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24
Mole, and Waudle—Since 1849 the abstraction by the
Water-Companies has told severely. On the 1st July,
1858, Mr. Freebody estimated the quantity passing
Teddington-Weir to be 576,900,000 gallons only. Now,
three evils result from this preponderance of the saltwave
over the diminished volume of the freshet,—1. The
sewage and other contaminations—for sewage is not the
only one—has but a small quantity of water to dilute
it. 2. The salt water dams up the concentrated solution
of sewage, &c., in the London course of the river.
Here it oscillates with the tide up as far as Chelsea, and
down as far as Blackwall or below. 3. The salt-wave
just mixes enough Avith the contaminated down-freshet
to make an easily-putrifying compound. It is remarkable
with what difficulty two volumes of water poured
into the same channel intermix.
These evils are greatly added to, by the improper
mode in which the sewers discharge themselves.
The sewage matter comes down highly concentrated—half
of the whole quantity, and that the most
highly charged, as Mr. Hey wood has shown, in the
eight hours of day time—from the want of dilution by
rain, and is poured on or near the banks of the river,
where it hangs about, mixing very slowly with the
stream, and often depositing its most offensive part on
the mud-banks. These when exposed to the sun at low
water are heated to 80°, 100°, and even occasionally to