Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the township of Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire / by William Ranger, Superintending Inspector.
- William Ranger
- Date:
- 1852
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the township of Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire / by William Ranger, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![But the cost, even in direct money payment, amounts to a very heavy sum, at least when the size and resources of the town are considered; for if the ratepayers only (who are 1,935 in number), are estimated to expend 3d. a week, it will be found that their united annual expenditure for water alone amounts to 1,257Z. I am aware that this estimate is greatly under-stated, as the total population of the township is nearly 9,500.; but even the above-named amount would yield a dividend of 10 per cent, upon an outlay of 12,000Z., if that sum were spent in the construc- tion of proper waterworks. It, is requisite I should mention, that previous to the inquiry the people had been much worse off than at the period of my visit, for during the long and unparalleled drought of last winter and the spring of the present yea]-, the scarcity of water had naturally been greatly aggravated' I do not think it requisite to notice the remarks of Mr. Clapham, one of the agents to the Earl of Wilton, because that gentleman did not call in question the accuracy of any of the statements made respecting the scarcity of water, but confined himself to an account of former negotiations between the Board of Surveyors and the Earl of Wilton's chief agent, for the improvement of the supply It did not form part of my duty to inquire into these matters, but to give a full and faithful account of the con- dition of the town with respect to its means of water supply, and to offer such suggestions as I deemed best for its future improvement. This brings me to the question of how the present scarcity of water can be converted into abundance, and the dearness and impurity of the present supply changed into one of cheapness and excellence. I am on the present occasion, enabled to enter upon this part of the subject with more certainty, because I have made a detailed examination of the country near Batley with a view of discovering how far a good and sufficient supply of water could be obtained for Dewsbury, to which place the Public Health Act has been already applied, and where I have been instructed by the Local Board to lay down a system of sewerage and water supply in accordance with its provisions. The result of this examination is such as to satisfy me that the only way to obtain a good sup- ply of water at a moderate cost for the use of Dewsbury or the neighbouring towns, is to combine that place with the adjoining townships for the purposes of the water supply At present, each of the townships I have mentioned at the commencement of my Report, viz., Batley, Dewsbury,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20421849_0015.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
