The water supply to the rural districts of Essex. : Report presented to the county council, April 4th, 1905 / by John C. Thresh.

  • Thresh, John C.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The water supply to the rural districts of Essex. : Report presented to the county council, April 4th, 1905 / by John C. Thresh. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    14/114 (page 10)
    For water supply purposes, therefore, we can divide the county up into areas according to the nature of the subsoil:— (a.) Areas covered with water-bearing sand and gravels. (6.) Areas covered with Boulder Clay, yielding little water. (c.) Areas covered with London Clay, yielding no water, {d.) Areas of exposed chalk, yielding water freely. We must remember, however, that practically every- where throughout the county water can be obtained from the chalk if a boring of sufficient depth is made. In all cases also a certain amount of water can be obtained from the roofs of houses, but, with the low rain- fall which prevails in this county, the best collecting arrangement will not yield more than one gallon per per- son per day. From the roof of an average cottage the amount capable of collection will give a supply of five gallons per day. If properly collected, either by the use of a “ rain water separator ” or the use of a separator and filter, the water is well adapted for drinking and cooking, and frequently other sources are available for general slopping purposes. Fortunately this method of obtaining a supply is only necessary over limited areas, since in the Chelmsford, Maldon, and Kochford Kural Districts, most of the parishes on the London Clay, which were depend- ent upon rain water collected from roofs, and in ponds, &c., are now' abundantly supplied with pure W'ater from well constructed water w^orks. In these districts there are some 50 miles of w^ater mains. A brief description of the works is given in the section relating to those districts. Other such areas are supplied by various w'ater companies,