[Report 1956] / Medical Officer of Health, Devizes R.D.C.
- Devizes (England). Rural District Council.
- Date:
- 1956
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1956] / Medical Officer of Health, Devizes R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.
19/32 page 17
![3. The estimated average domestic consumption ])er head of the i)opulation jier day on the small Council house estate systems, shown in Table V, is 16-75 gallons, compared with 22-44 gallons on the Great Cheverell and North-Western Systems. The apparent relatively excessive consumption on the Great Cheverell and North-Western Systems, to which are connected numerous houses having no water closets or baths, indicates that water is being v/asted through undetected leakages, misuse or undue con- sumption. In the absence of a properly organised system of waste detection and the records that go with it, it is not possible to give a more detailed analysis of the causes of the increase and the remedies therefor. I hope to be able to give greater attention to this aspect of the work when the spate of applications for con- nection to the new Water Supply Schemes has been dealt with. 4. The figure of 22-44 gallons per head per day is only 10% below the design figure of 25 gallons per head per day used for your post-war Water Schemes. General Observations If a Local Authority is to run its water undertaking on sound principles and to have a clear view of the present and future policy it must have, among other things, accurate statistics relating to yield of sources, consumption, loss through wastage, assess- ments of future requirements and information of the like nature. During the year under review considerable construction work has been in progress on new schemes, one of which (the North- Eastern Scheme) came into operation for only three months of the current year. The full impact of the scheme completed in 1955 is not yet manifest and it appears that the South-Eastern Scheme will not be in operation until mid-1957. Thus, while water schemes are in the state of flux which obtained in 1956, it is not possible to give a comprehensive review of the water supply position for the District, and indeed it will not be possible to do so until about 1958. No useful experience was gained of the effect of supplying water for horticultural irrigation in the Bromham area owing to the heavy rainfall during the spring and summer, which made irrigation unnecessary. SEWERAGE The Council are responsible for : — Approximately 15 miles of public piped sewer. Approximately 5 miles of public sewer ditch. Several miles of private sewer and drains on Council house estates. 24 Sewage works. Excellent progress was made in regard to the i)rovision of public sewerage schemes and the position at the end of the year was as follows : —](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29159489_0019.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
