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says—"On the whole, the year 1877, like 1876, was
favourable for the river waters, yet in the months of
January, April, and December, the Thames water was
delivered to the consumers in such a polluted condition as
to be utterly unfit for dietetic purposes." Elsewhere he
says—" Surely it cannot be beyond the powers of
Parliament and engineers, to collect and preserve from
irretrievable sewage contamination, a small portion of the
prodigal supply which the Thames can yield, and to
distribute it to those portions of London which at present
drink it, after it has been mixed with the sewage of half
a million of people." We cannot find stronger language
than this, to condemn the source of our supply as it at present
exists. But to return to the Company, we find that the
Southwark and Vauxhall Company delivers to us the
most impure water in the metropolis. In the same report
Professor Frankland says— "Of the waters supplied from
the Thames, that delivered by the West Middlesex was
the best, and that distributed by the Southwark Company
the worst." The dimensions of Companies works and their
construction at Battersea and Hampton are given in the
local summary for Battersea (page 24). It seems that there
is sufficient filtering surface, and that the material of which
the beds are made is tolerably good, but the beds want
subdivision for more easy and effectual cleansing. It is
found that, especially at certain times, a fungus is deposited
by the water, and grows with such rapidity on the surface,
as to render it totally impervious to the water. In these
extremities the Company, it is alleged, have been tempted
to pass unfiltered water into the mains, and one result of
the inquiry mentioned above, was to elicit the fact that a
connection between the filtered and unfiltered mains
actually existed, which would render such a process
very easy. In conclusion, we offer the following
practical suggestions for the improvement of the water
supply:—
I. That immediate steps be taken to prevent or
diminish the contamination of the water with
sewage at and above the intake.