[Report 1946] / Medical Officer of Health, Isle of Wight R.D.C.

  • Isle of Wight (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1946
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1946] / Medical Officer of Health, Isle of Wight R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    WATER SUPPLY. Duriiii^ H>4(), the Senior lint>iiu'ering Inspector ol' the Ministry of Health carrietl ont a water sui)ply sur\-ey o( tl>e whole of the Isle oi Wis^ht and enihodiecl his findings in a comprehensive rc])ort, a sumnrary of which has been widely studied hy all the Island Authorities. Hrieily stated, he reached the conclusion “that the Ilexihle use of a number ot systems unavoidably dispersed over a considerable area whoS(‘ resources are sullicient but not abundant can best be achieved under a single unified control and that the arguments in favour of a Joint Water Board for the whole Island . . . are overwhelmingly strong”. In the meantime the Rural District depends on its many sources of water and the scheme devised by its Consulting F.nidneers for the exploitation of the underground sources of water at Calbourne should put the sup])ly to the five Parishes of the \Vest Wight on a sound basis and alleviate the serious shortages which occur annually during the summer montlis ('spec iallv in the Fre^shwater district. 1 he existing supplies are periodicallv submitted for bacteriological examination and wdiere an unsatisfactory report is received immediate measures are taken to trace and remedy the trouble. In all. forty-seven samples for bacteriological examina- tion were taken during the year, thirty-live of raw water and twehc of treated water. Of the thirty-five samples of raw water, nine were found to be unsatisfactory. Of the twelve samples of treated water all were found to be satis- factory. I he raw water at Carpenters on 3rd September, 1946, showed a gross degree ol' pollution with coli-aerogenes, organisms but the sample taken on 28th October, 1946, showed that the water had greatlv improved. .•\gain, a raw sample from the 'Fotland su]Dplv on the 29th April, 1946, was found to be grossly polluted but later samples showed the water to be free from pollution.