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all such matter has disappeared, and that the resulting compounds,
such as nitrates, &c., remaining therein, are innocuous and harmless."
Dr. Letheby, moreover, objects to the use of the phrase "previous
sewage contamination," for it implies not that sewage or organic
matter is contained in the water, but that the metamorphosed elements
of these matters are present, "and so they are in all the food
we eat." The testimony of other Chemists is cited in support of
the views of Dr. Letheby, and in opposition to Dr. Frankland.
Objection is taken also to other terms employed by Dr. Frankland,
and countenanced by the Registrar General. But into these I need
not enter, my object being to state, as briefly aud as clearly as
possible, the arguments employed on both sides of a question second
to none in importance to the inhabitants of the Metropolis. I shall
not presume to decide on scientific points where authorities so
eminent differ so widely; but I may be permitted to observe that it
is unreasonable to expect people to drink dirty water, when, if the
Act which gives the Companies a profitable monopoly were carried
out properly, they might, at least, have clean water. The Metropolis
Water Act was passed in 1852. One of its chief provisions has
reference to filtration, and the blame of dirty water mainly rests
with the Board of Trade, for not enforcing the clause in question.
As a practical question I believe that River water would be good
and wholesome, and might be used with safety and advantage, if
properly treated, but that its value would be increased if it were
purified and softened by Clark's process. What is wanted is a
Law to prevent the contamination of rivers by town sewage on
the one hand; and to enforce the due carrying out of existing law
on the other hand, by compelling offending Companies to provide
ample storage, so as to render them independent of floods. They,
or several of them, are now constrained to take in water constantly,
whatever the condition of the River, and the water often contains
suspended solid matter for which time cannot be allowed for subsidence,
and which the filtering beds are inadequate to remove.
In the case of the Chelsea Company, moreover, the intake is too
low down the River. The fault is admited : it is no new one;
why was it not removed as soon as recognized ?
But there is one cause of bad water which must not be overlooked
not attributed to the Companies. I allude to the use of improper
and dirty receptacles—a subject to which I have taken occasion to
refer more than once in my Monthly Reports. There is much, and
too general, neglect of cisterns, which are often left without covers,
and suffered to go for months without cleansing. In some cases
they can't be emptied at all, and frequently they are placed out of
reach of easy observation, and have an untrapped connection by
means of the waste pipe with the house drains and sewers. Under
these conditions the purest water must needs be contaminated,
No cistern should be allowed to go more than a month without
cleansing; it should be well covered, have an overflow pipe, and