of the water so treated, forty samples were examined
during the course of the year, all of which reached the highest
standard of bacterial purity. Richmond water contains
27 parts per 100,000 of hardness and is not plumbo-solvent.
(b) The supply from the Metropolitan Water Board is
received in bulk through six connections off the 30-inch
M.W.B. main.
The source is the River Thames, abstracted at the Laleham
and Walton intakes, and pumped into Oueen Mary
Reservoir, Littleton, and Knight and Bessborough Reservoirs,
Walton.
After storage the water passes to the works at Hampton,
where it is treated by primary and secondary sand filtration
and finally is sterilized by the ammonia-chlorine process
before being pumped into the supply.
Samples are collected on five days a week at each stage
of the purification process, and the tests include physical,
chemical and bacteriological examination. Samples are taken
at weekly intervals for full chemical and biological tests.
The results of these tests indicated that a very high standard
of chemical and bacteriological purity was maintained
throughout the year.
The water is not plumbo-solvent.