The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-21 00:00:00

-Nee. •
—now in the plan sent in
the flow was just outside the
metropolis. The engineer had stated io his report that
the point of discharge was three-quarters of a mile from
the metropolitan area.
Mr. TRWATTRS —That is land measure ; the flow of the
river is one mile and a quarter.
Sir B. HALL would admit that, although it was not
so stated on the plan ; but when he took into considera-
tion the point of outfall, he was also bound to consider
whether it would affect the metropolis by the flow of the
tide, and that the sewage would return within the metro-
politan area. Ile did not consider that they had complied
with the terms of the act of Parliament. He had taken
the beat advice, and in returning the plan B, be found
it utterly impossible for him to give his sanction to that
point of outfall. As to the expense to be incurred in tak-
ing the outfalis to a point necessary as regarded the me-
tropolis, if they supposed that he wished them to go one
furlong beyond the requirements of the act they were ex-
tremely mistaken. His object was to carry out the act
according to the intentions of the Legislature and the
words of the statute, and he called upon them to give him
a plan for discharging the sewage into the Thames at cer-
tain periods and at such places so that it should not flow
into or return within the metropolitan area ; and if it was
determined to go to a greater dis'alce beyond be did not
think that the, metropolitan ratepayers ought to be re-
quired to pay for that extra expense, and he had never
thought that they should. To show them that he was pre-
pared to go into the matter in a spirit of the greatest fair-
ness, he had instructed Capt. Dunstan to give him his
view as i• the nearest point of outfall ; and that he was
coming to the point en which they w shed to see him
about, and to ascertain what hie views—or ratlitr those of
the government—were upon it. lie could not do better
than reed a letter he had received from Capt. Burstall,
but 'nine doing so he should state the course he should
take when they sent him a plan for the outran, for until
they had determine I on th 3 outfall, it would be in vain to
consider any other part of the work. Supposing that they
agreed on a point of outfall so far 34 they were concerned,
complyghtvrtihteh ctohuertseerlmiesshoofutlidletaakeet wo fo
Pau
di 1 ib%;
nt
to
easntuth should
a t
hh
ee tphlaonu
put into his hands to one or two of
the most eminent engineers in the kingdom, as a check
upon the plans, and to receive their report as to whether
they could be safely and speedily underta!ien. He thought
ttbwessdepthue.
ctoheurdseepbuotatoiougnhwtotuoldtakfeee.
lw(filtehar,hihmeart,hafrot tmha
tation.) Having said thus much, he would read to
them the le ttr of Capt. Burstall, and, having heard
that, he hoped that they would be able to come to some
satisfactory conclusion upon that very important ques-
tion. Sir B. Hall then read the following letter :
" Abingdon•street, Westminster, Nov. 18.
"Sir,—ln remarking upon the points of outfall for the
sewage of the metropolis, I bog to inform you that the con-
clusions to which I have arrived relative to the drift of
the stream aro from the observations I made on the river
in June last, from which I estimate the drift during the
last hour and a half of the flood tide to be 31 miles at
springs and 3 miles at neaps. Consequently the water which
passes point B at half a mile below the Halfway-house
will, during springs, reach the town of Woolwich before it
is arrested by the ebb stream, and at neaps a quarter of a
mile below the Royal Arsenal. I should, therefore, submit
that the nearest point to London at which the outfall
should be made (so as at all times to be certain that the
first portion discharged at an hour and a half before high
water would not flow in or near the inhabited part of the
metropolis), be the upper part of Erith Reach, miles
from London bridge, seven-eighths of a
mile from Erin'
Church, and a quarter of a mile below Jenningtree Point.
