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Constant Service.—The importance of a constant
service cannot be over-rated, and, under the auspices of the
County Council, the work of making it universal is proceeding
apace, with the perfect goodwill of the Companies, some of
whom had developed the system largely before the
"Metropolitan Authority " began to move in the matter. In
December, the Grand Junction Company were giving supplies
on the constant system to all the houses in their district, the
Chelsea Company to 73 per cent., the West Middlesex Company
to 70 per cent. The two last-named Companies' districts cover
much besides Kensington, so that I am not able to state the
percentage of the constant supplies in the Parish. The eight
Companies which supply London were, at the end of the year,
giving constant supply to about 674,000 houses, or 82 per cent,
of the total number of supplies—the East London Company
coming next after the Grand Junction Company, with 98 per
cent. When constant supply is given, a screw-down draw-off
tap should be affixed to the rising main, or service-pipe, so that
the water for drinking and culinary purposes may be drawn
therefrom, fresh and uncontaminated, without the intervention
of cisterns, which are required for washing, flushing, baths, and
similar purposes. It would be well if a regulation could be
made to secure this desideratum. To such a proposal the
Companies would offer no opposition. A stop-valve should be
fixed outside the premises to prevent damage to the house in
case of pipes burst by frost or other causes, and this is now
generally done.
Supervision of the water supply is vested in a Water
Examiner, appointed under the provisions of the Water Act,
1871, whose report for 1895 has not yet been published. The
few particulars subjoined, are mainly taken from a recent
monthly report, from which we learn that the Grand Junction
Company supplied nearly 44 gallons per head, daily, to their
customers; the Chelsea Company about 39.3 gallons; the