67 



ammonia are high. Accompanying these objectionable impuri- 

 ties, however, is but a comparatively minute quantity of free 

 ammonia — the chief constituent one looks to for indication of 

 recent sewage contamination — and this added to the fact that 

 the water remains beautifully clear after rains, showing that it 

 undergoes good filtration by the soil, serves to pass it as a safe 

 water. The low value for free ammonia accompanied by high 

 organic ammonia indicates that the large amount of organic 

 matter present is of vegetable and not of animal origin. 



A water which contrasts with this in being of very high 

 organic purity, and even surpasses our own, is the Poole water. 

 This water is drawn wholly from a well in the chalk at Corfe 

 Mullen, and without being either filtered or softened is pumped 

 to different reservoirs for distribution, the chief of which is at 

 Forest Hill. The hardness of this unsoftened water is 20|deg. 

 against ours of 15deg., showing that others have more cause 

 for complaint than ourselves. 



The water contains more chlorides than ours to the extent 

 of one-third, but it excels in containing less than one-half the 

 organic matter and in being very low in nitrogenous compounds. 

 It contains about twice the trace of iron present in the Bourne- 

 mouth water. Altogether it is a water of excellent purity, and 

 if the inhabitants of Poole are to be pitied for having a rather 

 dirty town to live in, they are at the same time to be congratu- 

 lated on the cleanliness of the water flowing in the mains beneath 

 the streets. 



Soulhbourne, Christchurch, New Milton and other localities 

 around there are supplied by the West Hants Water Company. 

 The whole of the water supply is drawn from the River Avon, 

 and after passing through sand filters is pumped to various 

 centres and distributed without being softened. Some is dis- 

 tributed from St. Catherine's Hill; another centre is the familiar 

 water tower at Southbourne. 



Comparing the hardness with that of our water, we have 

 to admit again that we are the more fortunate. A recent sample 

 possessed a hardness of over 21deg. against ours of 15deg. There 

 exists no good reason why both this and the Poole water should 

 not be softened down to our standard. 



This water, being simply filtered river water, is not of such 

 high organic purity as the Bournemouth water, though it is un- 

 doubtedly of high quality. The figures for organic matter and for 

 the different nitrogen compounds are in each instance over double 

 those for our water. 



On warming a small quantity of this water in a corked flask 

 and inhaling with the aid of a glass tube, I was interested to 

 notice a faint and not unpleasant smell of fresh river weed. 



The hardness of the water from the River Stour exceeds 

 that of the Avon by about one degree, the average of three deter- 

 minations being 22.1 degrees. 