nearly opposite shamßai Creek. From this as a point of
()Wall commencing n hour and a half before the time
of high water there, the upper part of the sewage would at
springs be opposite Barking Creek, and at neaps off the
magazine in the lower part of Barking Creek, near the me-
tropolitan boundary. It cannot therefore be said that
even 1 • ii this position the sewage would be perfectly clear
of the eastern limit of the metropolitan urea at spring tides,
but it is certainly far enough from any inhabited district to
guarantee, with those long floods caught by the north and
north-west winds, the river would not, be polluted in the
vicinity of Woolwich. The additional length of drain
necessary to bo constructed to this outfall is exactly one
mile, and the additional portion of river above it, thus freed
from sewage, would bo a mile and seven-eighths. For
similar reasons to those above stated, I would beg to suggest
that the outfall on the north side be at Itainham Creek,
which would be an extension of five-eighths of a mile be-
yond that proposed. With reference to the time that the
Pumping of sewage into the river should cease I would
state that the water which first passed the outfall at three
hours after high water will be carried eight miles down and
beck by the return flood about 13 miles, or five miles above
the outfall. Therefore the latest period at which that pro.
cess should bo admitted is something short of three hours
after the time of high water. It threfore becomes neces-
sary, if a period of your hours is necessarytor the discharge
of the sewage from the reservoir, supposing that reservoir
is of sullicieut capacity to contain it, all, that the period of
discharge should commence at least one hour and a half
before the time of high water, if however, it should ap-
pear that the capacity of the reservoir is not such as will
contain the whole of the sewage that inay arrive the
metropolis between the period of pno discharge fanrom d the
next, the dimensions of the reservoir must be enlarged
to
meet the requirements. I bog also to call your attention
to the fact that ,when it was proposed to have the out-
fall at A (within the metropolis) the reservoir eves to
contain 4,000,000 cubic foot. It is now proposed to
have the outfall at Id, in the Halfway Reach, and the
reservoir when full, is to contain only 1,761,e00 cubic
feet, and to cover a space of 4} acres. On this the
south side of the river, for which the above provision is
made, the amount of Sewage is calculated by Mr. Bezel-
getto at a million and a,quarter cubic feet. On the north
side of the river Mr. Bazalgette states the amount of sew-
age to be r, million cubic feet. whilst the reservoir pro-
posed there is to be only double the size of that on the south
side. In this there is a discrepancy of proportion, because
the area of the reservoir on the north side is to be 9 acres,
amillion nd. consequently, 2to 1, The amount of sewage is 6
cubic feet, therefore nearly 5 to 1. In cases of
heavy rains it will he necessary to provide for the gloat
accumulation of water which will run into the drain, either
by outlets or a larger reservoir. In the first instance, the
surplus quantity would flow into the Thames at various
places, carrying with it a portion of the sewage in solution,
and in the last immediately on the appearance of an extra
supply in the reservoir it would be imperative to commence
pumping irrespective of the time and tido.--1 have the
honour to be, sir, your obedient Nervier t,
EDIVAItD BURSTALL "The Right Hon. Sir B. Hall." ,
Sir B. HALL continued—That was the opinion of
Captain Burstall, and supposing they got a reservoir
large enough for the purpose of containing the whole 'of
the sewage, that the discharge should take plaoe one
'hour and a half before high water and be continued for
two hours after Well water, so that the Sewage should
not flow back into the metropolitan area, so as to be a
nuisance to the metropolis. If it should be found that
the reservoirs were not large enough, of course these
calculations would go for nothing, Captain Burstall
W 55 in favour of extending the main drainage one mile
of land, which would give them two miles of river ; and
lie (Sir B. Hal!) wished to gat rid of a discrepancy which
appeared on the plan as to the size of the reservoirs,
for whilst Mr. Bazalgette estimated the sewage on the
north side to be 6,000,000 cubic feet, and that on the
south 1,700,000 cubic feet, he only proposed to make
his reservoir on the north side double the size of that on
the south, which was only a difference of 1 to 2,
whereas it ought to have been as 1 to 5.
