HH62/1/DUMFRI/9

Transcription

[Page] 8

In the Dumfries District, the Blackshaw supply in Caerla-
verock has occupied the attention of the Committee. There are
many places in this parish greatly in want of wholesome water.
It is now proposed to enlarge the area of supply so as to include
certain of these as well as two houses in the neighbouring parishes
of Mousald and Torthorwald. The water formerly supplied,
though of a good quality, cannot conveniently be utilised for the
enlarged district, but a suitable spring has been found on the farm
in South Kilblain. The analysis shows it to be of excellent quality,
and it is to be hoped that the Committee's scheme will be pro-
ceeded with as early as possible, as the want of water was a great
evil during last summer, and was particularly felt at a dairy farm
which sends milk into Dumfries. If the new supply is sufficient, it
would be well to consider the propriety of adding Glencaple to the
Special District. A considerable part of the parish of Dumfries
immediately outside the Police Burgh is supplied from the mains of
the Water Commissioners. If the water can be spared, I should
like to see it more extensively used in this district, most of the
surface wells being more or less polluted. As one gets further
out towards the Lochar Moss there seems to be difficulty in get-
ting reliable water. Several of the wells are unsatisfactory, and
it is doubtful whether in such a locality good and reliable wells
can be found. Locharbriggs is also sadly in need of a wholesome
and plentiful supply, and the question of obtaining water for it and
other outlying parts of the parish, as well, perhaps, as certain
adjacent places, such as Kirkton and Amisfield, is one which may
have to engage the attention of the Committee at no very distant
date.
The supplies to the Annan District have been the subject of
anxious consideration, not only by the officials, but also by
members of a Sub-Committee appointed earlier in the year. There
is one Special District, that of Eaglesfield, which was formed in
consequence of a fear that the serious outbreak of diphtheria in
1887, when sixteen cases proved fatal, was due to the extensive
pollution of the village wells which then existed. Whether this
view was correct or not I am unable to say, but since the present
supply was introduced there has been, so far as I can ascertain, no
recurrence of the disease. But if the supply to Eaglesfield is
satisfactory from a sanitary point of view the same cannot be said
of the rest of the District. The complaints of scarcity and con-
tamination have been very common. These have no doubt been

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more numerous because of the long drought which prevailed
during the early summer months, but in the course of our investi-
gations we found that not a few of the wells run dry every
summer. Acting on the instructions received from the Sub-
Committee, I made a systematic enquiry into the condition of the
supplies to the villages and to a large number of the farm-houses in
the District, particularly those on the west side of Annan. During
that enquiry we examined the surroundings of 157 wells, and
applied qualitative tests to samples taken from 139. Classifying
as "probably good" those which showed no reaction to these tests
and whose surroundings were above suspicion, as "doubtful"
those in which there was either a slight reaction or whose sur-
roundings rendered them liable to at least occasional contamination,
and as "bad" those in which such reaction was well marked and
whose surroundings were very unfavourable, we found that 7
were probably good, 68 doubtful, and 64 bad. The remaining 18
were dry, or contained so little water as to be practically of no use.
We also obtained presumptive evidence connecting some 7 or 8
with attacks of typhoid, diarrhoea, and derangements of stomach
and bowels. That a new and pure supply is urgently wanted
throughout certainly the greater part of the District was abun-
dantly manifested to us during these investigations. A first step
towards this has been taken in the adoption of the Crawford Act,
and I trust that in the interests of the public health the labours of
the Sub-Committee may soon be brought to a successful termina-
tion.
In Lockerbie District there are gravitation supplies at Banks-
hill and Boreland. Complaints of scarcity from this District have
not been numerous, but in one or two places there is some difficulty
in getting an adequate supply, and, as in other Districts, the surface
wells are too frequently placed where they are extremely liable to
receive all sorts of organic impurities. Indeed, one is almost
inclined to believe that to the minds of some people the nearer the
well to the dung-heap the better the water.
In Moffat District two cases of supplies from land drains have
been dealt with, and a well at a dairy farm which was found to be
contaminated by vegetable matter is being altered so as to prevent
the entrance of such impurity in the future.
There are a few places in the Langholm District, particularly
in Westerkirk, where difficulty has been experienced in finding
good and sufficient water. At Rowanburn, in Canonbie, there is