The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-06 00:00:00

The Water Supply of Towns.

Within the last few years the question of water
supply has engaged the serious attention of munici-
pal bodies. The spread of social science has brought
home to the minds of civic authorities that pure
water is the first of sanitary agents. Towns are no
longer content to take their water from the nearest
river or canal without regard to the chemical changes
which it may have undergone in flowing from its
source to the point at which it is diverted for domestic
purposes ; nor are they satisfied with such a supply
as may be obtained by the inhabitants at a parti-
cular hour and at a particular spot. Street pumps
are all but superseded, 'even house cisterns are
not deemed sufficiently convenient to answer all
purposes of domestic use, and most of the new
waterworks are being constructed on the principle
of high-level service—that is, of affording a supply
in any apartment to which pipes may be carried,
as is the case with gas. In this metropolis the
New River Company have recently gone to the
expense of filling in the cutting which carried
the water into North London, and of laying down
large mains to take the piece of an open canal. The
town of Glasgow has spent an enormous sum in pro-
curing its supply of water from Loch Katrine, and
at this moment works are being constructed to
afford n high-level supply to Dublin from water-
sheds and the River Virtry, at a point in the
county of Wicklow 27 miles from that city. It is not
surprising, therefore, that the dreadful catastrophe
which occurred at Sheffield in 'March last should have
given rise to considerable apprehension through-
out the United Kingdom, and that wherever
great reservoirs had been recently provided, or
were in course of construction, much alarm was felt
lest they should meet with a fate similar to that
which had befallen the Bradford reservoir of the
Sheffield Waterworks Company.
The evidence taken at the inquest which followed
the inundation at Sheffield put the public in pos-
session of the immediate cause of that accident, but
since that inquiry the Town Council of Sheffield
have procured professional opinions, which, while
dealing specifically with that particular case, con•
tain a statement of general principles which are in-
teresting scientifically, and cannot but prove useful
to corporations and companies engaged in the cone
struction of waterworks on a large scale. It is the
conclusion of several eminent engineers that the
giving way of the reservoir at Bradfield was caused
by water having got under the outside slope of the
embankment, which either induced the bank itself
or the foundation on which it rested to slip. But it
is satisfactory to learn on the same competent au-
thority that the most capacious reservoir may be
provided without the dangers of any such mishap.
As a preliminary, however, a careful geological sur-
vey must be made. Whether this was done in the
case of the Sheffield reservoirs we are not prepared
to say ; but if Sir John Rennie be right it scarcely
could have been, for he tells the corporation, " I
cons der the site of the Bradfield embankment to
have been injudiciously selected—the strata con-
sisting chiefly of millstone grit, but with loose
friable shale in the deepest part, unequal in qua.
lity'and dislocated, with old land slips in the
vicinity, extensive faults in the grata, and with
several strong springs of water which it was difficult
to avoid." Other engineers are equally decided in
their objections to the site. But even supposing
that the site had been a good one, those gentlemen
state that the embankment was extremely faulty
in its construction ; and their remarks on this
head have a universal application. Most people
have seen the process of constructing a railway em-
bankment, The "stuff" or material is deposited in
tips"—that is, it is tilted over from a waggon,
and load after load is deposited until the required
height and width ate obtained. This appears to
have been the method followed in the construction
of the Bradfield reservoir. Mr. Conybeare says
the material " was loosely thrown in by waggons,
in tips of from five to nine feet ; instead of being
evenly spread and well consolidated (by the passage
of one-horse carts all over it) in parallel layers of
only as many inches thick." Mr. Leslie observes
that in tips of that character the material may con-
tinuo to sink or subside for many years after the
construction of the embankment ; while Mr.
Stevenson points out that by such a mode of
construction clods or stones must invariably
find their place of repose at the bottom, and
thus produce unsound layers or strata in the
embankment, which layers will be full of interstices
and calculated to admit the free percolation of water
Some half-dozen engineers of great experience ex-
press similar opinions, and all concur instating that
the embankment of a reservoir should be laid in
layers of only a few inches in depth, which should
be well " punned," or rammed. The next point to
which these gentleman apply themselves is one of
equally general importanee---namely, the construc-
tion of the pipes and the manner in which they
should be laid when passing out of the reservoir.
The pipes of the Sheffield Company were only 18
inches in diameter; and as such conduits should be
of such a calibre as to afford an opportunity for in-
ternal examination, most of the engineers whom
the corporation have consulted hold that diameter
to have been insufficient. A still greater defect
was that the valves were on the outside of the
embankment only. Thus there was no means of
shutting off the water in the Inside of the darn ;
whereas, if valves bead been fixed on the inner end

