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32
EAST LONDON WATER COMPANY.
The following information, extracted from a valuable monograph
by Dr. Tidy on The London Water Supply will be read with interest:—
The district supplied by this company includes a population of 839,752 people,
residing in 111,967 houses, 68,129 of which are supplied on the Constant Service
(November, 1877); more than one half of the houses in the district of the company,
therefore, arc supplied on the Constant System.
The company intend introducing a Constant Service, section by section,
throughout their whole district.
The company take their water chiefly from the River Lea, at Ponder's End,
from which spot it is conveyed to subsidence reservoirs. The company, moreover,
possess powers to take 10,000,000 gallons daily from the Thames. During the past
year this has been done in the months of April (2,200,480 gallons daily), May
(2,693,713 gallons daily), June (2,303,821 gallons daily), and September (107,143
gallons daily).
The company possess nine storage and subsiding reservoirs, having an area of
222 acres, and a total capacity of 605,000,000 gallons. Eight of these are situated
at Walthamstow, and one small one at Hanworth. There are four reservoirs for the
pure, filtered water one at Old Ford, two at Hanworth, and one at Hornsey Wood.
Their total capacity is 10,500,000 gallons. The company have 25 filter-beds,
occupying an area of 23 acres. The filtering material is 3-ft. 6in. thick, and consists
of sand (2-ft)., hoggin (6-in)., and coarse gravel (1-ft). The average rate of
filtration is 1-33 gallons per hour per square foot of filtering area.
The company deliver unfiltered water in separate mains for street watering and
for trade purposes.
I content myself with merely quoting the words of the Rivers Pollution
Commissioners (sixth report, p. 281):—'The arrangements of the company for the
filtration of the water of the Lea are not surpassed in completeness by those of any
other of the London Water Companies.
NOXIOUS AND OFFENSIVE TRADES.
Sodkman's Stay Busk Factory.—Complaints having been
received as to the manner in which this business was conducted, the
premises were inspected, and the following report presented to the
Sanitary Committee:—"May 3rd, Visited premises in Hassard-street,
Ilackncy-road, used as a Stay Busk Manufactory. During a portion
of the process plates of steel are heated in a furnace and plunged
while red hot into a bath of whale oil. At the moment of immersion
the oil ignites and flames up, giving off a most offensive empyreumatic
odour, resembling that produced by frying sprats, it is clearly a
nuisance under the Act, and in my opinion Mr. Sodeman does not
use the best known means of abating the said nuisance, as the process
is carried on in a small shed with no special provisions for the escape
or destruction of the noxious fumes." In accordance with our