Page 299 - Reading Mercury

poor, and was aggravated by overcrowding, but to the water both Mr. Barford and Mr.
Wright attribute these outbreaks. These gentlemen, with Dr. Noad and Dr. Reid, who
signed the petition but did not give evidence, are the only medical men in the district.
Mr. Frankum did not endeavour to rebut the testimony of the medical witnesses, and
said that his clients were prepared to be bound by the result of the analysis of samples
of water submitted to Dr. Frankland.
This result is sufficiently conclusive and there cannot be a doubt as to urgent
necessity for closing the polluted wells without delay, and further, for the sewer
authority to obtain a sufficient and wholesome supply of water for the inhabitants, as
there exists evident danger to their health from the water at present used by them for
domestic purposes.
On this point Mr. Barford stated that there was an area of six acres, called
Langborough, which belongs to the town, and is vested in the highway surveyors,
where water can be obtained at a depth of 30 feet in abundance. This area is situated
about 300 or 400 yards from the town, and is surrounded by 50 or 60 acres of land,
clear of houses. Mr. Barford has not tested the water, but he thought it would be found
of good quality.
I am not prepared to endorse this opinion without more exact information, and I
fear the sewer authority must go further afield to obtain a supply free from suspicion
of pollution. Wokingham is built almost entirely upon a detached patch of the “Lower
Bagshot Band” formation, which immediately overlies the London clay. The ground
is somewhat elevated and falls in every direction. This patch of Bagshot sand is edged
with pink and ? on the accompanying plan Mr. Barford of the Wokingham Special
Drainage District. Langborough, the area referred to by Mr. Barford is coloured dark
pink. The area of the patch of Bagshot sand is about 350 acres, of which about 150
acres are covered more or less with houses. Langborough lies towards the south-east
of it, and there are abundant springs where the gravel crops out in this direction. Now
the rain falling upon this patch of Bagshot sand, is the sole source of supply to the
wells below; in dry seasons, the water stands below the surface in different parts of
the town at depths varying from three or four feet to upwards of 30 feet; in wet
seasons the water rises very generally within a few feet of the surface; the patch of
sand thus forms an inverted reservoir, the water being upheld by capillary attraction
between the interstices of the fine sand; this reservoir is filled by the rain falling
uniformly over the surface. It is emptied partly by water drawn from the wells, and
chiefly by that issuing from springs situated towards the south-east.
The water found at Langborough must, therefore, consist to a great extent of that
which fell as rain on the part covered with houses, the least polluted water would, I
think, be found towards the north and north-west of the town, but it would probably
be less abundant than that to be obtained from Langborough. I little consideration will
explain how the well water is polluted to the degree shown by Dr. Frankland’s
analysis. The 280 wells are all centres of attraction for water percolating the sand bed.
The water will always stand at a lower level in the wells than in the sand adjoining,
the water level in each case forming an inverted cone, the well forming the apex. By
this operation all the polluted water within a certain area of the well must gravitate
towards it.
When the water stands high in the well this area will be comparatively small and the
amount of dilution great, but when the water is low in the wells, and a heavy rainfall
occurs, the surface polluted water will be drawn in abundantly to the well and being
then slightly diluted is at such times most dangerous. I must further draw attention to
the fact that the subsoil for a considerable distance around some, if not all of the

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