G~eu~

of the pipes, access could have been had to them
when the reservoir was full. Th arrtlngiement is
strongly commented on by the en{ ineers. .But pc c-
haps the most important question touched upon in
the professional reports is that of the mat icor in
which pipes should be laid from the reservoir to
beyond the embankment. In the case of the Br ad-
field reservoir they were laid in a trench under the
dam. The engineers whose reports the Sheflaeld
Town Council publish are nine in number—Mr
Leslie, Mr Stevenson, Mr J. Murray. Mr Conybe3are,
Mr Lee, Mr Barlow, Sir John Ronnie, M.e C •
Vignolles, and Mr M. B. Jackson ; and seven it of
them in unequivocal terms condemn that plan. Air
Leslie considers it a much better course, w hen
practicable, to drive a tunnel in the solid at
the end of the embankment, in which tunnel
the pipes should be laid. Should there be
no suitable ground for tunnelling, he would build
a culvert of very eubstantill masonry, large enough
ta carry floods during the time the bank was in
progress of construc.ion, MA in which the pipes
could afterwards be inserted. Mr. Murray states
unhesitatingly that the tunnel for the pipes ought
to be laid in the solid ground, and others of the re-
porting engineers speak with equal confidence to
the same effect. Mr. Barlow, though of opinion that
no pipes should be laid under an embankment un-
less the embankment rests on a rock foundation,
and the pipes are laidin excavations, so that they
are well below the surface, does not think it im-
portant that they should be laid in a culvert or
tunnel, as brickwork is more liable to fail than iron,
and if it failed the pipe would probably be destroyed
at the same time. But Sir John Rennie states that
the proper plan is to carry the pipes through the
solid ground or strata in tunnels of masonry either
on one side of the embankment or the other, but
wholly independent of it; and Mr. Jackson goes
the length of saying that the longer a storage ree
servoir has existed with pipes laid under or through
an embankment, the nearer it is to inevitable de-
struction, unless preventive steps bo taken. Cast
iron, he says, is a treacherous material as well as a
perishable one; and he advises that the pipes which
run under the embankments of the Sheffield reser-
voirs should be permanently plugged up, and that;
fresh means should be provided for the discharge of
the water. From this gentleman's report it would
seem that there still exists a doubt as to whethiar
the water got into the embankment by leaks, ge
through the pipes, or by a leakage under or through
the puddle. With respect to the comparative merits
of a constant water supply and an intermittent c ne,
Mr. Lee remarks that in the case of the latter the
water is less pure at the taps than in the reservoirs,
because when the pipes are empty oxide of iron is
formed, and discharged with the water on the next
delivery.
It is but fair to say that the reports from whicle
we have been quoting formed part of a case pre.
pared by the Sheffield Town Council against an
application to Parliament by the Waterworks Cum-
pany for additional powers. The battle betwcen
the two bodies has been fought and decided, mid in
its details the public would probably not take In uch
interest ; but there can be no doubt that in obi ain-
ing the opinions of so many eminent engineers on
the construction of water reservoirs for the supply
of towns, the corporation have done a service, not
only to their own constituents, but to all the cities
and towns in the empioe.

The Perth Albert Memorial,

PERTH, Monday.

The following communications have been received
by Sir David Ross, Lord Provost of Perth, in anewe•
to the addresses delivered at the inauguration •If
the Perth Albert Memorial, on Tuesday, the 30 al
of August :

"Balmoral, Aug. 31...
" am commanded by her Majesty to convey
to you the expression of her Majesty's entire statism
faction with the arrangements which had been
made by yourself and the civic authorities ol the
city of Perth for the ceremonial of yesterday.
Nothing could be more gratifying to her Majesty's
feelings on the occasion of inaugurating a statue to
the memory of the Prince Consort than the de-
meanour of the people, which showed how conis
pleteiy they felt the character of the day's proceed-
ings, and the quiet order with which every part of
the ceremonial wee conducted.

„I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient
mervant, ” CHARLES WOOD."

" Balmoral, Aug. 31.

" Sir,—l am commanded by her Majesty to exe,
press to you the satisfaction with which her MeA
jesty has received the renewed expressions oi '
loyalty and attachment to her throne of the Lore
Provost, magistrates, and Town Council on behal f
of the community of the city of Perth.
" Her Majesty witnessed with deep satisfactio: n
the inaguration of the statue which has been raised
in Perth in testimony of the gratitude, affection,
and respect entertained for the Prince Consort. Her
Majesty cordially concurs in your hopes that the
sight of such a memorial may stimulate those Of
future generations to the practice of those virtu es
which have rendered the memory of her beloved
and great husband so dear to the people of this
country, the recollection of which has led to the
erection of this statue, and of other similar proofs
of their lasting gratitude.
"I have the honour to be your obedient servant,
" CHARLES WOOD."

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HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tats DAY.—'_Morning, 4h. 50m.—Afternoon, sh. 5m
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