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42
all these companies' waters, there are periods when
the supply is less pure than usual, and this appears
to arise from the filtering processes employed at the
reservoirs becoming more or less defective.
A more serious evil lies in the constant neglect
on the part of nearly all the householders of the
Parish to see to the cleansing of their cisterns.
Under my direction, the Sanitary Inspector has
collected, from week to week, water drawn from
various cistern's in the parish. It is not rare to
find water of the most dangerous quality amongst
these specimens, and these frequently attached to
the premises of the more opulent inhabitants.
Whenever impure water is discovered in the houses
of the wealthy, they are immediately warned of
their danger, whilst in the houses of the poor the
landlord is compelled at once to see to the proper
cleansing of the cistern.
The impurities most commonly found are those
arising from an accumulation of organic impurities
at the bottom of the cistern, or from the communication
of the cistern by waste pipes, or water closet
pipes with the drains, or the contents of the closet
pipes. None but those acquainted with the details
of these arrangements could believe in the utter
and entire disregard to health in which nearly all