View report page

Section C.—Sanitary Circumstances.
Water Supply.—The district is in the supply area of the Sutton
District Water Company and is supplied chiefly with water from
deep wells in the chalk, situated at Sutton, Cheam, and Woodmansterne
and occasionally by water derived from river sources.
Following the contamination which occurred in 1936, the Cheam
Well remained closed throughout the whole of 1937.
Reference was made in the report for 1936 to the revised arrangements
for the control of this public supply and the analyses which
were carried out during 1937 by the Company's resident Chemist
and by the Local Authorities showed that the supply was wholesome
and bacteriologically of a good quality. It was inevitable that
slight difficulties should be encountered on the score of taste and
palatability during a period when transition to different methods
of treatment were being undertaken and those methods perfected,
but at no time was the wholesomeness of the supply impaired.
As was to be expected, in view of the happenings of 1936, the
quality of the water supply was questioned by consumers from
time to time during the year following gastric or intestinal illness
which could not readily be otherwise explained, but investigation
indicated that there was no foundation whatever for these fears.
Six samples were taken by this Department from domestic
taps in the district, 3 for chemical and 3 for bacteriological examination
and all, as already stated, were satisfactory. The results of
both types of analyses of a sample submitted to the Public Analyst
and supplied from the Sutton deep wells is given below:—

BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION.
Number of colonies per ml. developing upon agar at 22Q C 1
Number of colonies per ml. developing upon agar at 37° C 1
B. coli absent in 100 ml.
Streptococci do.
B. Welchii do.
This is a water of a very high degree of organic purity (the somewhat high
figure for permanganate oxygen absorbed is mainly due to the nitrous nitrogen)
and the bacteriological character is excellent. 1 his water is well fitted for the
public supply.
49