Canal water was used for the production of chlorine. The reason for this was because the ICI boreholes which were formerly used a a water supply turned brackish due the a geological fault line which ran from Barrow down to the Fylde. This resulted in the chlorine process also making sodium hypochlorite (bleach) which was of no use to ICI at the time.
A 25 year lease was obtained from the canal authorities to extract 6000 megalitres (around 1400 million gallons) of water from the canal next to Nateby Hall bridge.
The concrete sleepers can still be seen on the towpath. They cover what was the valve and pipeline.
Looking over the nearby hedge you can still see a grating which was the access for the use of a stethoscope type of flow meter.
The above information was supplied by Mr. R. Melling, ICI Engineer for Over Wyre