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district, 27,500,000 gallons—total 420,000,000 gallons, sufficient,
at 35 gallons per head per day, for a population of 12,000,000.”
Of these witnesses examined whose evidence was directly
adverse to the reservoir and storage schemes put forward by
the Companies, that of Mr. A. R. Binnie, M. Inst., C.E., Chief
Engineer to the London County Council, was the most important.
Mr. Binnie's evidence was to the effect that the supply
that could be drawn from the Thames and the Lea was wholly
insufficient to meet the future wants of Greater London; and
he stated that, in his opinion, deeper storage reservoirs in the
Thames Valley were impracticable, and, further, that any large
increase in quantity pumped from the chalk formations would
only ultimately diminish the amount of surface water in the
various contributary streams, and therefore could not be
reckoned on for increasing the supply. The weight of evidence
given before the Commission went to rebut Mr. Binnie's
evidence; and it will be seen from the extracts given from the
report that the Commissioners did not accept his views. They
unanimously recommended the adoption of additional storage
works in the Thames Valley, and rejected those plans which
advocated supplying the Metropolis with water from an entirely
new watershed, as such a course would involve the water being
brought from a great distance, which could only be carried out
at a very serious and, in their opinion, unnecessary expense.
The Commissioners' recommendations and conclusions are
given here and on the succeeding pages.
Recommendations as to the Prevention of Pollution.
In order to preserve the wholesomeness of the water as
delivered to the consumer, and in order further to meet the not
unnatural sentiment against drinking water which, though
wholesome, has been polluted at an early stage, all possible
vigilance should be exercised to prevent unnecessary contaminations
of the Thames and Lea and their tributaries, to insure
the thorough treatment of all sewage before it is allowed to pass