PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 15I 



The water of the Salwarp gave interesting results. It 

 contained 150 grains cf solids in the gallon, and chlorine 

 equivalent to 74 grains of sodium chloride (common salt), 

 and had a hardness of 65 degrees. It will be remembered 

 that this river comes over the red marl from the Droit- 

 wich neighbourhood, and evidently receives water from 

 salt springs. The river was brimming full when the 

 sample was taken, and must have consisted in part of local 

 surface water, so that it is likely in dry weather, when the 

 water will consist of more spring water and less surface 

 water, that the water will be much stronger in salt. The 

 3 or 4 grains of chloride in the gallon, sometimes detected 

 in the water at Tewkesbury, might have been attributed 

 to a less desirable source had one not known the character 

 of the water brought in by the Salw^arp. 



The river Teme, which joins the Severn below Wor- 

 cester, brings in a large volume of water of very excellent 

 quality, which, when the river is not in flood, is of great 

 organic purity. So large an adjunct of such pure wat€r 

 as that of the Teme is of great advantage to Tewkesbury, 

 and it is well the positions of the Teme and Avon are not 

 reversed. The Teme drains 633 square miles of country, 

 mainly consisting of impervious rocks, which is equal to 

 two-thirds of the whole Severn Watershed above Shrews- 

 bury. The water of the Teme receives very little pollution. 



In the 15 miles of river between Worcester and 

 Tewkesbury the water is altogether greatly improved in 

 quality, partly no doubt through natural purification and 

 partly by dilution with the pure waters of the Teme. 

 The water in the middle of the river at Tewkesbury after 

 a spell of quiet weather is wonderfully pure, far purer 

 than the water either below or above Worcester, it in fact 

 compares favourably with the water of the river anywhere 

 below Shrewsbury. The turbidity of the water caused by 

 storms renders it less pure in all ways for the time being, 

 but if such water be allowed to stand for a few days for 

 C2 



