[Report 1903] / Medical Officer of Health, Glamorgan County Council.

  • Glamorgan (Wales). County Council. nb2014013905.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1903] / Medical Officer of Health, Glamorgan County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    49/132 (page 43)
    The “ swilling fluid” is in some places filtered through filters of broken limestone and ot earth, and a large proportion of the acid and other impurities is thus got rid of, provided these filters are changed as often as required. There is, however, a tendency to allow these filters to take care of themselves, which they are unable to do, and consequently constant supervision is necessary. It is worthy of note that :— I. All the Glamorgan rivers have their origin within the County, or in the mountainous and uninhabited regions immediately beyond the northern boundary of the County, at elevations varying from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. They are consequently comparatively short, swift-running, the longest not more than 40 miles, so that their pollution takes place almost entirely in the County, and consequently it should not be so difficult (as in flat countries) to abate. Besides, no joint rivers boards are necessary. II. The water of none of the Glamorgan rivers is used for drinking purposes after any sewage has been discharged into them. Such a condition of things is highly satisfactory as compared with other important rivers, such as the Dee, Severn, &c. III. The principal pollutions of rivers in Glamorgan are occasioned by :— («) Sewage—excremental and slop sewage. (b) Small coal—from our many collieries ; and (c) Refuse from tinplate works—consisting of vitrol and sulphate of iron. I would quote a few paragraphs from the evidence which I gave before the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal, thus: — (a) That in this County, at any rate, greater progress would have been made in purifying our rivers had not the Local Government Board insisted, under all circumstances, on the hard-and-fast rule of land treatment in addition to artificial filtration. (b) That it is important to have as many Joint Sewerage Districts as possible in such a County as Glamorgan, where the valleys are so narrow and land difficult to obtain. (c) That no crude sewage should be discharged into the sea except after the most careful con- sideration of all local circumstances, and after careful experiments made with different float materials as to direction of the currents at various conditions of the tide. (d) That similar experiments and examinations of the water (chemical and bacterial) should be made in the case of tidal rivers and estuaries. (e) That the Government should countenance the establishment of Health Laboratories where sewage effluents, and manufacturers’ refuse, and other materials discharged into rivers, estuaries, sea, &c., can be thoroughly examined, if and when required, and that these should be under the control of County Councils. Below is given the substance of the references to the subject given in the local reports:— The Medical Officer of Health for Aberavon writes—“ The pollution of the River Afan by the commu- nities on its banks, and those of its tributaries up the valleys continues, and now that our districts, Pantdu, Blackwells, Corlannau, and Velindre are being drained and sewered, we have a right to demand that crude sewage should not be passed into the river untreated.”