The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-28 00:00:00

was not so strong ; and at nine inches it was a wall colour.
He made the same experiments in the water which was
filtered, and with precisely the same results. He had often,
he said, fished in Windermere, and could see in that water
a white card at a depth of twenty yards. The land around
Windermere was also very different, while near the re-
servoirs they could, on every side, discover indications of
peat formation. He was told even by the engineer that
the river which supplied the Anglezark reservoir contained
colouring, and he (Mr. Crosthwaite) at once answered that
they would never have the water clear. He believed so
still, and he should, therefore, vote for the amendment. _
_ _

Mr. A. C. Stewart said, that when he visited the district
last year, when the reservoirs were empty, he satisfied
himself that the water sheds were large enough, and that
the storing ground was equally so. More they could
not ascertain at that period ; but more they wished to
know, because he might say with regard to this subject
that in Liverpool on no other question had there been a-
greater amount of straightforward lying—(laughter) -and
he did not apply that observation to one side more than
another. He was pleased at the invitation of
the committee again to visit the works, and
when there he observed them as closely as
it was in his power to do. They went to the upper works,
but were told that they would not be finished for four
months, and also that they would have the best water in
the district, and that in such abundance that the supply
from them alone would be equal to 3,000,000 gallons a day.
He mentioned that fact to show that they had not yet got
the best water, at least that they were told so. As to the
report of the filthy water in the goit, they found that to a
certain extent it was true—that the sewage of the held had
been carried into it, but they also found that half a mile
lower down that water was stopped and carried off for
compensation. A new system of drainage was now completed
and not one particle of the filth complained of was carried
into the goit. As to the Anglezark reservoir, he con-
sidered that there had bean some mismanagement in
regard to it. It was, however, now made, but he sup-
posed it would be practicable to take part of the peat out,
and lay clay at the bottom, to cause the growth of those
plants which would purify the water. That was a question
for the engineer, but decidedly something should be done
before they could get pure water out of it. As to the
leak, he could not speak in terms of laudation of the
means which had been taken for its stoppage. Ho believed
they had already expended 815,000 on it.
Mr. Alderman Bennett : No, only £5,000.
Mr. A. C. Stewart still maintained that this was an
egregious blunder of Mr. Hawksley, and observed, that
the water he saw, after being filtered, was not sufficiently
clear for dietetic purposes. He did not think, however,
that the owners of cottage property would lay on a second
service of pipes, and he would therefore suggest, that in
the event of any change in the supply, a public tap should
be erected in each court to supply water for table purposes,
and as it would cost the people a little more trouble to
procure it, they would be the more likely not to waste it.
Mr. Alderman Samuel Holme said, those who remem-
bered the old Irish stage-coach travelling some thirty years
ago, would remember that when the horses were changed,
a number of the unemployed parties of the neighbourhood
prepared themselves every one with a sleillelah, and when
the fresh horses were put to, the coachman shouted out,
Boys, are yez ready r! and down came the shilldah
from every quarter upon the bones of the unfortunate
animals; (Loud laughter.) Pretty much in the same
condition were the members of the Water Committee.
As soon as his friend, Mr. B mnett, the driver of the
opposition coach. had fired off his long speech, immedi-
ately he cast his eye into the north-ea,t corner of the
room as a sort of indicati-u, or " Boys, are yez ready ?"
and from every quarter—but that quarter in particular
—came whacks from the shillelah enough to annihilate
the Wa'er Committee, and the wonder was that there was
a bone of thorn left. (Laughter.) He regretted as much
as any man the feeline which hail been got op on that ques-
tion, and which had aea kept up during a period of many
years. Instead of endeavouring to make the best of a
question upon which there had been from the first great
difference of opinion ; and which involved much difficulty,
and on which the Water Committee required both sym-
pathy and hip—instead of treating the matter in a legis-
lative spirit, and stinting a consideration for those who
had to manage the concern, there bad been a constant
thwarting of the committee from the beginning, so that if
there had been a failure, it could be no wonder, after
such an opposition as had been manifested towards them.
(Hear, hear.) The names of some gentlemea had been
brought forward in reference to some of the questions
which had been before the Council that day. The name of
one gentleman had been introduced, who possessed what
Mr. Jeffery termed an European reputation.
Mr. Jeffery : More.
Mr. Holme said, snore than an European reputation.
He alluded to Mr. Robert Rawlinson, C.E. New, Mr.
