asked the Minister of Health what is the maximum hardness laid down by his Department as desirable in a domestic water supply; and what towns, having an average water hardness greater than this, have installed water-softening plants for treating the town's supply?

I am advised that arrangements for the treatment of water must be determined on the facts of each particular case. My Department has not considered it necessary, therefore, to recommend water undertakers to adopt a maximum standard of hardness. In these circumstances, the latter part of the question does not arise.