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(l.) That it shall be unlawful, after a date to be specified, to keep on any 
premises any can, tub, bucket, barrel, or trough or other receptacle for water 
unless the same shall be emptied and cleaned every day. 
(m.) That, in the opinion of this Committee, the closure of the wells should 
not be ordered until sufficient water supply is provided to meet the requirements ; 
and that such a supply of good water is better than the water obtainable from 
wells sunk in the ground ; and that in the meantime the wells be properly covered. 
(n.) That, after a day to be specified, no wells sunk in the ground shall be 
kept on any' premises unless properly' lined, covered, screened, and provided with 
a pump to the satisfaction of the Board. 
With regard to these unanimous opinions of the representative citizens who 
met us, we made it our first duty to enquire into the practicability of a pipe 
sy'stem of water supply for Belize. The advantages of such a system are very 
great, and I have already reported upon the benefits which it has conferred upon 
Conakry, in the French Guinea ; it is the most radical way of dealing with the 
problem, provided that the system is well looked after and rigidly controlled , 
otherwise there is waste and formation of puddles. I he source of supply' 
mentioned as the most suitable one was the Sibun River at a point called 
“ Butchers,” about 20 miles distant from the mouth of the river and 18 miles 
from Belize in a straight line. Mr. Burchell and myself examined this part 
of the river, and a report upon the site will be furnished by' Mr. Burchell. 
The result, however, is to show that the cost would be very great, owing to 
the necessity for filtration, settling tanks, and length of pipe line ; in all 
probability the same system of filtration as proposed for the Mississippi water 
supply of New Orleans would be necessary, on account of the fine mud also 
present in suspension in the Sibun. As the Colony' grows in importance, it 
may be that it would be in a position to undertake a pipe line ; but in the 
meantime it is practicable to ensure a good rain water supply at once at a 
very much smaller cost. 
Rain Water Supply . — From a sanitary standpoint, cistern-stored rain water 
must have in many tropical towns great advantages over well water or river 
water unless both the latter are well filtered or taken from an uncontaminated 
source Towns supplied with rain water have been noted to be freer from 
intestinal infectious diseases than those supplied with well or river water. As, 
moreover, the necessity for effective screening of cisterns has become imperative 
on account of mosquitoes, an immense improvement in the rain water will take 
place as the screening will keep out the leaves and small animals which formerly 
gained ready access and polluted the water. Provided that the cisterns are 
carefully inspected, screened and constructed according to the rules of the 
health authority, raised from the ground to avoid contamination from the dirt, 
and the roofs and the gutters looked after and kept clean, there can be very 
little risk from infection from typhoid, cholera or dysentery on the one hand, or 
on the other hand from the breeding of the Stegomyia. As I have mentioned 
previously the water requirements are not great ; there are, fortunately, neither 
ashpits, dry or water-flushed closets, nor are there factories requiring water on a 
large scale, with the exception of one ice factory. The roofs of the houses are 
not thatched, and therefore the vat system, which at present is only used by some 
50 per cent, of the inhabitants, can be extended. I have noticed that the vat 
