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40
It is obvious, from the evidence of the late Mr. Hawksley and
others, that the water passing the intakes is purest when the
river is lowest. In their report (paragraphs 73 to 78) the
Commission deal at length with Mr. Peregrine Birch's proposal
to take vast quantities more of this water when needed, and
with the antidote Mr. More suggested, in the interests of
navigation, in case another 100,000,000 gallons should be
required from the river in the driest times.
Mr. More's suggestion was that a lake of 25 acres be
excavated in the Old Deer Park at Richmond to hold 8 feet of
tidal water between high and low water marks; that this should
be filled by the rising tide and discharged during the three or
four hours of lowest water. The alternative to this would
appear, from some newspaper reports, to be the construction of
1,200 acres of reservoir 40 feet deep, and the passing into the
tideway of the water most suitable for domestic supply.
The Commissioners do not discuss the reasonableness of
local objection to a 25 acre lake being cut in the Old Deer Park,
nor express an opinion as to whether, as Mr. Birch told the
Commission, the same result could be effected by the manipulation
of the weirs ; but they venture to predict that, whoever in
future may own the London water works, the time will never
come for passing on the best of the water by means of
works including 1,200 acres of special reservoirs, although
the 400 acres of reservoirs suggested by Messrs. Hunter and
Fraser as desirable in future, so that the Companies may avoid
taking in flood water, will, of course, be made as rapidly as the
increased demands upon the works require them.
The conclusion of the Commission is most distinct that
there is ample supply of water derivable from the Rivers
Thames and Lea, from wells in the chalk in the Lea Valley,
and also in the district of the Kent Water Works Company,
which will be sufficient to meet the requirements of London for
fifty years to come. As to the purity of these supplies, the