WATER CATCHMENT AREAS 215 



time to time to see that reasonable sanitary conditions are 

 maintained ; and for so far this is said to have worked 

 satisfactorily. The water collected from the catchment 

 areas is filtered, and undergoes a chemical examination 

 quarterly. Nevertheless, the conditions are not ideal, as 

 may be inferred from the following account supplied me by 

 Mr. T. Reader Smith. 



The catchment areas are geologically Northampton sands, 

 which contain a great deal of ironstone, worked by open 

 quarrying. In 1917, the Cransley area contained ap- 

 proximately 790 acres of arable land, 830 acres of grazing 

 land, and 88 acres of woods, and the Thorpe Malsor area 

 contained approximately 620 acres of arable land, 630 

 acres of grazing land, and 34 acres of woods. On the 

 Cransley area there are numerous habitations, including 7 

 large houses, a corn-mill, 16 cottages, and 3 separate cow- 

 sheds and yards ; and besides, allotment ground and 

 ironstone workings. On the Thorpe Malsor catchment 

 area there are 4 large houses, a public-house, 8 cottages, 

 and an isolated cowshed, besides some iron workings. I 

 have no information how the sewage from the human 

 habitations, cow-houses, etc., is diverted from the water 

 that eventually finds its way into the reservoirs. 



Loughborough obtains its water supply from two areas 

 in the Charnwood Forest district, with a total extent of 

 3917 acres. Nanpantan reservoir, on the Woodbrook 

 stream, has a gathering ground of 1050 acres, with 9 

 habitations and farmsteads upon it. Blackbrook reservoir, 

 on the Blackbrook stream, near Shepshed, has a gathering 

 ground of 2867 acres, with 32 habitations and farmsteads 

 upon it. The Corporation own no part of the two areas, 

 but " all farms and occupied premises are inspected period- 

 ically to ensure that the sewage and other sources of 

 pollution are properly dealt with, and the water courses not 

 contaminated." The water is filtered. I have not been 

 furnished with any description of the gathering grounds, 

 which as regards afforestation are probably similar in their 



