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17
"The general supply of water is received from the
Kent Water Company, but it is insufficient in quantity,
not being under high pressure, and it is not pure."
" The want of a sufficient supply of water is seen and
felt in the uncleanliness Which prevails in the dwellings
of the poor, and in the imperfect manner in which
the sewers are cleansed.'
"The water in itself was good; it contained a small
quantity of carbonate and phosphaite of lime. It
wat; rather as to the quantity than the quality of
the water that he complained."
Mr. Ruegg spoke of the water supply as follows:—
"The water supply was very defective; and was turned
on at irregular periods; i'n some parts of the town
three times a Week, whilst in other parts it was on
once a day. The quality is bad. I find it full of
animaculse, and much deposit is precipitated. I consider
the price high: 5s. each room per annum in
the lower parts, and 6s. in the higher portions of
the town, and 7s. 6d. if supplied to the highest levels.
The tenant of a cottage with four rooms pays 20s.
per year; the tenant of a house rated at £12 per
annum pays 24s. per year. Very few of the houses
in the town take the Company's water.
Mr. Rawlinson severely condemned the Kent water as
being one degree in excess of most, and two degrees harder
than some, of the hard Metropolitan waters, and devotes
several pages of the report to discussing the drawbacks of
such hard water, and means of remedying it.