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34
large steam engines for the purpose
of pumping the sewage into this
River Lea from Canning Town,
Victoria Docks, West Ham, Stratford,
&c., consisting of from 60 to
70 thousand inhabitants. In this
way 160,000 gallons of sewage are
poured into the River Lea every
hour; or in plainer language—for
the fact deserves to be understood
—if this quantity were casked, and
the butts placed end to end, they
would reach from the Bank to
Charing Cross, as the result of one
hour's exertions. For a fair day's
work, of course, this bunging of
liquid filth would be in proportion,
and after 12 hour?' pumping, and
then cooped up, the cortige of barrelled
poison would not stop short
of Windsor Castle. But there are
two engines, sometimes both hard
at it; but what would be the magnitude
of this united action in this
sewage business, reckoning for
"overtime," when matters are
pressing, I am not at present prepared
to say, nor have I ventured
so far in making my calculations.
On my going to inspect the works
there had been a rest from their
labours; but, on request, the en-
there is an open, continuous communication. Now 80 to 100 barges, averaging each as many tons,
pass through this lock daily, each time causing the loss or waste of 250 tons of water; so that in this
way 20,000 tons of foul water, mixed with no small portion of the sewage of 70.000 people, finds a level
into the heart of Limehouse every day. This is about 6¼ millions of gallons; so that the Lea gives away
far more than it receives; what it has lost in quality it bestows in quantity, as for every 100 gallons of
the neat, unsophisticated sewage poured from the pumping works into the Lea, this river in turn sluices
325 gallons into the Cut.