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28
Any person who is required by the Minister to keep records
may be required to cause an analysis to be made of the water and
to furnish the results of analysis to the Minister.
The Minister, in August, 1947, requested another report on
the quality of the water in wells in use and the position generally
in this respect.
There were, at 1st January, 1948, fourteen wells in use, as
compared with the nineteen which were in operation in 1939, and
ten wells which are disused. The wells in use are all of the deepbore
type, made by boring through the various unstable strata
and clay to the chalk or other water bearing stratum below,
throughout its depth the bore-hole being lined with steel tubing.
Of the ten disused wells, eight were of the deep-bore type,
and two were shallow wells drawing water from the sub-soil. All
the disused wells are reported to be sealed in such manner as
would preclude the possibility of admitting contaminated substance
of any kind. It will, of course, be appreciated that an
abandoned well or bore-hole can become a means by which
polluted matter might be conveyed to the reservoir of underground
water, and the Ministry's letter is concerned with that
possibility.
Samples of the water from each of the wells in use, with
the exception of one well at the Hackney Hospital, have been
examined both chemically and bacteriologically, and with respect
to each well the most recent reports indicated that no exception
can be taken to the use of the water for domestic purposes.
A summary of the examinations is given on page 31.
The water from the well at the Hackney Hospital is examined
as a routine by the London County Council's Laboratory staff.
WELLS EXISTING AND FUNCTIONING.
W. J. Bush & Co., Ash Grove.—The well at this address was
sunk in 1901, the boring being 400 feet deep. This was extended
in 1915 to a depth of 500 feet. Water is pumped to a storage tank
and is used for condensing purposes in connection with power
house machinery. The water is tested from time to time by the
works' chemist.
W. Connell & Co., Ltd., Bakers Hill.—There are three wells
at these premises, but there is no record of the date when the first
of them was sunk. It is known that it was previous to the year
1905. The depth of this boring is believed to be 400 feet. The