212 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 
polluted and unsafe. No measures have been taken or are 
contemplated to acquire ownership. Steps were taken to 
obtain a new supply from springs at Madeley (Salop), but 
the project has been postponed on account of the war. 
VI. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, LEICESTERSHIRE, AND 
LINCOLNSHIRE 
Six local authorities and one private company obtain 
their water supply from gathering grounds with a total 
extent of 24,774 acres, of which 698 acres are owned by 
three Corporations. 
These Midland catchment areas, some of which supply 
large centres of population, are not situated in high moor- 
land districts, but on the contrary consist of agricultural 
land with dwelling-houses and farm-steadings. Whether 
the bye-laws and other precautions taken against con- 
tamination are adequate is a matter of opinion. The main 
arguments for the present system are that farms are very 
expensive to purchase, and that afforestation, after the 
abandonment of agriculture and removal of the farm- 
houses, would be costly at the start, with only remote 
prospects of financial returns in the distant future. 
Kettering affords a good example of the difficulties with 
_which local authorities have to contend. Attention may 
also be paid to low-lying catchment areas in other districts, 
as those of Doncaster, Nantwich, Exmouth, ete. 
Northampton obtains its water supply in part from 
Teeton Brook, with a storage reservoir near Ravensthorpe, 
with a gathering ground of 3000 acres, between 353 and 
630 feet elevation, consisting mainly of arable land and 
pasture, and with 49 dwelling- houses upon it. The 
Corporation own 500 acres of the area, and “treat the 
sewage of properties within the gathering ground so as 
to prevent direct connection of offensive matter with 
the streams flowing into the reservoir.” The water is 
filtered. 
