The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-01 00:00:00

the demand for soft water already known to exist, tho
extent of piping in the scheme pro,,osed by Mr. Be' natt
beirg only 271 miles, whereas upward• of 170 miles of
piping will hsve to be laid down before the town and dis-
tricts at present supplied could be provided with the means
of making choice of one or both kinds of water. The
scheme appears to be wanting in other respects. Second :
That if it were to be enlarged so as to meet the existing
demand, it would be more costly and less effective than the
scheme of the engineer. The engineer ventures to state
that if anything has to be done so as to afford a choice
of supily of both waters to all the tenants
of the committee—and such is strictly in accordance
with the prayer of the memorialists. The design ought
to be such as could from time to time be extended to
meet the wants of the community as they may arise. The
reason on deciling on a design for a sys'em of piping to
d;st ibute spring water in preference to de=igning a system
for distributing soft water have already been reported as
under:—

"After carefully considering and weighing the subject
of a separate supply, I have come to the conclusion that,
in carrying it out, it would be more advantageous to pre-
vide for the smaller (Firitity. than the lirger; aed I have
also concluled that, ,xeep-ii:g for the ourp,s,:s narn,d
tin memorial, the differew waters will be used in quan-
tities corresponding wi h the ratio al eady stated. 'l'h-re
are other reasons besides these to lea] me to cone!ti,?e that
the es'imates and scheme ought to 1:e for the list ibution
of spring water. Of these I shall enumerate the follow.
ing:—

'77;4 Ist. All cennecion rot domes is supply, such as to
baths and water Closets, for manufacturing, fire prevention,
and for ssnitary purpcses, are attached to the existing
pi peag.l.

2nd. To remove these, and to attach thorn tit a new
system of pipeage, would be a work involving a large
expert !quite of money both public and private.
"3rd. In c irrying a supply of spring water to any
house or building, it will not bu necessarit to convey it
beyond the ioweror working portion of the house, where the
*water could be drawn when required ; consequently, the
expense of its introduction would be a minimum. And
" 4th To provide pipes for the conveyance of soft water,
a much larger class of pipes would be necessary ; conse-
quently, a large expenditure of capital."
The total quantity of water which will for some time to
come be reqnired for the use of Liverpool has been
estimated at ten million gallons per diem, and the estimate,
quantity which would be reqaired for table purposes,
including so much as would be necessary to run from
the ends of the pipes has been set down at two million
gallons per diem. Thus, exclusive of Bootle, there would
be required say seven million gallons per diem of s )ft:
water any? two riiliions or spring water. The cost of
supplying one million gallons per diem from Rivington, or
of supplying eight millions in the same time, would only
vary the expenditure of these works in so far as the cost
of cleaning the filters would be influenced by the greater
or lesser quantity of water passing through them, and .
would be found to remain nearly stationary. Therefore,
if it shall be decided to supply soring water at the same
time as a supply of soft water is 'given, it will be well to
bear in mind that the quantity of spriog Mater to he
distributed ought to be only as much as would be abso
lutely required ; that every million gallons of spring
water so pumped and distributed annst be at a cost on
the average of £3 ss, whilst the expenses of inaintainance
at Rivington must remain nearly stationary. Therefore,
the less the quantity of spring water sl supplied, the
greater the amount of saving to the public. At the same
time, all tenants would be eqoally well, if not better, served.
Mr. Bennett - proceeds on the supposition that only a very
small quantity of water from Rivington would be demanded.
In this particular although the engineer disagrees with
him, his proposition may be examined on its own merits,
and if the gross quantity in each case to be distributed be
the same, it will only be necessary to show that the scheme
propounded by Mr. Bennett would be more expensive than
that proposed by the engineer, as it labours under the
disadvantage of entailing additional outlay in any exten-
sion ; the quantity of spring water which would be
necessary under such a system, having already passed
the minimum yield of the present wells, if a constant
supply has to be given. From what was stated at the
cm:no:Wee on Saturday, it was assumed that for the present
2 million gallons per diem of soft; water would be sufficient,
and if 10 million gallons per diem, be estimated as the
quantity, which will sh n.tly be requisite for the supply
of Liverpool, and districts supplied by the Water Com-
mittee, there wont! therefore, require to be pumped daily
eight million gallons of sprig water, a quantity g'rca,er
than the maximum yield of all the wells ; d .ducting one
million gallons for Bootle,, there remains wanting seven
million gallons to supplement- the two millions to b'
supplied frOm Rivington. It will therefore be seen that
there are to be pumped five million gallons by Mr. Ben-
nett's scheme more than would be revired b., the plan
suggested in the report referred to, viz , two million gallons
spring water daily. The difference in cost en: this item
alone would amount to--say £6,000 per annum. 'fit-' .
proposal of the engineer has this additional w'atanniet,e,
that the quantity of sp irg water to be ;distributed could
be increased three tim:s that at present assumed,
whereas; in the counter proposition, the quantity of spring
water has vire:4(ly reached its limit, and cannot be
ircreasell withoat additional expenditure in new
stations, &.c.

Without going further into the merits of Mr. Bennett's
scheme, the engineer trusts that in what he has stated, and
the estimates he has laid bef gee the committee, it will be
seen that he has had sufficient grounds for the difference
of opinion which he hastentured to express on this sun jeer. In
the estimates for Mr. Bennett's pr.jecr, nothing has been
allowed for street services, and this item, in the estimates
for the other scheme, has been set down at £22,125;
neither have there been estimates made of the cost of
working and maintenance. The committee will perceive
the difficulty that exists in forming estimates for a scheme
in itself so incomplete. The engineer has, therefore, to
refer the committee to the estimates appended to his report
on the memorial, to which if there be added for pumping,
by Mr. Bennett's scheme, £G,OOO, the annual cost will be
£19,207 is Id, all other things being alike, against
£13,207 is Id by scheme proposed by the engineer.
I am, sir, your faithful servant,
(Sig el)

TitomAs DUNCA.N.

THE PERSIAN EXPEDITION.

The Times publishes a letter from an officer of the poli-
tical agency of Bagdad, giving the latest news from the
head quarters of the Persian expeditionary force. It will
be seen that, only by a happy accident, could the attack on
Mohammerah be averted. Yesterday evening we had a
special Tartar from Constantinople, who brought us news
of peace, hut the terms were not known. I despatched a
messenger to Bussorah immediately, but he 'will not be in
time to save Mohammeram, unless Outram had news by
way of Aden. My last date from Bussorah is the 17th
March. On that day the general was to leave Bushire for
the river, where ail the transports were collected, and
probably on the 21st they would go at Mohammerah.