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10
Water Supply.
The Act of 1871 makes it incumbent upon the Com panics
to give constant supply as and when the public anthoritiee
may see fit to require
The two Companies which supply this District are the
Kent and the Lambeth Companies.
The Kent Company are giving a constant supply in a
portion of their district. The water supplied by this Company
is taken from chalk wells, and is invariably cleai and bright.
The Lambeth Company obtain their supply from the
River Thames, and although every care with the filtering
appears to be taken, the water must, from the souice of the
supply, be more or less turbid after heavy rainfall; but the
new works are completed at Moulsey, and the large impounding
reservoir will tend to make the supply more pure.
The purity of water, however, does not entirely depend
upon the source of supply. Major Bolton, in his reports upon
water supply, calls attention to a most important point which
I have frequently mentioned to the Board, namely, the filthy
state of cisterns. He says " that the contamination of water
from the gases generated by sewage is of more frequent
occurrence than is generally understood. The gases are
extremely liable to flow back into the cisterns and become
absorbed by the water, unless the overflow pipe is brought
outside the house and the end exposed to the air, instead of
being carried into the drain.
" The attention of all householders ought to be given to
their cisterns, which should frequently be cleaned out, more
especially after periods of flood or turbidity, and every care
should be taken to prevent the contamination of the domestic
water supply."
Gas Supply.
Mr. Heisch, the gas examiner to the Lewisham Board of
Works, has from time to time examined and reported upon
the quality ol the gas supplied by the Phoenix and Crystal
Palace Companies.