[Report 1900] / Medical Officer of Health, Merthyr Tydfil U.D.C.

  • Merthyr Tydfil (Wales). Urban District Council.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1900] / Medical Officer of Health, Merthyr Tydfil U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Water Supply.—The water supply for the town is obtained from the river Taff at a distance from eight to ten miles from the town. The water is partly a surface water from mountain and uplands, and partly a spring water from deep springs in the mountain sides coming in many cases from peat beds. The formation from which it is drawn is the old red sandstone. The water is pure, ample in quantity, and soft, varying between i*75 and 4*5 degrees of hardness. It is singularly free from all kinds of organic life, and repeated bacteriological examination discloses a satisfactory absence of bacteria developing at the temperature of the blood'. There are three reservoirs for storage and compensation purposes, Pentwyn having a capacity of 350,000,000 gallons, Lower Neuadd with a capacity of 75,000,000 gallons, and the New Neuadd with a capacity of 350,000,000 gallons. The first and second mentioned reservoirs have serious faults in the embankments, which are built of earth dams with a puddle trench ; the last-mentioned reservoir is a magnificent structure with a masonry dam. The old Neuadd is at the present undergoing alterations and repairs, which it is hoped will be efficient in making it safe and watertight. The water is led in iron mains from the reservoirs, and in wet weather from straining beds in the river to the filtering plant. There are two filtering stations, which are situated respectively above Dowlais and Penydarren, the Dowlais station being at the higher level. The filtering is efficiently done, and the water is delivered to the consumer in a state of great purity. There has been a great improvement in late years in the cleanliness of the premises around the filtering stations. There are very few houses in the district that are not now supplied from the town mains. Complaints of scarcity of water are, however, continually being made from householders in the lower parts of the district. This trouble will, it is hoped, be remedied when the new aqueduct is completed. The want of pressure in the lower district is due to the diminution in size, owing to the corrosive action of the water on the iron pipes, and in particular to the peaty acids which appear to have considerable solvent action on iron. The water has a very slight solvent action on lead, but no case of lead poisoning has been traced to this cause. The water supply is constant, and in many places is at an exceedingly high pressure. Leakages from the mains and from defective service pipes are common throughout the district. Many of the service pipes have been carelessly laid in ashes, which soon causes the lead to be eaten away by electrolytic action.