212 rOEESTS, 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, etc. 



Northampton obtains its water supply in part from 

 Teeton Brook, with a storage reservoir near Eavensthorpe, 

 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. 



