§ Mr. Grimondasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps his Department have taken under Section 111 of the Public Health Act, 1936, to check that water does not contain a degree of fluorine which renders it unwholesome.
§ Mr. SandysThe section mentioned requires local authorities to satisfy themselves that the water supplies in their districts are wholesome. The advice of my medical and technical officers is available to them. Before I approve the use of a new public source I have to be satisfied that the proposed supply is wholesome and in recent years particular attention has been paid to fluoride. My officials are collecting information about the fluoride content of the water supplied by statutory water undertakers in England and Wales, beginning with those serving a population of more than 100,000.