Rawlinson had been applied to in the first
instance, the Water Committee being anxious
to posess the opitaio i of that gentleman, as
to whether it as practically prudent and wise to go to
an increased outlay, in getting water from the public wells
of the town. The opinion which Mr. Rawlinson then
gave, he (.`.rr. Holm' ) had copied from the records of the
Town-hall—and if his opinion was held to be good upon
one point, logically it ought to be taken for good upon
another. Mr. Rawlinson laid it down as a principle that
no large town had ever been adequately supplied from
wells. He said that the sources of supp y were liable to
be disturbed, and that over-pumping deteriorated the
quality of the water. He said that the well at Copperas-
hill had been over-pumped, and the water became die-
ordered and deteriorated, and so it ever must be, more
or less It was tried, be said, in New York, and it failed
in prciducing an adequate supply of water. Liverpool
had not an adequate supply of pure water, nor was it
to be found immediately near. Geologists, he added,
could explain the reaseris why it was, and ever must be,
the case that wells could not be depended upon for an
abundant and permanent supply of water. This opinion
was given in July, 1346. Now he (Mr. Holme) next came
to the eminent geologist, Mr. John Cunningham, of whom
they had heard a good deal that day. He deeme lit right
to gkve the Council the opinion of that gentleman, because
his opinion on another point had been largely circulated
through the public press, and he trusted the newspapers
which gave so fully his report would, in common fairness,
give equal circulation to what he was now about to read.
The document to which he was about to refer was a report
addressed to the Council, dated October 2nd, 1846, Mr.
Cunningham had been applied to by the Council of that
day, lest they might make any mistake by sinking wells
into any district without the possibility of those wells
yielding an adequate supply, because at the time they
wanted quantity as well as quality, for various
purposes besides drinking. Mr. Cunningham gave
a report, the general effect of which: he (Mr.
Holme) would now proceed to state to the Connell.
In the first instance, Mr. Cunningham gave au exposition
of the geological formation of the district, extending from
the Mersey to opposite Runcorn, and running along the
Childwall valley, through the Sefton meadows to the sea at
Crosby, embracing an area of seventy square miles. He
shows that any supply from Artesian wails is entirely cut
off; and that in the deep working of the coal mines near
Prescot, Huyton, and St. Helens, the ingress of water,
notwithstanding their depth, was so sunk that a single
pump, of ordinary power, -was sufficient to drain a con-
siderable arena. He stated that although thirty-six inches
of rain fell annually over the seventy square miles, only a
small portion actually found its way down into the mass of
the strata -and he gave the reasons ; the absorption of
the ground during the summer solstice, when the largest
quantity of rain f ills ; the deluvial clay which covers so
large an extent of the district; the improved mode of
tillage which rendered the soil more friable, and
thereby facilitated an increased evaporation ; a
better system of drainage, rapidly carrying off
surplus water ; the extent of surface covered by
houses, paved streets, and macadamised roads. The
ninth part of all that fell wise therefore the maximum
quantity which could be calculated upon for the whole
district, or 11,136,986 gallons daily. Bat to obtain even
this amount, wells and chambers must be sunk in the
strata every three or four miles apart, over the whole
surface, with engines and pumping apparatus for each
station. The cost of these, independent of the deprivation
of the whole population of their accareorned source of
water, except the community of Liverpool, were objections
which Mr. Cunningham declared entirely insurmountable.
He then showed how all the original supply would be
exhausted by continual pumping, and that when that
original supply became exhausted, scarcity would be the
inevitable result, and he instanced the private wells at
West Derby, Aigburth, Toxteth park, Wavertree, and
Old Swan, which had suffered by the sinking and pumping
of the centpanies' wells He concluded in these words
I therefore conclude that there is an impossibility of
obtaining in the immediate neighbourhood of Liver-
pool a supply of water adequate in quality, and
sufficient in quantity, to meet the wants of cue
great and growing population. Now, from the
theory of Mr. Cunningham, we would turn to his
practice. Some years ago, the London and North
Western Railway Company built the new town of Crewe,
and it became necessary to supply it with water. Mr,
Cunningham was applied to, to devise the best means of
supplying it. Did he immediately begin to sink wells,
when the water was close to the surface? Nothing of the
sort. Did he say water derived from rivers was bad, and
unfit for ute Nothing of the sort. But he impounded
and made an embankment, small compared to Mr.
Hawksley's, across a valley ; he created a large pond, and
he pumped river water up—water coming through a highly
cultivated country with rich cattle land—he passed it
through filtering beds, and to this day the inhabitants of
Crewe were supplied with that water; and, although it