Mr. BAZALGETTE said that with regard to the point
selected for the discharge he had been guided mainly by
the report of Capt. Burstall, and he believed that from It
the sewage would never return within the limits of the
metropolis, as the outfall was 14 mile below the metro-
politan area. Assuming that to be go, in dry weather he
should prop,se that the discharge should be at high water
f oth ()dui l
unotte rtihsee toew tahlee taonpd, al
entdi
th e
outw oantl dh
ilgeht
and for two hours afterwards. The sewage in the reser-
ivno itch we otni
(lide
water. On the average during the year there were three
but it
n:
was
tab:
rea
pt
actede tla th ttuomin b
tetibi:trf
oeopur otritn discharging
03 nheohu or. hours had
rt
he
dry days to one of wet, but he believed for 300 days in
the year the sewage would not flow into the metropolis.
on
bAdAuoRZALGICTTZsaid he had always set down his plans
Mrregs..ee:Cntaost favourable manner, but often his reservoir
sibnee
tidebigb intow a
water. In
I n reservoir,,(d days
so
nt
theat all
yel
al rerncieghshes
would not be full, and it would be
with
Copt,
flowing at int: the. metro
advantage of an extra hour
to discharge the sewage
without iori iSOWy
wouldt.o and
nl aetdawt kfiaoneyr the
tf3ba(lte •
days they mud discharge for three hours.-He agreed
one hour before high evaabtetreevyitinholguhttrseatuferinyindgistcohatrewoe-r
tropolie, for by the experiment of the float at Charltole
Pier at a quarter past 6, he found that at a quarter past
7 it was opposite
mile a Hookness, the mean result giving one
sad seven furlongs; so that in the last hour of the
flood l
o to od
of tide the sewage would not return within the
li the metropolis.
The engineer here went into some technical explana-
tions as to the data on which his calculations had been
formed, and in reference to the disparity
between the
size of the reservoir on the south side, he said he should
have to correct some figures which he had set down, but
that could not affect his plan.
Mr. THWAITES said the size of the reservoir must be
governed by the point of discharge, and if the outfall
was to be beyond point B the reservoirs mustbe enlarged
to meet the extra quantity.
Mr. BAZALGETTE said there was one point that he had
not alluded to, and that was the reduction in the size of
the reservoirs. In his first plan he proposed to receive
the storm waters, but since he was unwilling to have the
sewage spread over a large evaporating surface, for the
mere purpose of receiving the sewage on a few exeep-
better tional days, be thought it that it should be reduced
in size, as it would
fell_

Capt. Bur
satisfactory tpooriyn points
so
tshuegges Chiefted eboyrn rn i ;is '
Mr. TIIWAITES.--Are we to understand that if the out
I have consulted Captain
falletas 1
iirtshßtaken i
iLlt
loner
Burstall,
and he states that it will meet the require
r,ob—ethlsae,.es.
act of Parliament. He has stated the twolll.3lltB
of the
' points the
nearest to the metropolis to meet the re
act, and I shall not be justified in askicinuirt meats of the
g 'You to go be-
nay those points, or to ask you to 8 end
P money for
any purpose you do not consider necessary for the re
quirements of the metropolis.
Mr. THWAITES— In the event of at the points cated by the hoard discharging
point of outfall, are you, Captain Burstall, so far as that
Sir Benjamin, sanction the plan `? prepared to
Sir B. lIALL—Yes, as far
Mr. NICROLAY—Thut as you are concerned.
will not prevent us taking an
under point of discharge
vernment will sup into consideration, if the o-
-1
Sir B. IIALL-__:y-P y the G
means.
ou like, but not at the expense of the rateyayers of the ma-
ne
pe ared deputation then retired, and a general feeling ap. •
much-vexed in a • that this h exed question was now
fprevailair train towards a satisfactory settlement.

Yesterday morning the premises of Messrs. liortou
the extensive flannel manufacturerp, of Bromley, in Mid
dle4ex, Were nearly destroyed by fire.