The water supply to the rural districts of Essex. : Report presented to the county council, April 4th, 1905 / by John C. Thresh.

  • Thresh, John C.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The water supply to the rural districts of Essex. : Report presented to the county council, April 4th, 1905 / by John C. Thresh. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    imporiaDt that Lnilders and others should pay particular attention to the above suggestions and so avoid the risk of a certificate being refused. Issued hij Order of the Bural District Council of Chelmsford. Jas. Dewhirst, Surveyor and Engineer. If authorities would insist upon the proper construc- tion of wells the water supplies of our rural districts might be gradually improved. Samples of water from existing shallow wells should be taken for analysis, and if found impure action should be taken under Section 8 of the Public Health (Water) Act, and a proper well insisted upon if it can be provided within the cost stipulated in the Act. Only in excep- tional cases is it possible to construct properly a shallow well and fix a good pump for A'8 13s. 4d., and even the maximum expenditure, which can only be enforced after getting the sanction of the Local Government Board, (i£13) may not be sufficient if the well is any depth. Un- fortunately also it rests with the Sanitary Authority to prove that the supply can be obtained at a reasonable cost defined by the Act, if this is not done proceedings before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction will be futile. The Local Government Board have also held that where the same owner has a number of cottages, even if they are in a row, the cost must include the laying on of the w’ater to each, so that it is impossible for instance to make a man spend A'20 in constructing a well for three or more houses unless the well is so near that each house can have a pump on its own premises. If the well is a little distance away this becomes impracticable. This appears to me to be an absurd interpretation of the Act, and in Essex it has pre- vented many improvements which would otherwise have