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37
WATER SUPPLY.
The water supply of Kensington is derived from the following sources, which are under the
control of the Metropolitan Water Board.
The northern half of the Borough lies within the Grand Junction division of the Western
district, which is supplied mainly from the Thames at Hampton. The southern half of the
Borough and a small area north of the Great Western Railway are supplied from the same source
and lie within the West Middlesex division of the Western district. The area south of the
Brompton Road lies within the Chelsea division of the Western district, and is supplied entirely
from the Thames at West Molesey. To every house in the Borough the water supply is now
constant.
The following tables, which afford an index of the water supply, are based on Dr. Houston's
Report to the Metropolitan Water Board for the twelve months ended 31st December, 1909.

The table shows that the impurity of the raw Thames water as judged by the number of
microbes is greater than that of the New River, but very much less than that of the Lee. As has
already been pointed out, it is from the Thames that the filtered water supplied to Kensington is
originally derived.

Of the three sources supplying filtered water to Kensington, that of Chelsea contains the
greatest number of microbes. For the purpose of comparison, the New River and Kempton Park
filtered waters have been added as examples of the best and the least satisfactory water supplied
by the Water Board.