UNDERGROUND WATER SUPPLY OF MIDLAND BREWERIES

East of the Birmingham Fault, an impermeable layer of Keuper Marl must be penetrated before sandstone is reached, and wells may descend to a depth of 1,000 ft., compared with the 400–600 ft. sufficient to the west of the Fault. The best underground water of the Birmingham area is drawn from the Bunter beds; brewers who have bored through the Bunter beds to the underlying Nechells Breccia gain increased quantities of water only at the expense of increasing hardness. There has been a continuous lowering of the underground water level throughout this century, only some 60% of the 9 1/2 million gal. withdrawn daily by industrial concerns in Birmingham being compensated for by rainfall. Although near Leamington the Bunter rocks are absent, and water from the Keuper Sandstone is hard and saline, water at Stratford originating from similar rocks is of excellent quality, possibly as a result of base‐exchange. Many breweries in other areas of the Midlands face individual problems concerned with the supply of adequate quantities of good quality water.