[Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Sutton Coldfield Borough.

  • Sutton Coldfield (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1962
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Sutton Coldfield Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/84 (page 10)
    Within the area of supply in the Borough, 21,523 houses are supplied direct and seven by means of outside stop taps. A copy of the result of a sample of water submitted to the Public Health Laboratory Service is given below:— Bacteriological. Total Count: Number of colonies develop¬ ing from 1 ml. of sample in agar after two days’ incu¬ bation at 37°C. ... ... <1 Coliform Count: Type and number per 100 mi. of sample ... ... ... Nil (b) The Birmingham City Water Undertaking. There are 2,825 houses in the Borough, adjacent to the Birmingham boundary, which are supplied with water from the mains of the City of Birmingham Water Department. This is soft moorland water derived from the Department’s Elan gathering grounds in mid-Wales and is first treated by rapid gravity Liters ’’followed by treatment with hydrated iime to neutralise its natural acidity and, finally, chlorination before entering the Elan Aqueduct. After passing through storage reservoirs at the Birmingham end of the Aqueduct, the water is further treated at the Frankley Works by rapid or slow sand filtration followed by chlorination, after which it remains underground until reaching the consumers. During 1962, 52 weekly bacteriological samples of the treated water passing into distribution at the Frankley works contained an average of three organisms per ml. after 48 hours incubation in agar at 37°C., the highest concentration in any sample being 27 per ml. E. coli Type 1 were absent in all these samples. A sample taken on 26th November showed nine irregular Type 2 coliform organisms per 100 ml. but this result may possibly have been due to dust particles at the sampling point. All subsequent samples taken from the covered storage reservoirs and taps in the City were excellent. , ■ . The average results obtained by the City Analyst from his routine samples of water as distributed in the area of supply during 1962, together with the range of variation are as shown in the table on facing page. 42