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17
"the employment of such a system of distribution, a
"necessity would exist for a double system of pipes, but
"the expense of these would be amply compensated for
"by the removal of the entire cost of filtration. This
"District could be easily and economically supplied in the
"manner here indicated."
But, as regards the present supply, we have reason
to complain that filtration has not been carried out as it
ought. The filter beds have been improperly constructed,
and the water has been taken constantly from the river, in
whatever condition it happened to be, and poured on the
filtering surfaces without any subsidence of the heavier
particles. At certain seasons, according to the evidence
of Col. Bolton, the Water Examiner to the Government,
a vegetable fungus has grown rapidly on the surface of
the bed, and formed an impervious coating, through
which no water whatever has passed. In such extremities
the Company has been tempted to pass into the mains
water which has never been filtered at all. Then, no
attempt has, as yet, been made by the Vauxhall Company
to carry out the Act of Parliament by providing a
constant service of water, and so taking away the
necessity for the objectionable cistern system. All these
are serious and just causes of complaint against the
Company.
In the meantime, we would strongly suggest the
adoption, into the New Public Health Bill, of a clause
providing for the proper inspection and control of cisterns
by the Officer of the Board.
We would also suggest the immediate amendment of
the law regulating the power of the Government Water
Examiner, by giving him authority to stipulate for quantity
as well as quality of the Metropolitan water supply. This
singular omission of the legislature has been noticed in the
local summary for Battersea, and is a subject of the utmost
importance, as several parishes have found to their cost.
b