The Sun.
London, England, 1828-09-04 00:00:00

SUPPLY OF WATER.

REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE Or THE HOUSE

or COMMONS, •ON THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO THE

METROPOLIS.

The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the
present System of supplying Water to- the Me-
tropolis, including the Borough of Southwark, and
into the Amount of the Rates paid by the Inha-
bitants, and who were instructed to include Lam-
beth, Christ Church, Surrey, and the adjacent
Parishes in the Inquiry; and to whom the Peti-
tion of the Inhabitants of the Western Parts of
the Metropolis, and also the Report of the Com-
missioners appointed by His Majesty to inquire
into the State of the Supply of Water in the Me-
tropolis, severally presented to the House in the
present Session, were referred; and whO were
empowered to report the Minutes of Evidence
taken before them; have considered the Subject
to them referred; and agreed upon the following

Report
The companies which at present supply the me-
tropolis, including the borough of Southwark, Lam-
beth, Christ Church, Surrey, and the adjacent pa-
rishes, with water, are eight number—the West
Middlesex, Grand Junction,- Chelsea, New River,
and East London, on the north side of the Thames;
and the ,South London, Lambeth, and Southwark, on
the south side; eli of which derive their whole sup-
ply directly from the river Thames, with the excep-
tion of the New River, which takes water from the
river only occasionally, by a steam-engine placed at
Broken Wharf.

The Commissioners appointed by his Majesty
state in their report, that their attention was chiefly
confined to the description, the quality, and the sa-
lubrity of the water, and that they did not consider
themselves called upon, either to consider new and
more eligible sources of supply, or to suggest plans
for the improvement of those already existing, and
that they had therefore proceeded to obtain speci-
mens of the water taken out of the various parts of
the river upon an extensive scale, and placed them
in the hands of a gentleman, eminently qualified by
his eatenflive knowledge of chemistry, and his prac-
tical experience, to analyse and report thereon.
The Commissioners also proceeded to examine
the engineers of the various water companies, as
well as the agents of the petitioners, who had sub-
mitted their complaints to Parliament during the
last session, and also all those persons who, from
local knowledge or observation, were induced to
offer their evidence upon the subject.
The Commissioners, after observing in the follow-
ing passage of Dr. Bostoek's report, " that the
water of the Thames, when free from extraneous
substances, is in a state of considerable purity, con-
taining only a moderate quantity of saline contents,
and those of a kind which cannot be supposed to
render it unfit for domestic purposes, or to he in-
jurious to health ; but as it approaches the metropolis
it becomes loaded with a quantity of filth, which
renders it improper to be employed in the prepara-
tion of food," &c. appear to arrive at the following
conclusions:—

" It is obvious," they say," that water receiving
so large a proportion of foreign matters as we know
find their way into the Thames, and so far impure
as to destroy fish, cannot, even when clarified by
filtration, be pronounced entirely free from the
suspicion of general insalubrity. In reference, also,
to this question, we apprehend that there are no
grounds for assuming the probability of any improve-
ment in the state of the water drawn from the Lon-
don district of the River.

" Taking into consideration the various cirenni-
stances-to which we have adverted, together with