HEALTH OFFICER'S VIEW.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 223, 20 September 1928, Page 9

HEALTH OFFICER'S VIEW.

STERILISE THE WATER. SUGGESTIONS TO CITY COUNCIL. "I am still most strongly of the opinion that it is absolutely necessary that the water in the Parnell baths should be sterilised," said Dr. T. H. Hughes, medical officer of health in Auckland, this morning, when discussing the subject with a "Star" representative. "I would suggest that a temporary sterilisation plant should be established meantime, the filtration of the water not being so important as sterilisation." Speaking of the advantages of filtration and sterilisation Dr. Hughes said: "The water in the tepid baths at the Wd of four weeks is really more pure than when it is first taken in, owing to filtration and sterilisation. Numerous tests have been taken, and our examinations have proved that at the end of that period the water in the baths was practically sterile. In spite of this, however, I am strongly of the opinion that the intake to the tepid baths shqnld be extended to the end of the Prince's wharf. "In view of what I have stated in connection with the tepid baths, therefore, I am convinced that the same methods should be applied and carried out at the Parnell and Shelly Beach baths," emphatically declared Dr. Hughes. "You can say that the Health Dept. intends to keep a very strict watch on the public baths in Auckland, and if occasion demands they shall be closed." What Will Happen Now? Dr. Hughes pointed out that the Parnell baths were closed last season on an order from the Health Department, but the City Council closed those at Shelly Beach. When asked what was going to happen now the ratepayers had turned down proposals for filtration, Dr. Hughes said that the Health Department would raise no objection to the baths being reopened, "provided always that reasonable measures were taken for cleanliness and purity."