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

METROPOLITAN WATER SUPPLY.

TLe General Board of Health, to which was entrusted
As duty of watching over the execution of the metro-
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polls Water Act, have now made their report. They
suns up their representations by saying that " the re-
quirements set forth in the Metropolis Water Act have,
iu all essential respects, been fully and satisfactorily com-
plied with by the several water companies (the provision
for constant supply not coming into operation until the
Ist July, 1857). The new works have not, in fact, been
limited to what a bare compliance' with the provisions of
the act would have fulfilled. Measures have been adopted
for the general improvement of the supplies, which evinces
a proper anxiety on the part of the companies in the dis-
charge of the duties of their positiorette the public."
In treating of the improved quality of the water now
supplied they say :—" The amount of the hardness of
the water as supplied during the two periods was, with
one exception, somewhat less in 1856 than in 1851 ;
the diminution with one or two exceptions, is, how-
ever, only trifling, but a very considerable difference
is observed in the amount of organic matter disco-
vered. Thus the water supplied by the Grand Junction
Water Company contained in 1851 3'07 grains per
gallon ; in 1856 only 1.38 grains were found. The water
of the West Middlesex Company in 1851 showed 2'73
grains ; in 1856 only 0.96 grains
.per gallon were disco-
vered. The Chelsea Company's water to 1851 contained
2'38 grains ; in 1856, 1.42. The Southwark and Vaux-
halt's Company's water in 1851 was found to contain
1.51 grains ; in 1856 only 1'37 grains are found. The
Lambeth Water Company had, in 1851, 2.59 grains of
organic matter per gallon in water supplied by them ; in
1856 the amount had diminished to 1.33 grains. The
difference in the water of the New River Company was
from 2.79 grains to 0.968 grains. The East London
Company's watershows a markeddifference ; the amount
of organic matter in 1851 was 4.12 grains per gallon ; in
1856 it is only 1.09 ; the difference in the water supplied
by the Kent Co. amounted to almost one-half. The
Hampstead Co.'s water; as supplied now, is about the
' same, the same sources having been resorted to. This
diminution is obviously partly due to the alteration of the
localities from which many of the companies derive
their supply. The Grand Junction, the West Middlesex,
the Southwark and the Vauxhall Companies formerly
supplied respectively at Kew, Barnes, and Battersea,
derive their present water from Hampton. The Lambeth
Water Company, which used to take their water at
Lambeth, near Ilungerford-bridge, have now erected
extensive works at Thames Ditton. The diminution of
organic matter in the London supply is, however, by no
means confined to the companies that have changed the
locality of their source, and it must, therefore, be attri-
buted in a great degree to the considerable improvement
which has taken place in the collection,, filtration, and
general management of the supply of water to the me-
tropolis." The engineering works which it was neces-
sary to construct before these ee,eilts could be attained
have cost not less than 2,282,8241., and the total
amounts expended for supplying the metropolis have,
from first to last, including the recent alterations
and improvements, reached 7,102,8231. The amount
expended in new works and alterations is thus
subdivided :—The New River Company has expended
566,0841., the East London 250,0001., the South-
wark and Vauxhall 214,0101., the Lambeth 301,6331.,
the 'West iddlesex 157,3991., the Chelsea 472,3241.,
the Grand Junction 211,1281., the Kent 27,022/ , the
Hampstead 33,:124/., and the Piumstead and Woolwich
(a new company) 50,000/. The report states—" That
according to the r.-turn of the water companies in 1850,
it appeared that 270,581 houses were.then supplied with
water, the gross daily quantity delivered. having been
44,383,332 gallons. It will be observed from what has
been stated above that the supply of watet to the metro-
polis has now reached the enormous quantity of upwards
of eighty millions gellens per day, it having been nearly
doubled in the short space of six years. It is furnished
to 328,561 of the 340,000 heuses which now form the
aggregate within the liegi,trarGeneral's district. Thus
the average daily supply of water for all purposes, which
iu 1850 was 164 gallon per house, is new, in 1856, 246
gallons per house. The main and branch pipes for
bringing the water frosts the several source's and distri-
buting it in the districts, exclusive of the private service
pipes, form a total area of 2,086 miles."