HISTORY OF COLCHESTER CORPORATION WATER WORKS. 29
It is held by some authorities that the water in the chalk
formation is more or less stagnant under central Essex; to that
theory I do not altogether assent. It is certainly not the case
under Colchester and neighbourhood. If such were the case,
then the water level when once pumped down would not recover
itself so rapidly as it does on cessation of pumping, nor would
the rest level tend to re-establish itself, when one takes into
consideration the quantity of water pumped from the chalk at
Colchester ; neither would the bore holes east of Colchester con-
tinue to be artesian. The water is undoubtedly moving seaward,
but the exact direction is impossible to state until a systematic
hydrogeological survey of each district is complete. I appreciate
the extraordinary fact that the underground water in the chalk in
the eastern part of Essex is alkaline in character, whereas in the
north and west it is more or less calcareous. This condition of
affairs an eminent authority (Dr. Thresh) suggests is due to the
existence of a fault. Having set up a number of sections in the
chalk from wells in all direction, in northern and eastern Essex,
I am unable to find any direct physical evidence of such a fault
across Essex to support this contention, although I am aware of
considerable disturbance of the Tertiary beds in the neighbour-
hood of Wickham and Tiptree. It seems, therefore, we must
search further to find the real cause of the difference of the chalk
water, if it is not due to any process of diffusion.
I have much information on wells and bore holes which have
been sunk to the chalk in Essex and Suffolk, and which ultimately
have had to be abandoned, due to chlorine, upon which much
money, both public and private, has been expended ; these Twill
tabulate and communicate to the Club, if of sufficient interest,
when time permits, so that future generations may not be spend-
ing their own money, and other people's, in searching for that
which they cannot possibly obtain. It is hardly credible, but
such is the case, that within recent times borings have been put
down to the chalk in close proximity to abandoned wells and with-
a mile or so of the coast. Before such works were commenced,
had the promoters possessed the most elementary knowledge
of the subject, or had consulted reliable experts, they would not
have been doomed to disappointment and failure.
In or about 1905, the population of Colchester was still
increasing and had already increased to such an extent that it